a typical day at the hospital

Things come in 3s and some day all the children have coughs and the next they're all complex or very ill, some days are more lighthearted. We've seen some interesting and some very sad cases this week. 3 children with severe malnutrition, one family were feeding her condensed milk only as they thought that was better than food, one child had a severe congenital heart disorder and her health was decling with little hope for cardiac surgery and one child had a 16 year old mum who was devastated ever since her husband had left for thailand. We saw a 3 year old with hydrocephalus, she had a tiny body and a grossly enlarged head with severe brain damage, her parents had had no more children as they wanted to care for her, they were desperate for help but sadly there is no treatment available and now most of her brain does not function. Tears rolled down my cheeks. A family drove 3 hours with their child who was struggling to breath, he had a severe pneumonia and I wanted to admit him for intravenous antibiotics but the family refused as they needed to get home to their other children so they all set off on their motorbike, I hope he's alright. I wish I could I speak Laos, then I would feel more comfortable that I'd done everything I could to explain the situations and options. As elsewhere in the world we need to educate, one family brought their 3 year old as he became aggressive after his 3rd cup of Nescafé coffee! And some families have western type medical problems, one mum brought her 2 year old because his scrotum wasn't symmetrical and we were the 3rd doctor she'd consulted, it's full spectrum here and I love working with the Laotian doctors and nurses.