epilepsy clinic

Rhona has been assigned to work at an epilepsy clinic in Lilongwe on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month. It is in the afternoons and the last 2 I’ve been able to go with her. (as driver) the first was during our midterm break and the second was yesterday. To get there on time I did leave school a little early and headed into town. We had time to run into the market to pick up some vegetables that we can’t get in Nkhoma and to the supermarket to get some basics that we like to have on hand. Very quick shopping and then to meet Katherine who takes us out to the clinic (the dirt roads get quite confusing). We meet Victor and Clara the translators and sit down. the first week I sat in a chair waiting to see what was going to happen and Clara said “oh good you can do the drug handout” What?! Um. Ok. The stack of health passports (used as patient files/history of past dr visits) piled on the table where Rhona was and the first patient was called. She did the examination—checking overall health, asking questions about seizures (have they had one, what happens, does the medication cause too much drowsiness, etc.) and then she writes in the book what meds they should get and when they should come back to be reviewed. Then they come to me and I count out the pills until their next review and send them to another woman who prays with them before they leave. It went very well for the first 15 patients…Rhona has very good handwriting (especially for a doctor writing about the drugs as in a prescription) and she takes into account that the pharmacist (me) has no clue about abbreviations. With the stack of health passports not seeming to grow any smaller, Rhona sped up and I had to ask more questions about what she was writing. But we made it through 27 patients the first time and 29 the second in about 3 hours. I guess the visits go faster when you know what is wrong with the patients (in this case epilepsy).

Our last patient was a boy about 9 years old. He came in as I was counting out pills for another patient so I didn’t see him and suddenly he was at my side talking a mile a minute to me. I looked at him and asked how he was…(muli bwanji?) I don’t know if he even answered me but he kept talking at a very fast paced whisper looking like he was telling me something of national importance but very secret with a huge smile on his face. I smiled back and said that I had no clue what he was saying to me but that he looked very happy. Then he moved on to someone else. He was the star of the room as everyone watched his antics. He came back a few minutes later with two coins in his hands that he rattled around and showed with great pride. And then it was time to go—Bye! With big waves and smiles.