busy-ass-day

That sums it. As usual..my 4 hour allocated  plan ended up being 8 hours...catastrophe after catastrophe at work today much to the delight of 50 patients waiting..patiently...outside the emergency room doors .  What is frustrating as usual with our people is the perception that Im going put my finger on someones pulse...and figure out exactly what is wrong with them. no..doesnt work like that any more...back in the Day of zulu china medicine thats what they did...in lack of any other knowledge of disease and medicine- they figured out a fast pulse was = sick and slow pulse also = sick and the 4 things that could cause that . If I put my hand on your pulse..all I can tell is whether your heart is beating normally or abnormally. If it is abnormal...there are a million reasons we now know  for that andmy finger alone can not solve the mystery of your illness if you cant give me a bit more information....

  A difficult case we received one day was an elderly man brought in practically pa-dead. (no disrespect meant at all ..just me own venting slang..) but literally wheeled in blue in the face..struggling to breath. His relative..sat there comfortably in a chair and while we were rushing madly to try to revive the guy..I was trying to get a history of what happened prior to his pa-deadness to try to pick up the pieces of the puzzle. She insists he is sick because he fell

This is an age old saying in samunda. If a kid has meningitis...its because he fell. hard. a month ago. forget the fact that there was a 3 week interval of wellness....now that he is sick...it all comes together in the parents eyes- that fall must have been the cause. Which is why everyone must be taken first to the fofo...to massage his head which struck the leg of the chair when he fell and he got a small bruise and cried..and caused the meningitis. Same with pneumonia...or joint sepsis...or tummy bugs..they are apparently all the product of a fall..somewhere sometime ago. eggs me. I dont want to hear about the fall unless he broke a bone....or hit his head and became unconscious. And I can not continue to try to convince people that falls dont often lead to many illnesses unless they got a cut and it got infected..or they broke a bone

so Im trying to get more info out off the relative while resuscicating a patient and she perisistently insists that there is no need to tell me anything else except about his fall..where he landed on his behind...and then needed a massage. the man cant breath..looks toxic septic..his heart trace is abnormal..and all she wants to say is he fell.arrrghhh...I am a medical practitioner but not a magician

In the end I have to politely tell her that I dont need to know about the fall..but can she tell me about his fever..and whether he had chest pain etc. she looks shocked...as if I have asked her  a stupid question...Im trying not to lose my cool.

Later on another relative comes in...and disclose that patient has actually been unconcsious for 2 days.... and where the wife informed me that "he ate this morning" was actually them trying to force vaisalo down his throat while he was comatose....ok nuff said.

Man I love/hate my job..I wish people could just answer the question and give us the info we need....would make our job alot easier....I knew it was not going to be easy...but some days- its just ridiculous. ..

ae kau alu la i le toilet and "eh" mai kagaka...hmm...and one wonders why ones hairs are turning white!!lol...
good day folks- going to try some Vailima Pure!!

what a week

Yes... I am butt crack tired and while I have a mountain of paper work to do- all I can find the energy to do is BLOG. Yes....its my 2  minutes of sanity for the day:) And for some reason it feels fulfilling. Unlike paperwork, it has that...how can I describe it...that kinda satisfaction you get out of swearing under your breadth at something that annoys you! ( I know a cousin of mines who would nod their head at that comment..stop swearing) yes....anyways.

Had a full on week in my number 3 shoes as a doc at the hospital. Had to do some extra hours to help the team which has been...tiring to say the least. (number 1 shoes is mom and number 2 shoes is the home business) This week has been UNUSUALLY busy and the OPD clinic has been chokabloc by 10 am the line of patients surpass the seats available-go beyond  the corridors past the dental unit all the way down to the immunization clinics...thats like...way too long for me. It has been...trying. Man...my problem is...I genuinely want to help people. I want to see the sick people quick and get them treated and sorted. From time to time I do eyeball checks when I run out to the loo and pull people out of the stupid numbering system of first come first serve and just get them inside to you know, prevent them from keeling over and having a heart attack...but work never fails to get my blood pressure up

