Sorry....we have run out of aspirin.......

Hello again

hope everyone is well..and i havent yet killed anyone with boredom

apologies if i cant reply to everyone individually

i have been on facebook

and hopefully can keep you all updated here..but please keep writing with your news..as i like hearing it

apologies now..for this keyboard..which is rather stuck....and makes weird clicking noises!

i cant type my normal train speed!

right....since i last blogged...i like that word.....as i have never blogged before lol!

we went to Robert Louis Stevenson Museum the other day......i had heard the name but couldnt name what he wrote...he wrote Treasure Island..Jekyll and Hyde etc.

He came to Samoa as he had TB and the climate helped his breathing. He was v.good to Samoa..and they all love him!

so he has a massive house in Samoa and he is buried at the top of a mountain. We hiked/walked up to the top of the mountain. it was quite a hard walk..and we were glad we had decided last minute not to wear flipflops..though we met people coming donw wearing flipflops..and one heavily pregnant women..and we were hoping she wouldnt go into labour!

view from the top of the mountain was great of the city

We then slipped and slided our way down!

On Fri night..the Miss Samoa Pageant was cheesy and long... but good!

there talents...were questionable....such as pretending to referee a rugby match...yes you read write!...and some tried to sing.....unsuccessfully lol

on Saturday...we went to a beach on the South of the Island. It took about an hour to cross the island of Upolu which we are staying on. We are staying in the city in the north called Apia..but as there are no beaches there..we haveto venture further out to them. You can cross the island in about 1 hr

the beach at Virgin Cove Resorts in the town of Sa'anapu..was amazing

so idyllic...stunning blue water and white sand. Shame we only had a few hours there. I tried to go snorkelling but managed to cut my foot. When the water started to turn red..i decided to get out..as i didnt want the next tourists to find the idyllic blue waters were now the Red Sea!

On Sunday we went to a place nearby called Palolo Deep Marine Reserve where you can go snorkelling.

I wore my hospital flat shoes in the water..as i didnt have any other shoes to protect against the corel....so i think the were still wet andsandy when i walked around the hospital this morning!

Some some really nice fish...some swordfish..zebra fish, blue starfish..i wish i had an underwater camera lol..had a good Chinese meal in the eve!..ive mainly eaten western food here!..wouldlike to try local food.but the bigger restaurants..tend to cater for tourists so mainly serve Italian.

Had a ward round this morning..which lasted over 4 hours.....was interesting but lots of people surrounding all the patients beds! Listened to a few more hearts..and managed to hear the murmurs this time..yay..maybe i am improving!

This afternoon was supposed to be a cardiology clinic..but was mainly an INR clinic. As rheumatic fever is so prevalent here...many people have had prosthetic valve replacements. This means that they have to go on warfarin therapy for life....and as warfarin thins the blood..they come for a check up every month..to test (INR) how thin their blood is.

So got to listen to a few more hearts...! you can tell sometimes that a person has a mechanical valve..as when they walk in the room and sit down..you can hear a ticking.and that is their valve opening and shutting! i suppose they get used to it.....as it is loud enough to be heard across a small room. Also listened to a man's lungs who had bad bronchiectasis and secondary cor pulmonale. Which is basically heart failure due to chronic lung disease. V.hot here today...

think ill need multiple showers tonight!

anyway

oh yeh..just realised i titled the blog..no aspirin..and didnt mention it

i was just quite shocked today to hear that the hospital pharmacy has run out of aspirin. They also dont have any drugs like enoxaparin....so only have subcut heparin..which the find a pain..has has to be injected subcutaneously every 6 hours. Also they have a treadmill to perform exercise tests on patients with suspected angina. However for some political reasons, a doctor was fired recently and claimed that someone had given him the defibrillator....so as it was technically his..he took it with him

so they are now performing tests..whcih on purpose..but a strain on the heart..yet if something goes wrong..there is no defibrillator in the whole of outpatient clinics.

A doctor on our team who is from NZ..also carries GTn, which is a spray to help relieve angina. She carries some in her handbag..as she frequently gets called t see patients with chest pain..yet then has to go around the hospital finding some GTN as the wards dont have any. There is also only one blood pressure machine..sphygano..cant spell it lol! one of these machines in the whole of an acute ward.

oh well

have another ward round tomorrow..and then possibly an infectious disease clinic in the afternoon..we will see

hope everyone is well

keep writing!

sorry for all the medical speak

hopefully it all makes sense

just seen that Andy Murray made it to the final of US open..unbelievable! also just seen that he lost..but still fair play....great job!

and england beat Andorra....good stuff

obviously sport in england doest need me

just remembered i havent mentioned yet about samoan cricket..and their versin called kilikiti

ill try and remember for next time

the more blogs i write..the harder it will be to remember what i said in each one.so apologies for repetition!
sorry..blog just crashed..but saved most of it!

much love
hope everyone is doing well..and am missing and thinking about you all

ill try and bring my camera next time..so i can put a few photos on!
Sarah xxxx