Seizure Clinic

Each month whilst I have been here I have escorted four of our lovely special needs children to the Seizure clinic in Jinja. Today I went along to introduce our new nurse to the delights of the clinic and to try and teach her how it is done. As we arrived I informed her that I would walk her through how I thought it went but I have realised after almost a year of attending I actually still have no idea how this clinic runs!!! Every time I have been to the seizure clinic the format has been slightly different and we spend anywhere from 2 to 6 hours there waiting in different areas, seeing a different amount of professionals and feeling like its the first time we are attending as we have no idea what is going on!

Lilly and Nurse Ruth excited about the trip 
to the seizure clinic!

This is what I told Nurse Ruth what I thought happens...We arrive at the triage desk and hand in the children's hospital books (a bit like medical notes but the patient keeps them). The books go to the bottom of the pile so that you are placed into a queueing system behind those who have already arrived. When it is finally our time we are called forward to be weighed and have the children's temperatures taken (this happens even though I inform the triage station every time that all of our children have recent weights that I have taken myself). We then move inside and join another queue to wait and see the doctor. When we are at the front of that line (which is a series of 5 wooden benches that you move along and forward on) we are allowed into the corridor where the doctors room is and we sit in another short queue until you are called into the doctors office. We see the doctor and then walk out to the pharmacy door and hand our books in there. We will then move around to the front of the pharmacy and sit and wait until our names are called and the pharmacist tells us if they have or do not have the medicine we have been waiting and have come for! That's it! Simple you would think.....except.....

During our 2 hour weight at the triage station this young
 boy taught me how to play 'Doru'. A game similar to
tiddly winks but using stones instead.

Some days I have totally skipped the triage station. A nurse will recognise one of our children when we arrive and will usher us straight away to the queue in the corridor or to the inside building. We have been another time and waited and waited to have their weights and temperatures taken and when I go to the desk to question why we haven't been called I am told we are in the wrong line and we have to go to another desk?! (that just happened once and I have never seen this other desk before or since!) Some days we have waited in all the lines and then the doctor has left before we even got to see them....there is no knowing what surprises seizure clinic holds!!

Lilly fed up with waiting and catches a few
winks!!

As this was my last time attending this clinic I was secretly hoping for a brief, easy visit and something that was straight forward so that I could show Nurse Ruth how it is done. That was not to be and at every stage of the process last Wednesday something didn't quite go according to plan! The books got lost amongst some others when we handed them as the triage guy in charge didn't seem to have any sort of system in place. This meant that we waited over 2 hours just for the triage nurse to take our children's weights (which I had taken last week but he didn't want those ones, however he was happy for me to take them on his scales and write them in the books myself whilst he did someone else!) We then moved inside and found out that the general paediatric doctor was not at work so the seizure clinic doctor was seeing everybody that day! We sat inside for 4 hours and 25 minutes on a wooden bench until it was our turn to be seen. Once we finally made it to the front of the line my four very patient, tolerant and well behaved children were only in with the doctor for 9 minutes at which point he said 'just continue'!! Aaaargh! It can be so frustrating some days! Off to the pharmacy we then went where they only had a 2 week supply of some of the medicines that we needed so we had to go to the drug store to buy the rest.

Lilly making us laugh! Her and Moses entertain us for most of the wait and were making hats from their jumpers :) They have such beautiful personalities and their laughs are infectious.  

My poor derriere was numb and I was so bored from having waited 7 hours to see the doctor for all of 9 minutes. I was frustrated, discouraged and annoyed for our children and all of the sick children that have to go through this system each time they are unwell or have a hospital appointment. The majority of the children that attend seizure clinic, like ours, also have special needs and it asks so much of them for them to have to sit for this length of time. 


I am still learning patience - it has certainly improved this year but still isn't quite up to Ugandan standards!!

Moses still happy after waiting nearly 6 hours and having missed lunch!

L-R: Auntie Marjorine, Moses, Auntie Joyce, Auntie Rose and Tom

I can't say that I am going to miss seizure clinic in the slightest but what I will miss is spending time with these special ladies and children who have entertained me, chatted to me, shared jokes, sodas and stories with me over the last 11 months during the many, many hours we have had together in this clinic. 

Tom

Rosie