Do Pigs Have Patellas?

You may be wondering... has she lost it? What about the pig? It's one of many conversations and debates of our team. Well, this evening, Paula outdid herself. She roasted a leg of pork for us with all the trimmings (corn, mashed potatoes and choc chip cookies!). And true to form for medical folks, the conversation turned to an anatomy lesson, thanks to Bill - 'here's the pelvic bone, femur, tibia'... 'is there a knee cap?' .... 'I don't know if pigs have patellas'. This will remain a mystery.

Another topic of discussion was related to whether people are happy here. In particular, we were curious about the women, given their position (or lack thereof) in society. They do live a difficult life and are very hard working. On one side, it is argued that they are happy, because this is the only lifestyle they know and know where they stand and are generally content. On the other hand, we have witnessed a sadness in some. It's things like: they can't make decisions without their husband. For example, in order to have a Cesarean section, the husband must give permission (unless it's an emergency). And when they marry, the women leaves her family to live with his family. After some time, he may bring another wife home. So then, all the wives live together. Some men leave for 2 to 3 years (work in Bamako) and the women are left to support the family. Oh.. the stories go on.

It was quieter at the hospital today, due to the holiday, but we made good use of the time in lectures and moving on to the abdominal ultrasound exam. And instead of line drawings, we simply employed Google to bring up all kinds of ultrasound images and illustrations. Thanks to the wireless connection at the hospital, this was a great tool! They are so thrilled to be able search for any pathology to learn what it looks like. Bill would ask, and we would view hydronephrosis, kidney stones, gallstones, cholecystitis, breast masses. And they really 'get it'. C'est bon!

Just love these kids!