Happy New Year!

The past two weeks have been very busy for all of us.

The week before Christmas was busy both at work (with on-calls) and socially - with lots of farewell parties The South African school and health system runs from January until December so there were lots of good-byes to say and what better way than celebrating! We had pizza parties and pudding parties and it was all great fun!

I was lucky not to be working Christmas weekend. Henry and I decided to spend the festive weekend in Ingwavuma. On Christmas Eve, we had a lovely Christmas supper with four of our friends. It was very authentic with turkey, gammon and roasted vegetables. We also had crackers (South African jokes were no funnier) and secret Santa. We ate too much and had a lovely time.

On Christmas Day, we headed to church in the morning. The service was outside. The ceremonly was in both English and Zulu. After church, we headed back to Mosvold. Henry and I went into the hospital to give out biscuits to places where I spend lots of my time - my wards isolation and paediatrics (I took care of both wards for just over two weeks during the festive season), OPD and theatres. The nurses and patients were extremely grateful. Christmas lunch involved a community gathering at Fancy Stitch (the one and only restaurant in Ingwavuma). Unfortunately, the tea garden is closed for one month (missing my milkshake post on-call very much) and so everyone brought a dish or two. We all mingled and had a lovely time. There are so many children in Ingwavuma (one couple has adopted 13!) so I became organiser of a series of games. All seemed to have fun (though none as much as me). In the evening, we headed to one of the doctor’s houses for a braai – again games ensued!

On the Sunday, we enjoyed a lie in followed by a lovely lunch at our cleaner’s house. She welcomed us so warmly into her home (she lives a man’s stone throw away from the hospital) and we enjoyed some Zulu food with her massive family. We thought we would be with her for ten minutes.* In fact with her family for five hours! Sometimes, I love the African sense of time.

I then worked the week between Christmas and New Year. I was on-call on Tuesday (and up all evening) and then felt quite unwell on Wednesday. I received a tick bite a few weeks back on the back of my right knee (from Ingwavuma). It did not bother me at the time. I was aware of my lymph nodes in my groin being up - noticed it when assisting a c-section. Then on Christmas Eve, I had an atrocious headache (unlike my husband I don’t suffer from headaches). I was advised to take an antibiotic for my troubles. This transformed my headache into nausea. Super. Anyway, I am now finished the course and feel back to my old self. The bite is still on the back of my knee but I’m told I’m unlikely to ever get tick bite fever again. Yipee!

Unfortunately, I worked this past weekend. We celebrated New Year’s Eve with three other couples who have become good friends of ours. One of our friends has a pasta maker so we spent the evening making pasta. Neither Henry nor I were the most competent pasta makers but we had fun! Two of the couples left – they each have two young girls and were knackered – but the four of us who don’t have children enjoyed bringing in the New Year together!

For some strange reason, I thought (and hoped) New Year’s Day was going to be quiet. It wasn’t. The day/night was spent identifying fractures and suturing lots of lacerated faces. One lady came in with her hand in pieces. She had lost three digits to a firework. It exploded before release. I plan to stay clear of the African pyrotechnic industry.

Well, a new year has arrived and I am excited for 2011. We are really pleased to be here in rural South Africa helping out as we can. I felt like a new challenge so have taken over Male Ward. Male Ward is any male patient from the age of 11 years old upwards who does not have a diagnosis of TB or probable TB. I really enjoyed being the Isolation doctor for three months but felt I was becoming too specialised in TB and wanted a general ward. My first ward round today went well - lots of orthopaedic, medical, surgical and psychiatric problems.

* Henry never thought ten minutes was realistic.