on one very busy day- I forced our team to try to triage people (you know- do their recordings (temp/blood pressure etc) and bump up the ones who were really sick (i.e very high temperatures or short of breath or low bPs) so that we could see them quick enough in the mass of hundreds out there who were mainly repeat perscriptions sniffly noses and pain killers. Man, to my shock...all hell broke loose. people were yelling, nurses were trying to calm them down..and to top it off one person in particular stood up and abused the staff outside very loudly about a kid who was ushered in before him having a number which was further down the line from him - ended up discovering he was a priest from a certain village!! talk about keep the peace....in the end..traige fell apart because of the big mouths outside...for freaks sake man...bet it wasnt the really sick ones that piped up...e se kailo se

today ..after a whole week of slugging through the masses..I started to lose my cool. Up to number you know..67 and the patient sat in front of me could not really say why she was there...fiu e fesili aku poo le a le ma'i and in the end she says- I just came to visit a friend in hosp and thought I would get a check...for ..nothing. number 67 been in line for 4 hours...ae leai se mea o kiga...then starts fabricating reasons for me to check her left nostril which hurts sometimes and the other day she had a rash on her hand but its gone now. Koeaikiki percribe aku se kui lou muli.

Then a mum comes with her 17year old daughter. She stands over her with her eyebrows raised...me- introduce myself- whats wrong- Mum- practically shouts out "lea...gale...gae ma'i" (shes sick look at her) ok..try to ask the teen about her symtoms but shes rolling her eyes at her mum as if to say "i hate you you dont understand me" you know that teen stage where you and mum are just not best friends...again- what is wrong what are the symptoms- "well obviously shes sick!" says mum- look at her  as if eyeballing her is going to miracoulousy give me a vision of what has been the problem .."sleeping all day..faimai kiga le ulu..gae mai - aumai saga fualaau tui  (give me antibiotics)poo se mea e koe faa ala ai maka!" ok...now resort to the close ended questions we were always taught never to use- Do you have a sore head YES..sore back?YES..sore eyes? YES...have you had fevers YES.. ok...every question was a yes..but examination revealed a big NO as patient sat there chewing gum and texting someone in the middle of the consult...at the end of the day mother daughter dispute really su rmounted to NADA...daughter needed panadol for headache and mum needed a stick removed from her.....ok will stop there...the jist is I kept getting these rubbish patients and in the end the last one got a "dont waste my time" growlin...sorry..it was waiting there to be said. It happens and I try to be ok about it ..but sometimes there are just people there to waste time...ae uma komumu i le kaugaka o le lima kala leaga kokogi.

now...Im pooped...Im tired...I need to shower...I hope I didnt pick up any of that hand foot and mouth virus i saw on a kid  today...I need a boxing bag to destress myself..and my friends pics of eating crab overseas somewhere has made me really hungry...and all I have at home is saimigi...se crap ia se!!Lol ciao

Bullet point blog

Because I want to blog, but its an ongoing inner battle that goes something like" what the heck are you doing? you see that list there- yes, there , with 10,000 things listed?? that's what you are SUPPOSED to be doing..so GET OFF...NOW"

and cause I only have 2 hours in front of this laptop with no kids wanting me to "turn it on paint" or turn on DORA or just turn my head to face them and give them some attention...kalofae....

But bullet points for the week are

1. toilet hygiene. Can someone explain to me why some Samoans, tend to leave soiled t-paper..OUTSIDE of the loo pot?? seriously i see it everyone, in our hall toilets, in the boat toilets etc etc...fargs me off. is someone seriously gonna pick that shit up (literally) and kiai it again?? I feel like putting a sign up in our almost public toilets (that every fa'akau niu in the village uses secretly when no ones looking) that says- if you cant put it in the toilet and flush it away..put it in your bag and take it home with you! fanks very much

2. My Desk. I found out a while ago the old as rickety desk I sit at hours upon hours, which is actually pretty solid compared to these days l-cheapo from the wharehouse type desks...actually belonged to...wait a minute...my grandfather. Yes, here in Lalomalava, in the village of my inlaws in their business office, I sit at my very own grand daddys desk. See my grandparents actually lived and worked here for some time. Raised their kids here at good old St marys etc. And when they closed up shop and moved to the big city, the sold my husbands family this desk. Brings a tear to my eye sitting here. Scoured the desk for possible little doodles, you know..Neil for Bella forever type thing, in a heart...but alas. My grand pop was not that kind of a man. He was the big kahuna in our family. So solid and sensible...a commanding force and yet the most caring grandpop who would read his litter of grand kids stories in bed...love him always. how awesome it is to sit here at this desk which is a sentimental piece of history to me:)

