Friday (from Jeff)

Today was a great day in Cameroon! (Although as I write, it may have been too good of a day, because Noah is refusing to go to sleep.) I covered morning report, where we discussed a young, previously healthy 24 y/o man who came to the hospital with 2 weeks of swelling and kidney failure (Cr 34.8; normal less than 1.2). I spent an hour discussing the case with the Cameroonian residents, looking for clues as to why he decompensated and died at 2 am.

Supervising on the adult medical ward today, I was again confronted with the universality of the emotions of loss and suffering. My work here is literally worlds apart from my usual practice of high-resolution CT scans, MRIs, and sophisticated lab testing, but the human emotions are, of course, just the same. Following my time teaching, Liz and I traded Noah at the hospital. Me wrapping him up in "the wrap" always draws a crowd, and then he and I retreated back to our home here. Liz joined us back from the pediatrics ward for lunch, and we three spent the afternoon playing in the sandbox and on a delightful walk to the top of a nearby hill.

Following quesadillas we made for dinner, we are trying to get Noah calmed down for bed. Last night he slept great for over 11 hours, but unfortunately I was up at 4 am.

We are rounding this weekend to help out, but also plan to attend the local market near the hospital. Tomorrow marks the halfway point of our trip, and we are hopeful for a great second half as well!