demons in your hands

my life is crazy right now. I have made some (ir)rational decisions to , as the nike ad says, just do it...and launch myself into action...and get back into the swing of things. After a somewhat bittersweet divorce with my previous profession, I have kissed and made up and gone back into it...if only for a few days a week(thank you for having me back!!) was a little Topsy turvy getting back into things...but that was almost to be expected..whats new about the process?? nothing..nada..same old delayed process, someone sleeping, someone forgot to sign,stamp,hand in or just plain ignored your form...oh well...someday before i meet my maker they'll get it right for sure!! haha!!

anyways, so what does this mean for me?? an ongoing bittersweet I love I hate my job/life...yes, I'm immature like that sometimes, and for you?? well....my crazy rants and insights into the world of health in the bush....and so here goes...

So I saw this 'person' last week, who as soon as they walked in, I had spotted a diagnoses, pretty classic symptoms, of the deforming types, to hands and legs and joints...of course i had to do a few tests to be absolute, but it looked like Rheumatoid arthritis to me...so this poor soul sits in front of me and weeps that this curse has come upon them over the last 6 months...prior to that they were fit as an ox and well and an integral part of society, and then slowly this had crept upon them..sore joints, swollen joints, pain and immobility. They had come once to the hospital and never returned, having sought help from a 'fofo' who had swore they could cure this problem. After 6 months of potions and massages and no improvement, just more pain more swelling to the point the person couldn't walk. The fofo declared that the problem was actually much more complex then had originally thought. This was not just a normal type of 'mumu' (as every thing from cellulitis, to gout, to sprain,strain and allergic reaction gets labelled) but in fact, there were demons in the persons hands and legs. Every swollen joint was infact a dead person from the village and somehow this person had commit ed some sin, so that these spirits had come up and taken over this persons limbs/joints. At this point, the patient was skeptical. What sin had they commited?? a devoted parent, hard worker, religious church attender, village participant? they could not for the life of them, think of any such sin surely bad enough to result in this. the fofo disputed. Objection is shunned and quickly the patient was instructed to come to take a potion that would make the demons 'speak' from them....the patient refused and came to hospital instead....

when I showed this patient pics from a textbook I just happened to have on me that day, they just about cried. the pics were spitting images of their joints, their children who had brought the patient in exclaimed with disbelief...and now vented how upset they were with the fofo...A blanket of shame had been over them in the village since the fofos accusations.

Now, they rejoiced in knowing that this was not, infact, demons in their joints, but a known disease. And although the treatment and prognosis road are somewhat long and not exactly bright and shiny, there was an understood process and forms of treatment available. Sometimes, people just need to know, that you have an idea whats wrong...and this can make all the difference. As for the fofos diagnosis, well...again I am left somewhat fuming...see how this one persons life drastically changed just by ignorance of this fofo?? if they cant fix something just say so..ae oso a i le malaia o le kagaka...se kailo se...:)
have a nice day