14 June 2012
Hey all!
I feel like I’ve accomplished so much within the past 4 days!
Tuesday I demonstrated the Babalung apnea monitor (one of my dreams coming true)! A group of 7 or so nurses gathered around as I showed them the monitor and explained how to use it; the sensor strap was fastened around a baby’s belly, the monitor was turned on, I waited to see if the baby’s breaths would be detected…the orange light didn’t blink. The head nurse and I readjusted the sensor strap, still no blinking. I looked to see if the baby was still breathing—yes, but my monitor didn’t think so. I continued with the demonstration though it didn’t detect the baby’s faint breaths…the strap sensor remained unstretched for 15 seconds and the motor in the strap began to vibrate; all of the nurses felt the buzzing and jumped a little. 5 seconds later the alert light began to flash, indicating that the baby was experiencing apnea.
The sensor strap my team (Breath Alert) made was design to fit premature infants…the preemies here are definitely not the same size of a preemie in the US, I learned that this day. Though I was definitely down, I was not discouraged. I told the head nurse that I would make a new strap for the monitor that would fit the neonates, and the strap I currently had could fit the older infants in Pediatrics Special Care Ward. She said that was good, and that she would like to see straps in 3 sizes: small, medium, and large!
I honestly was dreading the thought of going to the Obs & Gyne ward; I’ve yet to hear anything other than horror stories about what the med students see…I didn’t want to see any of it. Two of my Kabula friends pointed Kathleen and me to the Head of the Obs & Gyne Department and we’ve scheduled a meeting for next Tuesday morning to demonstrate the SAPHE Pads to him and his colleagues! We’ve already contacted team SAPHE (creators of SAPHE Pad) and asked them what feedback they desired to receive from the doctors when we do meet.
We also met with Dr. Kennedy (the head of pediatrics) about demonstrating the other devices we brought with us; he’s really interested in the IV Drip and the NeoSyP. Our demo of the devices will be on Wednesday morning. Until then we’re going to print out some brief fact sheets and get the necessary material for each device demonstration. I’m so EXCITED!
Jocelyn, Kathleen and I will also be meeting with the engineering department next Wednesday afternoon to demonstrate how to fix the CPAP if it stops working. So many meetings!
Wednesday evening we watched Lion King and ate pizza! I am absolutely positive these songs will be stuck in my head for at least a week.
Today we met with Professor Rodwell (of electrical engineering at Polytechnic). He’ll be working on manufacturing the CPAPs here in Malawi I believe once the study is completed. We went out to buy a master plug replacement for the oxygen concentrator that had a blown out fuse. (We also went shop to shop looking for spare parts for the apnea monitor since some parts seem to have been thrown away after maintenance cleaned the office *sigh*). Professor Rodwell asked me if I knew what to do with the plug now that I bought it, I thought to myself…have I ever taken a plug apart before—no, do I have the necessary tools to do so—maybe, do I have the proper engineering experience to attempt to fix it—yes, yes I do.
After stripping and cleaning the wires, a bit of screwing and unscrewing, and testing out the oxygen concentrator I got that baby working! You have no idea how much enjoyment I get out of getting equipment functioning…just having one more oxygen concentrator means the nurses can give the patient treatment and not have to tell the mother “I’m sorry, we don’t have enough concentrators to put your child on”.
This evening Jocelyn, Kathleen, and I went to Bible Study (one of Jocelyn’s friends has one at his place every Tuesday and Thursday); it was really great and reminded me of my Sunday School class at CFBC. I think my weekly routine has reached a nearly perfect balance of work, fellowship, and down-time that doesn’t require me to be awake for 19 of the 24 hours I’m blessed with each day…I know I’m going to miss Rice but I’m surely glad I’ve graduated!
With love,
Bridget
Things that were new to me:
Seeing a bird that looked like this
Debonair BBQ chicken pizza
Things I wish I had:
A Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or WalMart to get strap material for the neonate size sensor strap
My sewing kit
A NIV version of the Bible (KJV was not meant to be understood, I’m convinced)
Access to internet when I need it
For my parents—I promise I’m eating:
For breakfast: Toast, jam, and eggs / Toast, jam, eggs, and oatmeal
For lunch: Beef samoosas / peanut butter sandwich (cookies and chips) / egg sandwich
For dinner: Chicken burger (at Bible study) / pizza / roasted chicken and tons of veggies (at Bible study)