An up close and personal look at healthcare in Ghana

I had to opportunities to get an up close and personal look at healthcare in Ghana. The first opportunity that came was with Gabby. Gabby was really sick for the first day in Tamale so much so that Dr. Seth though it best that we postpone going on outreach so that she could get looked at the local hospital. The Local hospital was a small u-shaped building with an inner courtyard that acted as the main entrance and the reception for admitting patients. When we first arrived there was a chicken running though the middle of the hospital. Gabby was screened for the malaria parasite and tested positive

St. Lucy's Hospital

She decide to fly back to Accra to get access to a better hospital and to be closer to more members of the Unite for Sight group.

That left me and Natalie to go on the surgical outreach to Nkwanta.

About two or three days earlier the lymph nodes in the front of my throat had gotten pretty swollen but I didn’t think much of it. I went about my days like normal. I really thought nothing of it and I went about my days in Kumasi and the two days in Tamale just fine. Then we had the ride to Nkwanta.

The road to Nkwanta was the most bump road I have ever been on. It was really fun at first. The clinic in Tamala uses a white Toyota Land Cruiser and it handed the road well. It started to rain and the rust red road became a fun off road experience as Foster. Then it became dark and you couldn’t predict the bumps. It was like being in a bad massage the you couldn’t leave and my neck just got whiplash the whole time. The drive lasted about 6 hours with 4 of the hours being this off road madness. We finally arrived at the Hotel Kilimanjaro around 9pm and I went to straight to bed.

The following morning my whole right side of my neck was in so much pain. I struggled to eat breakfast and to even have an appetite, it probably didn’t help that I wasn’t really in the mood for tilapia and rice. We had tilapia and rice every day in Nkwanta.

My government issued folder

Anyways after 6 days of a swollen tender throat and the inability to eat much of anything I was convinced to go to the same hospital in Tamale the Friday we got back Mole National Park. I went in to the same queue. I waited to get my Ghana health folder and number. I sat on the green bench and waited to be called to get my blood pressure and pulse. I waited to see the doctor who did one of the most interesting exams I have ever participated in. When he arrived after rounding on the patients in the ward two doors down he asked me my symptoms. I told him that I had a sore throat, difficulty swallowing and swollen lymph nodes. He wrote these all down in my notebook. Then he asked me to tilt my head back and open my mouth as he stood over me and looked down my throat. I was expecting a tongue depressor and a light.

My blood test, no malaria parasites!

He just looked quickly and told me that there were definitely ulcers  but that he didn’t know the cause and so he sent me to get my blood tested for a general infection and for the malaria parasite. I had my blood drawn and tested.

I waited again for the diagnosis wondering if I had the dreaded malaria. I got my folder and test back with the line, no malaria parasite present.

I went back to the doctor who told me that I needed an antibiotic. I told him that I had some azithromycin and that I could start taking that. The diagnosis pronounced and the prescription given, I walked out his door past people still waiting to know what was wrong with their loved ones. It was pretty humbling to be a part of the healthcare process and to see firsthand. It left me thinking about how the system could be improved and how it was already successful.