Monday, January 05, 2009

1st Clinic Day 2009...

It's back to work after some time off; that always takes a little getting used to.
Fortunately it was a good day with 55 patients, although we had to send another 15-20 away.
There were a couple of memorable cases today.
A 1 year old weighing 4.9 kg(!) who likely has tuberculosis and needed referral.
A very small 2 month old who's being fed rice porridge rather than breastmilk; time to educate!
A mother with a 1 month old (first child) who asked many 'parenting' questions, which is very good but uncommon.
A follow-up case from 2 weeks ago who's still not 100% but looks much better.

And then there was James. When I saw his name on his paper and 'twin 2' written next to it, I knew exactly who he was. James and John are twins that first came to see me in July 2006 at the age of 5. I had taken the above picture at the time and still love it. I hadn't seen the twins since. James is now 7 and unfortunately was sick today. John is well and at home. It turns out that James has malaria, so as long as he takes his medication correctly he should be fine. It was fun to see him again. And awesome to see his (and his mom's) face light up when I showed him the above picture.

A good start to the New Year. A year with many upcoming changes & challenges but also without a doubt a year with rewards & memories.

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~ Act Justly. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly. micah 6:8 ~