Two more weeks in Liberia

today was a lot easier in a way. there were 2 emergency physicians, and they both worked and actually split the patients and wrote charts and orders. unlike previous docs who walked in and out to give instructions then disappeared. so it should be an easier week.

there are a lot of children who come in with ingestions of chlorox, bleach, and cleaning solutions. basically liberians put toxic cleaning solutions in cups and empty bottles that look like drinks so kids do the natural thing and drink it. it is sad really. some die immediately depending on the type of solution, others die a slow death. there esophagus becomes severely damaged and narrowed to the point that they can't eat anymore. then they die of malnutrition and dehydration. it is crazy that people would be so careless about toxic supplies like that. it makes me upset really. i think i told you of all the children who come in, newborns, who arent being breastfed or formula fed, severely malnoursihed, dying slowly, but the mothers wait until the last moment to bring them in. or the mother who didn't feed her newborn for an entire day then brings him to us at the last minute, only to die. i don't understand it. a lot of times they are so nonchalant i about it i want to knock some sense into them. maybe it is a cultural thing. there are so many obstacles to making it out of childhood here. if it isn't chlorox, it is malaria, or malnutrition, or diarrhea.

i think no amount of medical intervention and humanitarian aid will ever change developing countries like liberia. until you fix poverty nothing will ever change. they will always be poor, sick, uneducated, and needy. i can't really do anything about that as a physician but i can at least be a small part. i am grateful to be able to do that. it is all i know. leave it to the politicians to figure out equality and economics.

for some reason i am getting more tired than usual. i still run but haven't increased the number of miles or pace since i got here. even after 5 weeks. usually after a few weeks of training the runs get easier. instead it feels longer. maybe it is just the heat and humidity. or maybe i have worms in my intestines slowly making me anemic. who know what i have acquired here in liberia. i even have a cough that is bothering me for a week now. hopefully just a cold and not tuberculosis. it will be good to be home and safe from all of these bugs.

(forgive me honey, for making your health life public; I think the readers can pray for you)