Wow, it surely has been a while since I've updated ya'll! Been very busy these past couple of weeks at the hospital but things are beginning to settle. Sadly, I had to leave today b/c my plane leaves on Friday. So now I am in Accra and it is pretty awesome here! But, I will get to do some sight-seeing while I'm here for the next couple of days. I don't have much time right now b/c I'm super duper tired and need to get some rest, but check back tomorrow and the next day b/c I will try to post some more pics of Accra! God Bless!

Greeting's from good-ol' Ghana! It has been quite an adventure here these last couple of weeks. Those pics that you see are from the Escarpment. It is a place where you can do a little bit of hiking and also some rock climbing... We did get lost for a while but it was more fun than you would think. I've gotta tell you, that was such a gorgeous view from the top! In the group pic, on my right, that is Melinda and Dr. Mike. On my left, Dr. Laura. They are such cool people and I miss them already... except for Mike- we are both here still. That thing you see in the tree, is a pet baboon! These missionaries that have been living here for the last 40+ years have all kinds of animals at there house, including ravenous turkeys! Yeah, I don't know what it is about me and African animals but they really like to mess with me. I guess the turkey knew how much I would've loved eating him on a toasted bun and he wanted to have a bite of me first! I mean, can you blame him? just kiddin'
Hospital wise... We did a C-section today and the baby came out just fine! A big, black, boy... haha. That kid was huge! Thank God, I'm not a woman! Thanks mom- lol. So yeah, everything else has been going just fine and I am still learning a heck of a lot, too. I can't wait to tell ya'll about everything. One of our patient's that has been here for nearly as long as I have, left yesterday ...pretty sad. But it's good b/c she'll get to sleep in her own bed again.
I'll have to admit, I am getting a little home-sick and I'm really missing everyone at home. No worries b/c I'm sure I'll miss this place when I get home, too. In my whole entire life, I've never watched soccer... It's pretty cool stuff! The World Cup is so big here. So, at night, we usually get the chance to watch a game or two and these people go crazy, too!
Well guys and gals, you have a great 4th of July and eat a burger for me! I miss ya'll mucho! See you later alligator.

Seriously, I can't help but wonder what is going through this kid's head... oh yeah, look at the kid to the left with his eyes closed, how funny is that?

I know that I've probably already said this but I've had such a great time here and have seen so much! I would love to blog all of my stories but it would take way too long in doing so. Truly, it has been such a blessing to be here and to be able to reach people in such a way as this. I hope that everyone of you will get the chance to do something like this someday.

If you have any specific questions or just want to know a little more about something, let me know in an e-mail and I would love to answer them for you. Thank's ya'll and have a great day!

And this lucky lady belongs to a set of triplets given birth- AT HOME! Which= no epidural! Wow, those African woman are tough.

Hi mom and dad, I love ya'll!

Oh, and if the hospital and mosquitoes weren't bad enough, I also have to deal with these ravenous blood-suckers flying overhead. Yes, those are bats and I'm not in Transylvannia... however, Dracula seemed to have found his way to Ghana.

Hey everybody! Sorry that it's been a whole week since last time but things have so incredbily busy. But at any rate, this is a girl whom I gave blood to yesterday. Not only do the mosquitoes want my blood but so does this hospital. I guess that's what I get for being O+. BTW, that needle was ginourmous... 16 gauge, oh yeah- pretty much like the shotgun! Good news is that the lady is doing better now and she got to go home today. She was super anemic before we transfused her...

Hey ya'll! I'll give another quick update... this weekend was so crazy! On friday night, there was a 5 ft cobra that our watchman tried to kill but got away. YES, they are the spitting cobra's!Saturday was insane up at the hospital... the night began with us reviving a baby that wasn't breathing on her on- I believe that she swallowed some of the merconeum (spelling?), which is the fetal stool that is passed during delivery. I think that is correct... Anyway, she wasn't breathing and we were all on pins and needles trying to get this baby to breathe again. Finally, after we aspirated the lungs, she began breathing on her on and now she is doing fine. Thank God! As the night grew older it seemed as though everyone was getting worse. The story will get pretty sad from here so you may not want to read any further. A lady came in and she was complaining of abdominal pain and she was pregnant. So, we decided to do an ultra sound and found that there wasn't a heartbeat coming from the fetus. Fetal demise. That was just hard... It takes a lot for things like this to really get to me but seeing a child or fetus sick or dying, that really tugs at my heart, you know? And if the night wasn't already heading South, I noticed one of the kids here having a seizure. He was already in a late stage of meningitis and there wasn't much that we could do for him. He also had a temperature of 104 F. The kid died didn't make it through the night. There was also another child that passed away from cerebral malaria. This was one of the most tragic times that I've gone through at this hospital and even in life. But even though I saw all of these things and witnessed such sadness from people being sick, I felt it in my heart that this is where I am supposed to be. You know? This is what God has called me to do and I know without a doubt that this is the life He has for me. As I lie in bed that night, I thought about what I had seen and the way that I felt afterwards and I said to myself, 'I can't see myself doing anything else but this.' Granted, not every night is like this. If so, it would drive someone crazy. Trying to explain this to you is such a difficult thing to do but I hope that you get the point that I am trying to make.

I hope that I didn't freak anyone out with this story but I just wanted to let you know the kinds of things that I see here and how I feel about them. On a lighter note, we have 2 more doctors staying with us for a couple of weeks. One of them-Peter-is from Belgium and the other-Alejandro-is from Spain. These guys are hilarious. The Spaniard has a little trouble with his English so I have to do some interpreting for him at times. Can you imagine, his English trying to speak to someone from Ghana? There's nothing in the world like it. hehehe. Aside from them, there are 2 more doc's staying with us for longer. Mike is a doctor from FL and he is rooming with me. Such a cool guy! He has taught me so much since he's been here. Not just medicinally but things about life... It's awesome. Laura is the other doctor. She is a D.O. from the great state of Iowa. Lived there once, huh Dad? Anyway, she went to the type of medical school that I want to go to. I really like the things that the DO school teaches... Okay, I don't have anything else but thanks for reading and I hope that you have a great day! Love you!