Miscellaneous
Nolen - It’s a lot of fun trying to learn new things and culture. One of the things I love is how (Kenyan) families take care of each other. That’s something I think the U.S. system should adopt. It’s so endearing to see how much patient families show up and are just there, take care of things, rally around each other. It’s something I love to see. There’s times when I see a patient in clinic and I’ll tell them you have a very complex problem. I can always fall back on, “Hey, why don’t come next time with your family?” And we’ll have a group discussion. Shirk - One of your big challenges is how to take care of Needy Patients, it sounds like many of your patients do have good family and support networks. But some don’t, and that can be hard, how to get them the care they need. Nolen - That touches on issues within this sphere of global health. We are on the fringe of healthcare with ENT otolaryngology. When people think of healthcare, most people think about maternal health, communicable diseases, cardiovascular disease. Here in east Africa, there are big minds thinking about how to take care of populations. And ENT isn’t a central focus of that nor should it be the central focus. But if you are dying of head and neck cancer, it’s important to you. If you are child with right-heart from adenotonsil hypertrophy, it’s important to you. And that’s true in any field of medicine. It a bit challenging because ministries of health, the surgeon general back home isn’t thinking “how can we alleviate nasal obstructions around the world?” But for patients having problems in our area, we want to help and treat them. I tell everyone back home when they ask what it’s like over there (In Kenya), it’s great, it’s really wonderful. The challenges are missing friends, family and Mexican food. . .and maybe college football. The not being close to family when kids are so little is the hardest part. The desire for them to know their grandparents, their aunts, uncles, cousins. When we are home they look at relatives like a stranger. We hope to help them know their roots, where they come from, and how loved they are. If God came down and said, " David, I’ll grant you one wish," knee jerk response is to be able to tele-transport. To teletransport friends and family here. On Sunday afternoons to have the kids be around their grandparents, their aunts and uncles. That would relieve 99% of the internal conflict in living away from the US. Shirk - Why is it worth the stress of being away from family, the financial sacrifice, to be here? Nolen - I think it’s seeing God. I see and experience God in real, tangible ways here. I don’t think I had to leave the US to experience that, but it is making an intentional choice to follow where you think God is leading. It’s hard sometimes and easy to think of physical and tangible things you "sacrificed." Seeing what He is doing in Kijabe. Hearing the stories of where this hospital started over a hundred years ago, the improbabilities of it being what it is today, seeing so many of my colleagues, what they are doing. . .witnessing these miraculous outcomes. Even yesterday I was giving exposure to an orthopaedic surgeon and neurosurgeon to the top of the spine through the mouth. The patient comes in barely able to move and he’s going to leave being able to walk. To me that’s just miraculous. Being part of that is really, really fun. It’s really compelling. It’s what draws me in and keeps me here. You see God move, you taste what God is about with his redemptive work.