cooking with gas

butane to be exact. this morning was the first time i made my own hot breakfast, oatmeal and orange juice. we finally got the table-top range working, so i’m trying it out. things are looking up. hard to believe we’re half-way through our time here. the initial gi distress and mystery cough have subsided at last. either i’m building up immunity or harboring chronic diseases. regardless, i’ve been here long enough to write a bit about the hospital scene.
patients must be accompanied by a guardian. this is true for the adult patients, too. the guardian cooks for, cleans up after, washes the clothes of, and takes the temperature of the patient. they have to bring their own dishes, linens, thermometer, and carnet de santé. the carnet de santé is actually a little piece of genius when used the right way. it is essentially a medical chart that the patient keeps. when the doctor sees the patient, he automatically has a record of recent hospitalizations and vaccination record with growth chart. prescriptions also get written into the carnet.
la pédiatrie is basically one long corridor. when you walk in the front door, the waiting area is to your right and the two consultation rooms for clinic are to your left. you walk farther down the corridor and find the aforementioned salle de soins to your right and the head nurse’s office to your left. two more steps and you’re on the inpatient ward. there are 20 rooms with curtained entrances and 2-3 beds apiece. i have to prepare myself when i enter the room with the very emaciated marasmus baby. i was embarrassed the day i turned around and nearly jumped with fright at the sight of this baby staring at me like a hollowed out chocolate easter bunny. there are two private rooms that have 2 beds each, but their own bathrooms unlike everyone else who shares one. right now there’s a 34-year-old mom in one of the private rooms who just reached a dozen kids with her new twins. for the fragile ones, we have 3 incubators shared between the 4 beds in the 2 incubator rooms. unfortunately, most deaths happen there. lastly, there are 2 isolation rooms for particularly contagious illnesses. currently, we are in the process of moving our 2 isolated patients to other rooms since the isolated room may be reinfecting these babies who continue to spike fevers.
the hospital is not a dull place. in the morning, you will almost always hear the call, “poisson, poisson” (fish, fish) just outside the window. this is a fishing kind of place, so it’s fresh and always for sale. my favorite is the gâteau kid who has to be all of five years old hauling a basket of small cakes for cent francs, cent francs (100 francs (20 cents)). there are other hubs of culinary free enterprise if you know where to look. there’s also a convenience store on the hospital grounds where patients/guardians can purchase food and incidentals like the ever-present celtel phone card.
we spent a great part of this morning trying to work out payment arrangements for patients who need to be discharged, but cannot afford the cost of hospitalization. i don’t think anyone pays the full fee. just getting to the hospital is often expensive enough because patients come from all over. i know many don’t fill their prescriptions due to financial reasons. we try to give out samples if we can. our two-doctor team has been working out a lot better than when there was only one doctor for inpatients, outpatients, er visits, and cesarean sections. tomorrow i’m gonna try to set up shop in the salle de soins and practice phlebotomy. wish me luck...