Winter Work

Well, the world cup is over and despite there being a slightly deflated Dutchman around the flat, I am quite relieved. After a somewhat unhealthy 6 weeks the detox starts here. Work and warmth (wherever we can find it) will get us through the winter months. Another cold spell has arrived, no snow yet but the blankets are back out and the instinct to hibernate is strong. But there is work to be done...

The audiometer was fixed and to my relief the problem was only a blown fuse. The technician I have found in Pretoria has turned out to be a godsend, collecting the equipment on a Sunday morning and working on his weekend so that I can have a functioning machine ready to return to Lesotho on the Monday. He is a star and I have used him to check and calibrate other equipment that had been sitting in a cupboard for 3 years unused!! Things are looking up. On his advice I have protected the audiometer with a UPS battery device in an attempt to prevent it blowing a fuse again with any surge in electricity. This battery served me well last week as I was able to continue working despite the 10+ powercuts we had one morning. I was thinking just how used to things you get with time – the powercuts, ants, operations in the waiting room....all seem fairly run of the mill now!

As the news spreads that equipment and personnel are at the hospital I am certainly getting busier. I am seeing a range of patients, both children and adults. Some patients are ex-miners who have been working in the gold mines of South Africa for over 30 years and are complaining of hearing loss caused by the noise and seeking compensation. Trying to establish genuine results is sometimes tricky! Post-meningitis children are frequent patients on the clinic. Last week I saw a 12 year old who is HIV+ and had meningitis in March of this year and had lost hearing. Each patient presents with different problems, limited English versus my limited Sesotho being a frequent challenge as the nurses are often occupied in the over-busy ENT clinic (who are seeing over 100 patients every morning). Without a translator I am having to use a lot of mime – those years of Christmas charades are certainly paying off.

I even had a referral from a certain Dr M Brouns last Friday for assessment of a dizzy patient, challenging considering there is no balance testing equipment. I did the best I could and Matt told me later that the patient was discharged after I’d seen him – fingers crossed my assessment was correct! Adapting to the situation and the tools available (or unavailable) is a definite must here and despite not being able to do as much as could be done back home on the NHS at least something is happening. Now that the assessment side of the service is up and running, the rehabilitation side needs development as many patients have to travel into South Africa to hearing aid clinics at the moment. However, a proper hearing aid service will need some investment as provision and maintenance requires resources. I am not sure how forthcoming these resources will be as I have seen little evidence so far that audiology is considered important.

Future plans include approaching donor organisations for support to run the training and screening clinics in the districts. I am also looking at organising training in Pretoria for earmould manufacturing so that patients will no longer have to travel into South Africa at great expense. More news on that soon hopefully...

As Matt has said we are now in for a quiet few months before friends and family arrive in October. We are having fun planning some trips.

I can’t believe we have been here nearly 6 months now – time is flying!