By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: Life is annoyingly unpredictable and for those of us who survive solely on the straining but tight grip we have on whatever control we can garner, this volatility can be quite devastating. I once had a love for pregnant women and wanted to spend my life helping them but passion sometimes burns itself out and after […]
3,438 total views, 1 views today
By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: “The patient is your boss.” I felt my eyes widen at the statement as everything in me rebelled at the idea. Everyone else in the meeting-room remained in the same positions with looks of boredom which had been the dominant expression on their faces for the past hour or so. Even Batman would have been impressed […]
3,587 total views, no views today
By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: I dream about my patients a lot. It's not of my doing though and in fact if I had any choice in the matter, I'd really much rather not have any reminders of most of the patients I meet, except for the new knowledge learned in treating a condition. Yes, I am one of those despicable […]
3,505 total views, 1 views today
By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: Every now and then new diseases are discovered and while some are named thus just so the pharmaceutical companies can get every last penny out of gullible individuals, others are simply just a way for the world to define something they don't understand. I verily discovered one such condition recently and I'm well on my way […]
3,337 total views, no views today
By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: It's hardly my place to question if a patient is in pain but man, some cases are dodgy. Somebody will walk up to you one day and declare that their back is killing them, has been for several days, and they cannot take another step so you must deal with them immediately. Of course, you ignore […]
3,323 total views, 1 views today
By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: Dealing with patients who have acute psychosis can get complicated but it's far more challenging when you mix with it a physical illness of sorts. It then comes close to the type of fictional cases Dr. House would be looking to solve; are there 2 separate diseases or is the medical illness causing the psychosis? Perhaps there […]
3,361 total views, no views today
By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: Every now and again, we get the flu; it could come from anywhere. Whether we ate something that didn't agree with us, or if we're staying with someone that has the sniffles and it spreads (then again, that says a bit about our hygiene.) Sometimes, it's from those creepy little restaurants that will give you the […]
3,317 total views, no views today
By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: And now, we shall talk about something more frightening and a million times more personal than what I've been talking about so far. This happened at the beginning of internship and frightened me more than I thought was possible. The hazards of medical care far outweigh those of many professions; even if you were a dragon-fighter, […]
3,437 total views, no views today
By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: You know those times when you have too much to do and instead of doing anything about it, you just decide to sleep? That sort of logic-less situation is exactly what happened this time around. It had been a fairly busy night with patients trickling in at a very annoying rate. Just when I thought I […]
3,413 total views, 1 views today
By Denise Kavuma, Uganda: Now, I shall tell you about the drunken guy. This story ties in with that fellow who was kind enough (with his ghetto ex-wife) to re-enact a scene out of every black movie ever filmed and to throw in some majorly shocking child abuse in the whole mix. I was on call and extremely tired from […]
3,354 total views, no views today