I really have no idea yet but its a pretty good post, honest!

Who would you go gay for? Don’t give me those eyes, you have thought about it I know. Now before you sit there and judge me, (frankly I don’t know why you are, considering my cousin at White House already okayed it, #yes we can) hear me out. There are three people I would cross-over for.

One-Rihanna. Any day, any time. Since she’s already bisexual, that’s half the situation covered. If she was close by, and you know, proposed that we should do the nasty… My answer, when? I know most dudes already find her hot so why would it be weird for me to see the same thing. Those eyes, her figure, her voice (I like it raspy) and she hides her only flaw/forehead with amazing hairstyles. She isn’t afraid to experiment, try out new things and doesn’t really care what you think cause she’s living her life and making amazing hits along the way. Even after the ugly beating by Chris Brown ( whether its because of herpes or not is still up in the air.) Plus don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how Beyonce yries to copy her. Don’t believe me? Check the lip thing that Beyonce does in her video Countdown, unadhani ilitokea wapi? ( Still got mad love for you Beyonce, whether you used a surrogate or not.)She’s a bad girl. And there’s something about bad girls. Just ask all the nice guys out there, they secretly lust for them. Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well. My chain hits my chest as I’m banging on the dashboard, My chain hits my chest as I’m banging on my radio. P.s Rihanna tweeted the first line of that song just this week, don’t you just love her?

If you're ever around...

Ario- Liz. One of my classmates and best friends.  I see those gasps, but let me finish first. Why not? *please insert my award-winning cheeky smile, if you don’t know it, imagine* She’s beautiful, funny, clever, great sense of style, legs that are never- ending and you will always have a ball with her! Did I mention she’s hot? She’s unflinchingly loyal and doesn’t have time to judge you before she understands you. Of course, there’s some flaws but I’m chatting her up here, so to all of you, she’s your greatest fantasy with a heart that Jesus would personally stamp as certified. A major plus, she isn’t afraid to try new things. Yeah, I would have already started chatting her up if I didn’t like the XY so much. Speaking of XY, I’m still mourning the move of the fifth years from my ward. I will miss you, especially the boys/men. Especially Leon, we both know what was going down *wink wink*.  Just kidding, dude never knew I existed. Ha! I swear I’ll sneak into their new ward soon enough on some flimsy excuse, watch this space.

hey, I was looking for this patient, shhh, here he comes!

Third- That’s for me to know. Yawa, let me keep one to myself. All of you go and find your own. And if any girl denies ever thinking about this, please get an extinguisher; their pants will be on fire. It has crossed their minds one time in their lives. High school never misses one or two. Never*please insert Trevor Noah voice here*. Trust me on this one. I had a few too in high school, but never acted on it. I have too much love for the XY and the extras that they provide.

The hardest thing to do is to handle normal stuff when you had to struggle just to open your eyes. We aren’t imbeciles, we’re just sick.- L.Irungu

Okay, so to the main point of this post. The lesbian thing was just a question, which pretty much took a life of its own. So, yesterday, round four o’ clock in the pm, Lorna Irungu graced the walls of LT3 in medical school. For those of you with short memories, Lorna Irungu is a former actress and TV presenter in KTN. She also was an entertainment manager at Carnivore and right now she’s the brains behind Siwa communications. Yes, I googled her. For more information you can do it too. Anyway what really stands out about her is her never ending fight with SLE –Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and the three kidney transplants she’s had to go through.

Med fact: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus or lupus as most people know it is a systemic/connective tissue auto-immune disease that can affect any part of the body but mostly manifests with polyarthritis, red ulcerating skin nodules and typical butterfly rash. It’s a type 3 hypersensitivity reaction, immune-mediated. Okay, in easier terms, systemic, it affects the whole body or any part of it, not specific to one area. Erythematosus- I thought it meant blood, so affecting blood only, like leukaemia but it was given that name due to the red skin nodules. Basically lupus is a disease where your own body fights itself. You know how the body protects you from germs and other pathogens, right? The immune system is what keeps you from being sick all the time and keeps you alive. The same part of the body that kills all the foreign pathogens turns on its own self, the other normal cells, especially the connective tissue cells, the glue that keeps all the other parts of the body together; damaging tissues and organs. You can imagine the results. Please note here that the body is such an amazing conglomerate (see Warau! Big word! ) of many systems. It mostly affects the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, kidneys and nervous systems. The disease is unpredictable and mostly affects women. It’s easily misdiagnosed because it mimics so many other diseases. The patients mostly come with chronic complaints of fever, weakness, joint pain (polyarthritis), muscle pain and weakness and are tired all the time.

