Just normal things around here

Things are a little different around here than compared to hospitals in the States. Last Thursday they had to cancel surgeries for the day because there were no IV fluids. The hospital was out of IV fluids!! I already told y'all about them not having a blood bank here. One man “bought” a donor... he paid a man around $150 to donate blood. It might sound crazy to you, but his wife was bleeding and would die without a transfusion and his blood type was not compatible. It is frustrating at times knowing there are things we could do but just can't do here. There was a man that came in last night with a diagnosis of “overdose of some medicine” - that is what the chart said. We began to talk to the family and they didn't know what drug he had taken. When we asked what disease the medicine was for, they just said the man was “mad”. They were from Togo (neighboring country) and brought him to us because he was unconscious. There are limited labs we can do here – basically CBC, urinalysis, blood film for malaria, and blood glucose. And the first week I asked about doing pregnancy tests and the Dr. told me that they do pelvic exams. I am learning to do a lot of new things. We've had another busy week at clinic and the hospital. And supposedly the new part to fix our internet will arrive tomorrow – let's hope it will be fixed soon!! Thanks for all the prayers!