Of mice and chemo!

Asha (hello)! We just returned from Mbingo, Cameroon! Mbingo Baptist Hospital is an amazing place that does things most other African hospitals couldn't even dream of like a surgical education program, physical therapy, and cancer treatments!

When I was preparing to come to Africa, people would ask what are you going to do there? Will you be working with chemotherapy? I would laugh. Ha, yeah right! Well, you never know how God will use your skills! The real reason for our trip to Mbingo was for Josh to work on the hospital's internet network. He worked long, exhausting hours on that thing (maybe when he recovers I can get him to blog about it). So even though I was the “plus one” of the invitation, I helped out in the oncology clinic where they treat breast cancer, cancers related to HIV, head/neck cancers, lymphomas, and more. They give chemotherapy to about 30 patients a week. For my heme/onc friends, they give Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Etoposide, Methotrexate, Bleomycin and more. They give the real deal chemotherapies!

 

The outside of the oncology clinic

Now let's just take a moment and realize how amazing that is. Medical care in Africa is difficult. There is limited money and supplies and can we just talk about the mice?! I ranted the other day on Facebook that I saw a mouse in the maternity ward. Yep right there with the brand spanking new babies. A doctor friend told me that she was getting a piece of equipment out of a bag and found two mice in there! They had torn up the instruction manual and made a nest in the bag! But that is not all, after the mice made their exit- there was also roach in the bag! Two mice and a roach on a piece of equipment that was then used on a child- that is medicine in Africa. And this is at the “Mayo Clinic of Cameroon” - the nicest hospital I have ever seen in Africa.

All that to say, giving chemotherapy in Mbingo is awesome. It is so needed. Cancer is the number one killer world wide and Africa is not exempt. Three lovely nurses manage the oncology clinic.

 

Nurses Judith and Helemina

They have never had any formal education about the medications they are giving. Chemotherapy while life saving is also dangerous. It is known to cause cancer, birth defects, miscarriages, chromosomal changes, and more to those repeatedly exposed to it. Several studies of oncology nurses have found traces of chemotherapy in the nurses' urine! When I first arrived at the clinic, I was shocked to see the nurses mix the chemo at the patients' bedsides. There were small, red kool-aid colored pools all over the room- Doxorubicin (and who knows how many other small spills of chemo that are colorless). The safety of the nurses became one of my top priorities. I am happy to say that they are now mixing the chemotherapy under a homemade hood (well most of the time- baby steps). We also worked on the importance of checking blood flow and preventing extravasation. They had never checked blood flow! They also never double checked the dose ordered. Now, they get out the calculator to check BSA and the dose. Can I get an amen?! For patient safety and employee sanity, I converted the chemotherapy protocols into pre-printed orders. Doctors have to write less and it is easier for the nurses to calculate doses. Hopefully these little changes will make a big difference for the staff and the patients.

 Me, a patient, and nurse Helemina

Also, we got to take a helicopter home to Banyo because it was already at the hospital to bring a critically ill patient. The helicopter was a lot of fun!