Cometh a new day, cometh another early wake up call. We are all getting used to the early starts and our new routine. It’s amazing to think about how much energy the team had on very little sleep. We are grateful for having been given the strength to contribute in whatever way we could during this aid trip.
Today was our last day in A World Without Barriers’ Najaf Health Clinic. The previous day we had patients till the end waiting to see the dentists and some of them had to come back in the morning. Our aim was to try and treat as many patients as possible before we had to leave.
Our first case was quite heart breaking for me! We saw a chirpy, smiley young boy who had come in with his mother. Less than a year ago he had gone to see the doctor who had said that some of the bumps he had was down to eczema. After examination, we realised that these lumps could be tumours and that the cancer was lymphoma. He had a few of these lumps. We had to refer him to get some tests done. I can only pray that he can be treated and get better soon. He was one of our smiliest patients, and it is a bitter pill to swallow thinking that this could have been found out earlier and he could have been sent for scans and treatment sooner. Some of these children and patients desperately need urgent and regular healthcare, something which is hard to get here. We hope that in the future this is something which can be done. In the meanwhile we are trying to do what we can in these clinics to try and make what difference we are able to in their lives.
The shift at the clinic went by way too quickly. Medication queries (what would we do without the BNF to look up medication), making up powder antibiotics with water measured out with a baby’s bottle, taking some tests and giving out medication. One very common factor that we were coming across was the amount of dry skin conditions. Unfortunately, our supply of aqueous cream was fast running out and we were left with very few tubes at the end of the day. We also had to ensure our referral forms were up to scratch with the specific departments we wanted to send the patients to. It wasn’t always easy having to translate dermatology or scans but we got there in the end.
It was then time to wrap up for the doctors, though the dentists, doing an amazing job, still had a few patients remaining. We had the all important task of preparing our outreach bags of medications to take out to Haidariyya (refugee camp) and Karbala. We were relying purely on these medications for the next day so organisation was key. Just in case I popped some sample bottles and a diabetes test kit into my handbag, which made for some interesting searches at the check points!
Some of the doctors were called out to make house calls for 2 patients.
Najaf has been an amazing experience! I have enjoyed every minute of it!
By Zainab W
April 2016
