72 years: When can I get back to my fields?
Sunday Night: Dr. Martina John is awakened. A colleague from the local health center brings a 72-year-old patient to the emergency department. She has personally picked him up from the mountain village of Antilla. The old patient has been suffering for two days of severe abdominal pain. Its astonishing that he has endured the three-hour drive on the dirt roads.
On examination his abdominal wall is hard as a rock. There must have been general inflammation of the abdominal cavity. The doctor from the health post now goes to sleep, but at Diospi Suyana many people are active.
Surgeon Dr. Annette Haar is on hand as well as the anesthetist Dr. Susen Dressler. The team is supplemented by OTA Simon Giesbrecht and his Peruvian colleagues Diego and Juan-Carlos.
The anesthesiologist nods and the scalpel, in the expert hands of Dr. Haar, begins its work. The abdominal cavity is opened and already pus penetrates out. The peritonitis (inflammation) is caused by a tear in the small intestine.
Tuesday morning: the campesino rotates a little in his hospital bed. “Doctor, when can I go back to work my crops?” Hopefully soon, provided no abscess has formed in the abdomen.
