Mambo from Arusha.
After 15 hours in flight, we arrived at Kilimangaro. It was pitch black, so we didn't appreciate the scenery until the following morning. Arusha is a town outside of Kilimanjaro. It has everything you would except from a city - variety of public transport (doladolas, which are vans packed to the brim with people and buses), traffic, shops on every corner. The town sits alongside Mt Meru, a 15000 ft stratovolcano. We had amazing views of this majestic peak while we ran errands the following morning.
Our first stop was to meet a 3 year old boy, nicknamed "Junior". Junior was diagnosed with arthrogryposis at birth and continued to have symptoms of an underlying muscle disorder. He is very smart though - understands complexes sentences in English, counts to 10, knows his colors, etc. indicating that his cognitive functions are intact. Unfortunately, due to significant muscle wasting, Junior is unable to walk or lift his arms more than ten degrees. Despite these limitations, he still able to school me on the temple of doom game on his mother's smart phone. His family has been to many doctors around to country and abroad in Africa searching for a diagnosis and potential cure. As is the case with many families, it is difficult to tell how much of what they understand is misinterpretation of medical information or lack of knowledge perpetuated by the medical community. Junior's condition is likely genetic, although without appropriate testing we would never be 100% sure. Therefore, there is no cure. Interestingly, our explanation was met with graditude. The mother felt that she could finally come to terms with her son's diagnosis. She could rest with an answer and avoid long trips with her son, who hated to travel.
Initially, this explanation felt bittersweet. We had travelled thousands of miles only to tell a mom her son would never walk or use his arms normally. But as we started focusing on anticipatory guidance, I realized how much of an impact we could have on Junior's health. Mom was well-educated and soaked up our recommendations like a sponge. We discussed that Junior was at increased risk of serious lung infections given his weak chest muscles and to seek medical care sooner rather than later should he develop a cough. Other physicians had recommended surgery for Junior's contractures and even mentioned that he could potentially stand after the surgery. Seeing Junior's extensive muscle atrophy, we knew that this would not be the case. We were able to confirm mom's intelligent suspicions that the surgery might do more harm than good.
We saw many other patients this day and ran a few errands. When we came home in the late afternoon exhausted and happy. Badaye (See ya later)!
After 15 hours in flight, we arrived at Kilimangaro. It was pitch black, so we didn't appreciate the scenery until the following morning. Arusha is a town outside of Kilimanjaro. It has everything you would except from a city - variety of public transport (doladolas, which are vans packed to the brim with people and buses), traffic, shops on every corner. The town sits alongside Mt Meru, a 15000 ft stratovolcano. We had amazing views of this majestic peak while we ran errands the following morning.
Our first stop was to meet a 3 year old boy, nicknamed "Junior". Junior was diagnosed with arthrogryposis at birth and continued to have symptoms of an underlying muscle disorder. He is very smart though - understands complexes sentences in English, counts to 10, knows his colors, etc. indicating that his cognitive functions are intact. Unfortunately, due to significant muscle wasting, Junior is unable to walk or lift his arms more than ten degrees. Despite these limitations, he still able to school me on the temple of doom game on his mother's smart phone. His family has been to many doctors around to country and abroad in Africa searching for a diagnosis and potential cure. As is the case with many families, it is difficult to tell how much of what they understand is misinterpretation of medical information or lack of knowledge perpetuated by the medical community. Junior's condition is likely genetic, although without appropriate testing we would never be 100% sure. Therefore, there is no cure. Interestingly, our explanation was met with graditude. The mother felt that she could finally come to terms with her son's diagnosis. She could rest with an answer and avoid long trips with her son, who hated to travel.
Initially, this explanation felt bittersweet. We had travelled thousands of miles only to tell a mom her son would never walk or use his arms normally. But as we started focusing on anticipatory guidance, I realized how much of an impact we could have on Junior's health. Mom was well-educated and soaked up our recommendations like a sponge. We discussed that Junior was at increased risk of serious lung infections given his weak chest muscles and to seek medical care sooner rather than later should he develop a cough. Other physicians had recommended surgery for Junior's contractures and even mentioned that he could potentially stand after the surgery. Seeing Junior's extensive muscle atrophy, we knew that this would not be the case. We were able to confirm mom's intelligent suspicions that the surgery might do more harm than good.
We saw many other patients this day and ran a few errands. When we came home in the late afternoon exhausted and happy. Badaye (See ya later)!
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