HIV Clinic

So I finally got to start working in the HIV clinic! Oh what a big difference! The health workers here really care about what happens to the patients and the care is much much closer to what is given in the US. The only thing is they don't check CD4 counts very often...and very very rarely check viral loads. And there were a few patients with CD4 counts that had dropped by a lot on treatment that I was pretty sure had resistance and they don't change the meds. They want almost a years worth of CD4 counts every 3 months trending downward before they will switch. Also many patients have poor compliance in the 70-80% range...and the doctors are okay with it. Its very very interesting. But I've got to see a bunch of kids and babies exposed thru their moms. And everyone should donate to the Clinton Foundation...they supply a lot of the educational and clinical tools used here. Also pat yourself on the pat next payday....this is your tax dollars at work!! I have seen many many Zambian people restored to health now able to live a normal life thanks to these medications. Of course, all the meds are from India, but that is a whole another blog! Ha!

Baby Update

So the baby I resuscitated died last night. It was not a surprise. It had severe brain damage and then developed an infection. But still sad. Unfortunately, a normal event here. :/

I think taking care of this baby, or rather resisting being at the bedside all day trying to save him, was the one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I am not God, and I can not change this whole system. There are so many things that come into play: culture, politics, education, health system, religion, money. So many things that I cannot change today or ever.

Zebra

So in medicine, we have a saying "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras" meaning think of the most common causes first.

In Zambia, they say "When you hear hoofbeats, think zebras not horses"

:-D