An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth

Another month has absolutely flown by.  It’s hard to believe that this marks 10 months of our stay here in Zambia.  A few updates. 

1.  We finally allowed Paul into our operating theatre to do a full mouth extraction on a beautiful but terrified 8-year-old Indian girl with a mouth full of rotten teeth under general anesthesia.  Hopefully we can arrange something so that Paul can help provide more pediatric services for the needy dental population in and around Lusaka.

2.  Colin Glassco, Canadian philanthropist, and his colleague, Debbie Norman, made a site visit to Lusaka Eye Hospital to see our newly painted children’s ward and to see some of the children that were operated on the day before, sponsored by the Glassco Foundation. 

 This beautiful 4-year-old girl was born with congenital cataracts in both eyes.  One day after surgery (Lens washout and IOL placement), she was able to at least count fingers. 

3.  This is an example of the very advanced pathology we see here in Zambia.  Hopefully she will return soon so we can enucleate this eye with a horribly advanced tumor.

 4.  Another beautiful 4-year-old girl who came in with more than 30 prism diopters of esotropia.  

 1 week after surgery (bilateral medial rectus recession), she is doing well.

5.  I made a quick trip to San Francisco to take my Ophthalmology Oral Board Exam – “quick” being a relative term, encompassing approximately 30 hours of flight or layover time each way.   

A week-long review course was helpful but tiring, as my 32-year-old body is no longer able to handle the medical-school-like intensity of classroom-style learning.   On the day of the exam, I barely squeezed into my black dress suit, as my ever-enlarging girth seems to be eliminating articles from my wardrobe one by one.  The Oral Board exam went as expected – I was scared out of my mind, but made it out alive.  In 6 weeks time we should know whether or not I have to make that return trip to the U.S. next year for another round of torture. 

Despite the stressfulness of the situation, I was glad to be able to see my parents, eat some yummy food, and meet some of my co-fellows, co-residents, and co-medical students.  

 

 6.  The morning after arriving back in Zambia, I struggled out of bed to attend 3 days of national eye care meetings – the National Prevention of Blindness Committee.  Although I was still battling jet lag, I managed to stay awake through most of the sessions, and some important topics/issues were discussed.  I was privileged to be a part of that. 

7.  Two days later, we were on the road again. We had been wanting to do an eye/dental camp at Yuka Adventist Hospital in the western province of Zambia (approximately 80 km from the Angolan border) for quite some time, since we were told, "You haven't been to Zambia until you've been to Yuka."  The trip proved to live up to its hype.  We made the 8 hour trip by road (through Kafue National Park) + 3 hour trip by boat (across the Zambezi River) to land in the Kalabo district (the 2^nd poorest district in Zambia, according to Kalabo’s District Commissioner). 

 We were delighted to have a great team.  From the eye hospital, there were 4 people – Argent, (an ophthalmic clinical officer/cataract surgeon), Mrs. Phiri (theatre nurse), Mr. Jere (driver), and me.  Julie Penner, Allana, and Tamina joined us at the last minute, as they happened to be in Zambia at the time.  Allana, a registered nurse, helped us in the operating theatre and quickly learned all about assisting with eye surgeries.  Julie & Tamina were wonderful in that they kept us well fed with delicious vegan cuisine. 

The dental team consisted of individuals who flew in from the U.S. – Jin Yoo (Paul’s brother), Ken Lim (DDS), Kourt Chatelain (OMFS resident), Mr. Chatelain (Kourt’s dad), and Danny Yang (dental student). 

Throughout the week, our eye team was able to perform surgery on 90 eyes (64 cataracts and 26 other procedures, mainly trachoma surgery).  

 The dental team was able to treat about 80 patients (mostly extractions).   

What a wonderful experience (although tiring)! 

8.  On our way home from the mission trip, some of us stopped over for 3 nights to stay at Mayukuyuku Camp.  Tent camping in the middle of the wilderness with hippos and crocodiles in the river right next to the campsite was a bit unnerving, especially when we would hear their movements and growls next to our tent as we were trying to sleep.  The last night was particularly frightening, and Paul and I drifted off to bed silently huddling together in fear hoping the wild animals would not hear or harm us. 

We went on one organized safari, but ended up looking for animals on our own with our trusty 4x4 Toyota Hilux.  Some of the animals we saw included: warthogs, white-tailed mongoose, hyenas, elephants, impala, kudu, puku, bush buck, cape buffalo, crocodile, hippos, zebras, and baboons.  We were hoping to see the leopard, cheetah, and lions, but they were quite shy over the weekend.  Cooking over an open fire was quite the adventure.  Nonetheless, we had a great time.