Pieces

Everywhere you live you give a piece of your heart, and you don't get that back. Pennsylvania has a piece of my heart, Costa Rica does, Tennessee does...and now, Sierra Leone does as well. My heart broke for this land when we heard the daily report of confirmed cases, 15. Only 15? That's fantastic you may think. And yes, it is fantastic compared to 100+/week we were seeing in December. However, we had been having less than 10 for several days. And those 15 do not include the 4 patients we admitted in Saturday that are displaying many symptoms of Ebola. Their results are not back yet, but vomiting and coughing up blood, bloodshot eyes, and high fevers are quite indicative.

We have workers called "Dressers" and their job is to help you dress in PPE then make sure you are safe safe prior to entering high risk. You have a once-over inspection before entering. And it is thorough. Two days ago my partner had the tiniest of tears in his outer glove. Our dresser caught it and he changed gloves. I am grateful for them and or their thoroughness.

WASH-the doffers (the crew that sprays you with chlorine as you doff PPE) have a hard job as well. Their job is to make sure Ebola does not leave high risk, and they help you remove PPE. We wear aprons over the Tyvek suits and the latch is near your right clavicle, but you are not allowed to look down to find it. You must rely on your doffer's directions. Sometimes the adhesive on the Tyvek gown rips. And when that happens, your doffer helps explain to you where the strings are so you can tear them. It must be so incredibly frustrating to watch us struggle and struggle, and not be able to reach across and assist, but they cannot cross the red line.

What questions do y'all have for me?
"Every day is a Monday in Ebola," and the days run together and are becoming routine, so I may not write about something you are curious about. Thanks for reading and for praying for us and caring about the people of West Africa.