The new year is upon us! One year ending and a new year beginning, there is always so much potential. I have not been a very faithful updater and while I feel slightly guilty for that I really don't feel that bad. Most people who read this have the ability to message or email me so if they *really* wanted updates, they would do one of those two things.
December was an interesting month. I spent a lot of time at the hospital. Part of that was observing surgeries and part of that was a disgusting staph infection. The surgeries I observed included a man who needed most of his small intestine removed. That was an interesting case because of the story that accompanied it. Here it is:
The story of this man began one Saturday night when me, my co workers, and some visitors were driving to the UN for a gathering. We were going through town when we noticed a huge crowd forming in front of a bar on the side of the road. It looked like chaos. Women were wailing and acting in the traditional way a woman acts when a family member dies. Most of the crowd was carrying sticks or other things they would use to beat someone. They were beating on the door of the bar and it also looked like they were beating someone on the ground. There was also a large fire. We wanted to stop but a car full of white people stopping to intervene during a mob scene is probably one of the most horrible ideas you could have around here so we just kept driving. When we got back to the compound, we checked to see if anyone had been brought for an emergency and found that one man had. He had been stabbed in his side and he arrived at the hospital with his intestines coming out the wound. He had emergency surgery that night. The next day, the doctor found the swelling in his abdomen was considerable and suspected there was another problem.
Meanwhile, in town where the chaos had been last night, there continued to be fighting. It seemed that at that bar, the night we drove by, a Maban man (the county we live in) and a Nuer man (another local tribe) had a disagreement over who the land belonged to. They were both drunk and it escalated quickly. It should also be noted that these people groups have had conflict for years so having a drunken fight has the potential to explode pretty easily. The Nuer man was so upset, he left the bar, returned with a knife, and stabbed the Maban man. Of course, this erupted into a brawl. This brawl continued into the next day as the Maban man's family wanted revenge badly. However, since the maban man hadn't died yet, things were just tense and hadn't gotten out of hand.
Once the doctor realized there may be another problem, he decided to open the man back up to look around. I observed this surgery. Once he opened him up he found almost his entire small intestine had died. The stabbing had cut the vein that supplied blood to that portion and they had been out of his body for too long the night before. The doctor re-sectioned his intestines but the damage was too extensive and the man died. I didn't stay for the whole surgery and was taking a shower when I heard gunshots close by. They sounded like they were at the market. There were a lot of gunshots though so I wasn't sure what was happening. Later, I found out once the family heard the man had died, they rioted in front of the bar he was stabbed at and the house of the man who killed him. They set fire to both places and beat people. The police had fired gunshots into the air to disperse the crowd. If they hadn't, who knows how far those people would have gone. Luckily, after the family felt they got revenge, the fighting stopped.
That is the story behind the man whose intestines were the first I ever saw in person.
Before I got to observe that surgery, I got to learn how to do stitches. That man's story was also funny. The cut was on his right thigh. He said his friend's wife had stabbed him there and it looked suspiciously as if she could have stabbed him from an angle which makes me think this man was trying to rape her. The hospital here is a very interesting place.
After both those things, I developed a horrible infection on my leg. In 24 hours it went from just a normal skin irritation to a full blown oozing, disgusting, painful, abscess. I got IV antibiotics and had it drained. It is just now healing completely. It took a couple weeks for there not to be a hole in the side of my leg. Infections are easy to get around here and dust gets into everything.
2012 has been an insane year. Beginning with frustration, love, and hope and ending with joy, satisfaction, and complete heartbreak. Life truly can be a roller coaster. Living in South Sudan has brought me more joy than almost anything else I have done in life. South Sudan has been the redeeming thing about 2012. In contrast, relationships have been the low point of 2012. I feel like I got betrayed a lot in 2012. It was a very disappointing year in terms of relationships, not just romantic but friendships as well. I can't say I think 2013 will be any better but I can say I will try to be more cautious. I think I tend to be reckless when it comes to relationships. People are flawed and I understand but I allow people to treat me badly quite often. I hope I am brave enough to change that in 2013.
