Volume 12
September 15, 2004Allyson this week is enjoying a week of rest and relaxation in lovely Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Her accommodations there are much better than what she has in her tukul back in Garsila. Doctors Without Borders' house in Khartoum has air conditioning, constant Internet access, hard-line phones and satellite television. And she certainly deserves a little R&R in decent conditions.
If you didn't believe that before, you will after you read this story. Allyson had quite an adventure last week, as you'll see from this message she sent me:
"Yesterday I was at the TFC (Therapeutic Feeding Center) and the Aussie hospital doc, Mark Atkinson, came over with a proposal. They had an obstetrical patient with a prolapsed hand (the hand was sticking out of the vagina and, yes, it looks as strange as it sounds).
"The midwife had a look at her and decided that no way was that baby coming out the normal way. They didn't feel comfortable doing the C-section in our rudimentary hospital, so they needed to transport her to a village 80 kilometers away named Zalingei to the Red Cross. He wanted to know if I was interested in going, since all we had at the time was a Land Cruiser pickup truck, and there wasn't room for more than one ex-pat, a translator and the driver.
"So yes, you know your wife is always up for an adventure, and this I couldn't pass up. We loaded the pregnant lady and her husband in the back of the truck and set off with my translator, Mohamed, and the driver, Majeeb. So, although only 80 km away, the ride takes approximately 3.5 hours because the roads are not really roads, but tracks through the mud, and it's been the rainy season. There we were, jostling down the road with the poor pregnant woman in the back in the hot sun. With every bump and jostle, I'm worrying she or the husband or both were going to go flying. Finally we arrived to the hospital in Zalingei, where the Red Cross has set up their OR, and they managed to drum up one of the local doctors, as all the RC surgeons were away. They wanted to make sure the fetal heart tones were still present before they called an emergency C-section.
"I listened first and heard them, and then the doctor decided they were there, too. Yayyyy! The baby's alive! The doctor examined the poor woman and attempted to rotate the baby but apparently it was a bad fetal lie, with the head bent to the side, making it truly impossible to deliver vaginally. An emergency C-section was called, but emergencies happen at a different pace in African hospitals. Eventually, everything was in place, and the woman was transferred to the OR. We were scrubbed and ready, the woman was drugged up and the doctor made the incision. I got to swab blood and hold a retractor. Then the real work began -- getting the baby out of the uterus. Not easy with the way he was lying. He and the scrub nurse pulled and tugged and tugged and pulled on that poor lady. And honestly, I got lightheaded. I'm usually pretty strong about that kind of thing.
"Finally, after much fighting, the baby boy emerged, as floppy and blue as possible. One of the nursing assistants and I suctioned and breathed into him and rubbed and stimulated that little guy for over an hour. I thought, ‘You're not dying, little sucker, after I traveled all this way to get you out!’ Well, he never got much better despite all our work, and I went to the house to sleep with a heavy heart, thinking I would show up at the hospital to find out he had died overnight.
"But sometimes things do work out well here in Africa, despite the odds. He was nice and brown and nursing. Awwww.... I was so damned happy.
"So we left back for Garsila this a.m. and arrived safely around 3:30 p.m. I'm glad to be back and need a shower desperately. I think I will sleep well again tonight.”
So, yeah, she deserves some R&R, don't you think?
A bit of good news regarding her time in Khartoum. While she is there, she has access to her normal e-mail account, so all of you can feel free to drop her a line directly. Click here to send her an e-mail.
Until next time,
Chuck
Links to Aid Organizations
Doctors Without Borders UNICEF International Red CrossInformational Links
CIA Sudan Factbook United Nations Passion of the Present New York Times (Africa section)
NPR "Fresh Air" program on Darfur The Guardian's Darfur Diary
Last updated Wednesday, January 19, 2005