6 month mark

It is now June and I have just realised that I am averaging about one post every 3 months! Pretty slack of me aye! But I guess life has gotten in the way (!) so many things to do , so little time! Sometimes I wish we could have 7 day weeks (yikes!) But then 5 day weekends (wuhoo!)  Unlikely but one can always dream!! At this 6 month mark of the year, I look back and eyeball what I have done with my life. Having re-read my December (sour) post I think I can say I am not wallowing in that boat at this minute! I think December is always a semi-somber time for me because its always low season and crunch time at the hotel where we make all our losses, (!) haha.

This June, My sister is at the forefront of my mind because 4 yrs ago almost exactly, my 24 yr old sister passed away in a tragic car accident. I can not speak or even write about her without getting all choked up because the experience of losing her is still so raw, I can remember it like it was yesterday. The worst of the many snippets of the long memory are remembering that she had asked me to stay behind in Apia, but I decided to come back to Savaii anyways because I had to work the following days and did'nt want to rush back on an early ferry. Then remembering the call I got in Savaii at night from my mum wanting me to pull some strings and find out what had happened (they were in the waiting area of the hosp) And then being told her pupils were fixed and dilated. I don't think these memories will ever fade or become any less painful.  When they pop into my head they are like someone had just whacked my chest with a baseball bat, and when they are not there then they are not there.

This June I am 3 months into opening my clinic. This was something I have wanted to do ever since I got to Savaii. GPs are practically non existent (there is only 1 on the island) and the hospital is always busy with long waits and you just cant do any preventative medicine or educating because there is always a brood of patients staring over the back wanting you to hurry up and get to their number. I can happily say things are completely different at my clinic. I spend alot more time with my patients and it is almost an everyday occasion when at the end of my consult, someone thanks my for explaining their chronic illness to them. For years they had just had repeated medications given and they had no idea what their illness was. Its always nice to empower people with the knowledge of their health and I do find that people take care of themselves better when they understand whats going on and why they are being treated.
It has still been a bit slow and there are still days where I see no one (!) so there is still no trallas coming in just yet! Whoever said that doing medicine would make you money?hehe!  I know I didn't help myself by not having a sign up for the first month and a half!!

It has been interesting none the less. One GP said it very well when he said the concept of a private dr/GP in Savaii is still very new and alot of people seem timid and shy when they come and are confused about payment- some offer me their pensions and ask if I can charge the hospital because the hospital sees pensioners for free!!lol

Some classic ones were -

Mr M from a nearby village comes along. He says his wife saw me and I "fixed" her , she had troubles with her tummy and is over the moon that I had sorted it out. She was so impressed she insisted her husband came to see me . So I question - Are you ok? is there anything wrong?
answer- No I am fine, I am fit and well have a plantation that I work on everyday , Ive never been to hospital before
me- So do you want to general check up ? or was there another reason your wife sent you?
answer- no I dont need a check up because I know I am fine, Ive already had my blood pressure and sugar done and they are normal I am well
me??
him- well actually there was a bit of diaorhea, it was profuse and went on for a few days
me- When was this?recently? has it resolved or are you still suffereing from it?
him- No its gone, it was about 2010 that that happened, for about 2 days, I think it was something I ate...
me- Oh ok, thats good that it has resolved (!) was there anything else that you are worried about regarding your health?
him- sometimes, I get headaches, they usually last about an hour and its always in the morning
me- oh ok, have these been occuring more often do you think ? are they associated with any other symptoms and what helps it to go away?
him- 2 panadol do the trick, but yea, I dont know why I would get one, this was about lotu tamaiti time last year....
him- also I get an itchy heel sometimes, theres no rash on anything , its just an odd place to get an itch, if I scratch it goes away, it was January I got it a bit more often when I was doing work in the wet grass...but I dont get it anymore, but now  thinking about it, funny place to get an itch aye?
....the conversation went on and on like this before I pronounced him fit and well and healthy and gave him some panadol incase his headache ever came back again.

The next week, I saw his wife again "You know my husaband came last week, and those pills you gave him were magic, they have made him feel so much better thank you for seeing him"

Se makua kaufaasee kele tagata se!! :)

I've had a few Matais come in who spend the first 10 minutes rolling out the formal Samoan greeting (to which I am a lousy reply-er!!) I've had a few people rush in with minor emergencies because the Sapapalii river ford had burst and they could'nt get to the hospital (I hope the man above helps me out and doesn't send me anything like that , that I would not be able to help because I am not set up for emergencies!!) People that have brought their elderly on their mattresses because they can't walk and don't have wheel chairs and lay them on the floor in the front where the  store area is...and Ive had to examine them like that (!) ...
I can not say it has not been interesting because it has:) I finally got my car after 4 months of waiting and shes a beauty, nothing flash but drives so comfy and well...I love her...I just hope she doesn't become the bum car running the hotels errands...(!)

So thats all I have for now, until my next 3 monthly update (LOL) take care and ciao!