1st day at the
UCI part 1(Monday the 20th)
Today was my
first visit to the Uganda Cancer Institute to spend the day with
James. I think all of James' visits to the Uganda and his pictures
and descriptions over the last 10 visits he has made have really
helped prepare me for this. Maybe. He keeps saying he can't believe
how well I am handling everything but really I'm just not sure how I
am feeling.
It was really fun
to see Patrick and Rachel, two of James' co-workers that have been to
the states and I have met. I met so many new people and everyone is
incredibly welcoming. Everyone says “Welcome”. That is their
greeting. Even the grocery store clerks, everyone you meet,
“Welcome”.
First, we got a
tour of the new facility. Wow!
This place is going to be so
incredible! There are 3 stories plus a basement. The top floor is
where all the laboratory research will take place, James' area.
And
it looks and feels just like the buildings in the states. High tech
everything. Clean and beautiful.
The 1st floor is
where the clinics will be, where out-patient care is. The 2nd floor
is where all the clinical trial patients will be seen.
There is a new
in-patient hospital up the hill. Pediatrics is already there but I
haven't been up there yet. (Maybe this is why I'm “handling things
so well”, I haven't seen the pediatrics yet.)
After the new
facility tour we got a tour of the current UCI facilities. This is
where the differences really stand out. The differences between
cancer care in the USA and cancer care in Uganda. Any medical care
for that matter, I am sure. This is where your heart and soul just
ache at the unfairness of life. Real unfairness. My kids think life
is unfair because one sibling gets more than what they have or
because their best friend got such and such a thing for Christmas,
but REAL unfairness is very hard to take in and stomach. This sort of
unfairness is what my children need to see to really appreciate their
lives a little more. And I don't mean to pick on my own kids, I
think pretty much every kid in America is just like my kids.
I love my babies
and I thank God for all that we can give them, especially their home
and their health care and the food on our table.
I did not take
pictures of the cancer wards. It just felt wrong. Invasive.
Insensitive. My descriptions will have to do. But first here are 2 pictures of some of the older, still in use, buildings. The first is taken from the doorway of the current lab where Patrick and others work. This is taken on a clear day after the rain when patients are hanging their laundry out to dry. The building you see behind the clothes is the outpatient ward I will speak about below and to the left you can see a few people and that is where the line forms for xrays I talk about below.
This next picture is taken from the 3rd floor of the new building. In the far distance is the city of Kampala. The closer buildings are all part of the UCI campus. Various departments. The 2 closest buildings on the left right behind the cars are the cooking facilities for the hospital. Yes, pretty much outdoor kitchens as there are no actual windows and it's wide open.
The first thing
noticed is the long lines at every department. We had a view all day
from our offices of the long lines for the x-ray department. People
sitting outside just waiting. Around the other side of the building
were people sitting and laying outside on the lawn waiting to be seen
in the out-patient clinic. They had their mats and blankets, the
loved ones caring for the sick. These are pretty much all adults as pediatrics has been moved to the new building on the hill. Although I learned later that some outpatient pediatric care is still done here. Today (tuesday) I saw a little girl about 2 or 3 years old waiting outside under the trees with her momma. She had an IV site in place. James said she was probably there for chemo, but that's just a guess. She may be very sick and still needing diagnosis.
We stepped inside
the out-patient ward. The “rooms” had 4-6 beds in them all with
patients being cared for mostly by their loved ones. In the 2nd room
they had about 10 doctors and med students doing rounds. I think
there were 3 rooms like that but then there were also at least 3
patients in the hall laying on beds or the floor. One with a screen
blocking only ½ the bed and a loved one, not a nurse, cleaning
up the patient. Something that should be done in complete privacy.
We'd never, ever see anything like it in our hospitals back home.
Next we got to
meet the one and only Dr. Jackson Orem! He was the first, and for a
very long time, the only oncologist in all of Uganda. He is now the
director of the UCI.
The next stop was
the STC, solid tumor center. We walked into a very large room filled
with activity. Six or more beds (in ONE large room) filled with patients, several large
rooms off at each direction of the room. We only briefly walked in
but didn't stay. It quickly felt just not right to be there, invading
in such sensitive privacy. One patient immediately stood out. She
had several doctors around her and her leg was exposed to all. It
looked as if a very large area of skin around her foot and ankle had
been cut away, probably a tumor removed. No privacy...the most
difficult part of it all.
The most obvious
and difficult things to see and take in; there is no privacy and
there aren't enough places for people to be taken care of so they
wait on the ground outside or lay on the floors in the hallways.
That is part of my first day here at the UCI. Just the beginnings.
In His Love,
Susan Sophia