3. Xmas and news years in Samoa. Has meant tons of head injuries showing up at the hospital. you'd think it would all be drunken violence, when in actual fact Ive seen about 50 /50 really..lots of actual stupid violent injuries to the head...(dont get me started on how dumb that is...) and actually alot of - "fall out of trees"...(i.e Breadfruit/coconut) Perhaps they were climbing intoxicated.??.who knows...anyways, I have had to be a paramedic and accompany a couple of these particular patients over to Apia..bag and masking (i.e artificially breathing for them) all the way- me and a very good nurse Henry- actually..he did most of the baggin, I just gave him breaks and gave drugs..either way, we both had to suck it in...all the way:). yes, I got sick on the boat and its blooooody hot in the ambulance when the car is turned OFF even with all the windows open..BUT..you have no opportunity to be sick. So its just a "suck it in" kinda ride...and do your best for the poor soul on the bed. Tough times....but very exciting non the less.

OK...I am gonna keep it short and sweet...fill in the rest of my bullet points at the end of the week!!ciao!

our big fat fa'alavelave

Maaaaaannnnn....
When I used to live on 'the other island'...I thought I had a fair idea of what a 'big fat fa'alavelave' encompassed. But i have definitely been educated since moving over to the 'bigger better' island har har...:)

This education has come as a bit of a shock to the system and in some ways it has been a process to understand. Like grieving- you have to go through denial, anger, acceptance and all that. At first- it was like WHHHAAAA..OMG....very much a me me me...as a victim of the process cause all I saw was dollars going out the window. After a while, you start to see how in actual fact,there is a lot of good in it too, and at the most unexpected times, it does actually come back to help you if not in an interest financial sort of way, in other ways...anyways- we just had one of those as a close relative of the hubbies recently passed, it was very unexpected and many from afar flew in for the occasion - it involved

1) stopping everything we were doing when we found out and declined any further business for the week that led up to the big 'day'
2) make available to incoming relies, rooms, floors, couches even cars to sleep in...as everyone needed a place to stay at the last minute...
3) cooking for 50 then 300 then 500 then 700 people over 2 consecutive days
4) accepting that our cars were suddenly -everyone else s cars, and not let the fact that someone broke the glovebox put gum under the steering wheel removed cd's from the insides -affect my sleep patterns- at least none were in an accident like the last big fat faalavelave!!
5) eating and sleeping were one of those things where every man is for himself(su'e a e le tagata le mea e ola iai!) when you are part of the integral dynamic team of worker bees going round the clock at peeling potatoes and chopping onions, I had to remind myself I had kids to check on and praised the lord that my sitter is so good and knows how to boil rice and open cans of tuna
6) enjoying the company of relies who we never get to see- drama aside, it was a blessing having them and I actually wish these people still lived on the big island as life would be so different I am sure!!
7)driving up and down a 50 meter driveway 300 times in one day to cart people, pots, fine mates, bags, ice, drinks because it would save me the 2 minutes if I had walked!! and 2 minutes over 300 trips is= alot of time (ok so i wasted alot of gas but you get my drift with the chaos)
8) realising I still dont know shit about si'is and talking chiefs and fine mat responsibilities but thank goodness plenty of other women in the family do...
9) a big thing with these as well is ensuring a steady supply of pots of coffee- like big as pots not little teapots, and coffee and ava to go around to 'fuel the workers' I did a big Fresh bread jam coffee and eggs round for breaky and all people wanted was pancakes masi and koko samoa!! haha- what a palagi am I !!choohoo!
10) Again, feeling humbled and in awe of my mother in law who is as always, the rock solid amazing women who needs no sleep, but is always composed, charming, and just a fountain of knowledge and history and all things Samoan...when everyone else is tired and angry, vevesi-ing solo- she is just composed and focused and couldnt be shaken or strayed from the things that needed to be done..a true inspiration for all Samoan women...just watching her throughout the whole fa'alavelave was a real experience.


thats all for now as I have 5days of work to catch up on...but thats what Ive been up to as of late..incase anyone was wondering!