December was an interesting month. I spent a lot of time at the hospital. Part of that was observing surgeries and part of that was a disgusting staph infection. The surgeries I observed included a man who needed most of his small intestine removed. That was an interesting case because of the story that accompanied it. Here it is:
The story of this man began one Saturday night when me, my co workers, and some visitors were driving to the UN for a gathering. We were going through town when we noticed a huge crowd forming in front of a bar on the side of the road. It looked like chaos. Women were wailing and acting in the traditional way a woman acts when a family member dies. Most of the crowd was carrying sticks or other things they would use to beat someone. They were beating on the door of the bar and it also looked like they were beating someone on the ground. There was also a large fire. We wanted to stop but a car full of white people stopping to intervene during a mob scene is probably one of the most horrible ideas you could have around here so we just kept driving. When we got back to the compound, we checked to see if anyone had been brought for an emergency and found that one man had. He had been stabbed in his side and he arrived at the hospital with his intestines coming out the wound. He had emergency surgery that night. The next day, the doctor found the swelling in his abdomen was considerable and suspected there was another problem.
Meanwhile, in town where the chaos had been last night, there continued to be fighting. It seemed that at that bar, the night we drove by, a Maban man (the county we live in) and a Nuer man (another local tribe) had a disagreement over who the land belonged to. They were both drunk and it escalated quickly. It should also be noted that these people groups have had conflict for years so having a drunken fight has the potential to explode pretty easily. The Nuer man was so upset, he left the bar, returned with a knife, and stabbed the Maban man. Of course, this erupted into a brawl. This brawl continued into the next day as the Maban man's family wanted revenge badly. However, since the maban man hadn't died yet, things were just tense and hadn't gotten out of hand.
Once the doctor realized there may be another problem, he decided to open the man back up to look around. I observed this surgery. Once he opened him up he found almost his entire small intestine had died. The stabbing had cut the vein that supplied blood to that portion and they had been out of his body for too long the night before. The doctor re-sectioned his intestines but the damage was too extensive and the man died. I didn't stay for the whole surgery and was taking a shower when I heard gunshots close by. They sounded like they were at the market. There were a lot of gunshots though so I wasn't sure what was happening. Later, I found out once the family heard the man had died, they rioted in front of the bar he was stabbed at and the house of the man who killed him. They set fire to both places and beat people. The police had fired gunshots into the air to disperse the crowd. If they hadn't, who knows how far those people would have gone. Luckily, after the family felt they got revenge, the fighting stopped.
That is the story behind the man whose intestines were the first I ever saw in person.
Before I got to observe that surgery, I got to learn how to do stitches. That man's story was also funny. The cut was on his right thigh. He said his friend's wife had stabbed him there and it looked suspiciously as if she could have stabbed him from an angle which makes me think this man was trying to rape her. The hospital here is a very interesting place.
After both those things, I developed a horrible infection on my leg. In 24 hours it went from just a normal skin irritation to a full blown oozing, disgusting, painful, abscess. I got IV antibiotics and had it drained. It is just now healing completely. It took a couple weeks for there not to be a hole in the side of my leg. Infections are easy to get around here and dust gets into everything.
2012 has been an insane year. Beginning with frustration, love, and hope and ending with joy, satisfaction, and complete heartbreak. Life truly can be a roller coaster. Living in South Sudan has brought me more joy than almost anything else I have done in life. South Sudan has been the redeeming thing about 2012. In contrast, relationships have been the low point of 2012. I feel like I got betrayed a lot in 2012. It was a very disappointing year in terms of relationships, not just romantic but friendships as well. I can't say I think 2013 will be any better but I can say I will try to be more cautious. I think I tend to be reckless when it comes to relationships. People are flawed and I understand but I allow people to treat me badly quite often. I hope I am brave enough to change that in 2013.
