My week kicked off well, but at a rather slow pace thanks to
the rains. I admitted several children with snake bite related injuries and it
literally gave me goosebumps at every instance. They say the snakes come out to
the houses and the roads to get some warmth and avoid the extreme cold during
the rainy season. I have seen patients
lose their limbs, others get permanent paralysis, late brain injury manifestations,
kidney failures and even lose their lives in minutes. I work in a hospital located
in a village in a semi-arid area. Stories
in the community are that the area did not originally have snakes but rather
the ‘snake-eggs’ came in with construction sand, stone and gravel from the
Tharaka area. I was having a chit-chat with the security guard one evening and
he told me of a case in the village the previous year of a mother who was
carrying her infant on the back. She saw a snake cross the road and she
promptly took a rod to hit it. He tells me that the snake is a variety that sticks
to anything used to hit it. The snake clung on the rod and as she lifted the
rod to hit it the second time, it jumped out to the baby. The young mother
unknowingly continued with her journey only for her to be startled by cries by
the baby then total silence. The baby was sadly dead in minutes. As he told me the story I kept on checking my
feet and overhead just in case anything jumped out to me. I had very restless
nights in the week and had to inspect the entire house every evening. I made
the bushes near my house cleared and spread the beddings afresh every evening. Anyway
in all this fear, it was fulfilling to have acted promptly and saved the hand
of a child who had been bitten by a deadly snake.
Away from the snakes’ topic, this week I was able to witness
a diagnosis called AFRICAN CHEMISTRY. They call it WITCH-CRAFT in society. I don’t
believe in it but after listening to some of my patients about the aetiology of
their illnesses, I must say I was convinced. One of the patients allowed me to
share his story. He came in with a clean, well dissected cut on the neck that
had gone very deep and the cricothyroid and thyroid cartilages were exposed. One
thing to note is that the cut was so professionally done I thought an
experienced surgeon had been involved. All major blood vessels and nerves had
been skillfully spared. That put me to shame because the anatomy of the neck
has always been a hard nut to crack for me. I asked him what had transpired and
he informed me he had cut himself. Yes, you heard it, he had attempted to
slaughter himself. I further tried to ascertain if he was a psychiatry patient
or if he had a suicidal tendency but he was of sound mind and stress free. He went
ahead and told me his story. He had stolen a goat and the owner had declared
that whoever had stolen the animal would slaughter himself instead of the goat.
He says an unseen power directed him and he did what he did. I was shocked,
amazed and convinced that indeed AFRICAN CHEMISTRY is a diagnosis they forgot
to include in our medical training. Nobody should call me a quack if I ever write
it as my working diagnosis or if I refer a patient to a Mganga Kutoka Zanzibar for
consultation. What a week!
