Pages

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Cleared at last

A Local Paper
I am still in Abuja, a week after arriving, but I have finally been cleared to go up north and start work.
Before the local team leader was happy to send me, I had to see a Cardiologist about my Blood Pressure and the one I saw yesterday had no major concerns about my heart but he added some extra medicine to my pill regime.

So now I take   16 Steroid tablets
                           2 BP tablets
                           1 new BP tablet
                           1 cholesterol tablet
                           1 aspirin
                           1 malaria prevention tablet

or, as my father used to say, enough to have a ball bearing in every joint! My eye is no worse but no better, that I can discern so far - if I look straight ahead with both eyes open everything seems normal but if I close my left eye, everything below the tip of my nose disappears, except for things way out to my right.

Theres a kind of irony in their concern about my blood pressure, wanting to make sure its OK before sending me close to the heart of Boko Haram territory, while the Ebola epidemic silently and slowly builds up its head of pressure in the crowded suburbs of Nigerias massive cities. At the Private Hopsital I went to yesterday there were hastily photocopied notices pinned up all around the Public spaces inside and outside advising that a Press Report that two people had died there a day ago of Ebola were LIES, and that no person with Ebola had EVER been admitted to the Hospital. The feeling is that before long those notices will have to go...

The Dr I am replacing arrived back here yesterday afternoon so today I can learn a little from her about what to expect up there. She said she enjoyed the work but she looked exhausted, and from what she's already told me I can easily see why. But the great thing I have learned is that I will not be on call every night as I was in Aweil last year, so there will be time for catch-up sleep after what I think will be long and busy days.

Transport will not be available to take me for two more days, when some others are also going up, so I shall hang about the house and do some reading.

No comments:

Post a Comment