It has been eight days since we last have a new
Ebola case in the Lunsar ETC. Many of
suspected cases turned out just to be that suspected, which is a good
thing. Yesterday afternoon a 7-month-old
baby was admitted with some symptoms and her mother who is not a patient stayed
with her. The negative Ebola patients have
been discharged back to their community.
This morning we will transfer two more Ebola-negative patients to Port
Loko Government Hospital, one for scrotal abscess and malaria and the other for
anemia and hepatomegaly. RK will be
transferred to MSF facility in Freetown for termination of her pregnancy which
is rather sad.
Ishmael continues to refuse to eat and pulls out his
naso-gastric tube, his persistent diarrhea dictates continuing his IV
fluid. He is our sickest patient. Last night the ETC had a movie night. A screen was set up at the back of the three
wards and patients could watch it from the backyard. My Temne nurse and I donned around 11 pm, by
then most patients were in bed except Aminata, Ishmael’s young mother who
curled up in a chair watching the movie.
In the wards, while patients were trying to sleep or already deep asleep
a few patients had their radio music turned up at full blast. Surprisingly none of the other patients
complained. I had to turn it down so I
could talk to them.
For the rest of the night, all was quiet. We were able to take a nap on cots or
mattresses placed on the floor, a sleeping arrangement far more superior than
that of Bong ETU.
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| The Meteneh ETC |
My one day off is now after a night shift which
really should be a day to catch up on my sleep but a colleague and I wanted to
go to the beach, however as always we could not find a vehicle early enough so
we drove to Makeni, an hour away in the Bombali District. There we paid a visit to the 100-bed Mateneh
ETC built by the UK military. This was
where a resurgence of cases came and many of the staff form Lunsar ETC was
moved here. So it was nice to be welcome
by many familiar faces. We could really
feel the impact of the full sun here without the shade of the corridor that we
have in Lunsar. The very friendly person
that took us around evidently is very proud of the center. Many of the confirmed patients who were on
the road to recovery sat outside in the covered corridors waving. Today they have a total of 34 patients, 15
in Confirmed, 11 in Concalescent, 5 in Suspected and 3 in Probable. Because of the bigger patient load, the
medical staff split up their duties.
Their mortality rate is about 50% and like us, lately they are seeing a
lot more hemorrhagic cases. They also had
5 births, one of whom was from an Ebola-infected woman but the baby who initially
tested negative but then became positive, eventually passed away at a few days
of age.
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| Celebration with Hand Print on the Wall |
Today also they celebrated 2 discharges; we were
able to witness the happy discharge of a young man who proudly planted his hand
print on the wall signaling a new beginning for him. Then they all marched out of the ETC to the
psychosocial tent, with singing, dancing and drumming. There he would receive his Ebola-free certificate.
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| Market in Makeni |
Downtown Makeni was abuzz with outdoor markets
selling slippers, cell phones, and clothing but I did not see fresh
fruits. We stopped at the supermarkets
and right outside I bought some mangoes from a young girl and from St. Mary
supermarket which only had a few pineapples and corossoliers; I bought a
corossolier for a treat and to remind me of home in Malaysia.
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| A Corossolier |
March is reputed to be the hottest month here and
the sun’s ray has been so intense that my clothes get dry in less than two
hours! In Bai-Suba where the generator is turned off during the day, those of
us who have the day off try to cat nap rather fitfully, sweating all the while.
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