So Lorna’s manifested in the kidneys leading to nephritis, inflamed nephrons. Nephrons are the functional microscopic units of the kidney where they filter blood and remove metabolic wastes from it which is gotten rid of in urine. I said this was the functional unit so if you harm many of them, like more than 50 glomeruli, where nephrons are housed, it will eventually lead to kidney failure. So your body can no longer get rid of toxins and if no alternative is offered, you will accumulate toxins and eventually die. That’s the idea of the dialysis machine; it does what the kidneys should be doing. It’s this huge machine that ‘cleans’ your blood for like three hours while you just lay next to it. It’s a frustrating way to live, not to mention expensive and with the few dialysis machines available, a living nightmare. See how important kidneys are? Yet our own bodies don’t recognize that, hell they aren’t 100% oxygenated at any one time. Even when you experience shock (inadequate perfusion not the one you’re thinking of) the body shunts blood mostly to the brain and heart; the kidneys are left to fend for themselves. Lorna’s passed through all that and three transplants. You know your body is such a sentinel that it can spot something foreign a mile away. Your body can reject a transplant simply because its not part of it. Even sperms are considered foreign by the body, that’s why they are in the testes and once ejected, go straight out. They don’t bum to say high to the other normal tissues. They don’t really know each other that way.  That’s why after a transplant, they pump you with so many immuno-suppressants so that you don’t attack the donated organ. Normally in kidney transplants they don’t remove the problematic kidney but I’m not sure if she’s walking around with five kidneys in her belly.

I was ready for a talk on how the SLE affected her life and what came first, the rash or the kidney problems, you know med stuff. Boy, was I in for a shock. Her talk can be summarized as the doctor-patient relationship and how Kenyan doctors fail miserably in this sector. I don’t think I have ever been in a seating where the noble profession has been given such a thrashing to its ego. This profession was so noble that there was a time that doctors could deliver babies without washing their hands, because they were gentlemen; and gentlemen don’t have dirty hands. You can imagine the number of mothers who died due to this. History has messed up moments. Back to the present, Lorna went on a rampage. At first I resisted, I mean how I can sit here after such a long day to be told how doctors’ can be ignorant pricks, seemed a tad off. Then I began to listen and it dawned on me that in most aspects she was right. Justified too, to be pissed like an agitated cat, you could almost hear the cat hisses.  For one, we don’t see patients as people but numbers and means to filling our bank accounts. She talked about her experiences with doctors, some who undermined her; some gave her wrong diagnoses, wrong drugs, inadequate information. Once she was transfused the wrong blood type, yet she had repeatedly told the nurse that that wasn’t her blood type. That was a messed up moment right there. It took three years for her to be diagnosed too as doctors kept treating the symptoms, but like I said earlier, it mimics many diseases. She did talk of amazing doctors too, doctors who helped her through it, who would listen to her, who would admit their ignorance but would get the information for her and relay it to her.

 Of course she compared India to Kenya in terms of facilities and expertise and experience. However I think that was a bit skewed because if I compare the facilities there and here, the government is what has failed us. Of course there are private hospitals which are striving to catch up and give world class care, but what about the public? I’m waiting for the day when the NHIF will actually care, not just steal money and pocket it themselves and insurance companies won’t be outright thieves. Though States health care is just as messed up, and they pride themselves as being a world power. In terms of expertise, I am sure that Kenyan doctors are one of the best in the world. They practice not only here but all over the world. In fact, I’m sure if she had been really keen, she would have seen doctors of Kenyan nationality at that same hospital she was operated on. Postive. Wanna bet?

When someone gives you their opinion, even with all the comparisons and personal experiences, you have to know what to filter and what to take home. Even in our lectures, we always ask ourselves the base line question- What’s the take home message?  Well, we as doctors shouldn’t let ourselves stagnate in our acquisition of knowledge, even after postgraduate. We chose the life, we pay for it. Don’t take your patients home; it’s already emotionally draining at the hospital, we don’t have to burden our families too. Listen to your patients, explain what’s going on, alleviate the fears and actually care about their concerns, they’ll respect you more for it. Chronically ill patients will eventually be like family to you, especially if you’re dedicated to them. You don’t know everything and its okay to admit that sometimes. Patients’ are becoming more and more involved and aware about their healthcare, you can be sued if you’re not careful. Don’t be closed minded, be willing to listen to alternative forms of treatment, don’t just shove drugs in the patient’s system. Doctors should start working as teams or if you refer a patient at least follow up. I might be going abroad for my postgraduate. Think that just about covers it. Yesterday, I, Diana Abuodha, sat down for a lecture at 4 p.m, from a patient, who is just as important as a Professor whose lecture was at 8 a.m. P.S I’m I the only one who noticed the obvious Wangeci syndrome that was going on? No? okay.