Update: I'm Still Here
- kdkazen
- Jul 10
- 5 min read
Hello again from your friendly neighborhood absentee blogger! I have obviously fallen short of my goal to update monthly so quarterly it is for now. The last 4 months have been nothing short of eventful as per usual. We finished out rainy season in Zambia with a lot of time spent at the hospital. I celebrated my birthday in Lusaka with friends (!) that I have made since being here which is an absolute game changer as far as my quality of life. At the end of May I traveled back to the US for 3 weeks. During that time I was able to see my family in Texas, to see my newlywed best friends Natalie and Brian in Oregon where Natalie is mastering the art of cardiothoracic surgery, and to see one of my day one partners in crime Tori graduate from general surgery residency in Tennessee. Changing time zones 3 times in one trip definitely made the days fly by but it was a perfect reset and 100% worth it to see so many of the people I love.
On another note - I have been thinking a lot lately about resilience. Recently, I had a discussion with some friends about the life expectancy in Zambia (which currently sits at 62). We talked about how it is easy to forget that the average remains so low when we have a good number of patients show up to the hospital that are well into their 80s, 90s, and even occasionally 100s. In fact, I have operated on the same 90-year-old patient 3 times since my arrival to Monze, each time with the expectation that he may not leave the hospital. I have gladly been proven wrong and I suspect he is currently sitting comfortably at home instructing his son on how to properly care for their cows. So, beyond the obvious answer of genetics and lifestyle differences what makes one person live to 100 while another dies at the age of 35? Why is it that my 90-year-old patient bounced back in less than 24 hours from an operation that takes patients 3-4 days to recover from when I do it in the US? How is it that my own grandmother has a medical rap sheet 10 pages long of numerous ailments that should have already taken her life and yet she is still stealing my Cracker Jacks at the ripe old age of 84? As a physician I am a big believer in science, but as a spiritual being, I can recognize that there must be another element at work here. I believe this is where grit, resilience, and good old-fashioned faith come into play (although I must admit I have also never met anybody over the age of 80 that wasn’t as stubborn as a mule).
Resilience is defined by Merriam Webster as “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change”. All of the experience I have had working in rural and underserved regions of the world has proven to me that resilience is probably the single-most important trait that an individual must have in order to thrive in this environment. There are so many factors constantly in flux that you must be willing to go with the flow in order to keep from pulling your hair out on a daily basis. That being said, you must possess the ability to recognize when the status quo is not working anymore and it’s time to fight against the system or systems in place that are limiting you.
Recently, the US congress voted to pass the “Big Beautiful Bill” a piece of legislature that will be anything but beautiful to a significant portion of Medicare-dependent Americans many of whom have been and will be patients of mine. I rarely wish to engage myself in politics and I don’t want my blog to become a controversial space but I will say this – I can only pray that they develop resilience in response to this experience and that they are met with empathy from those of us who do not suffer the same fate. In the meantime, I will be focusing on educating myself by continuing my pursuit of a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree with a focus on leadership and policy so that I can effectively enter the fight against health inequities both at home and abroad.
I suppose this is as good of a time as any to disclose that I have made the difficult decision to leave Monze Mission Hospital for the foreseeable future. I plan to switch my focus towards completing a capstone project for my MPH in partnership with a physician doing research on bolstering surgical capacity, eliminating disparities, and increasing access to surgical care across Zambia. Additionally, I hope to remain clinically active at a district hospital down the road that currently does not have a practicing surgeon and is seeking to expand their surgical department. I am leaning on the lessons I have learned from my grandma and my elderly patients during this transitional period and choosing resilience. It is scary to bet on myself but I have faith that what is to come is even greater than what I am leaving.
Of course I will make no promises, as I am clearly unreliable, but I will absolutely try to keep all of my faithful readers updated. Thank you for following along with my rambling thoughts and for all of your support on this adventure.
Until next time,
Katy
P.S. for the second time since I have left the states an area of the country that I deeply love and have intricate ties to has been devastated by flooding. My thoughts and prayers are with all of the Texas Hill Country and especially with those that are grieving the loss of a loved one. If you feel so inclined to donate I will add a few links to reputable sites to the end of this blog. Additionally, if you would like to have a tangible symbol of support a friend of mine from high school designed a beautiful sticker and t-shirt with 100% of the proceeds going towards flood relief efforts which you can find here:
Additional links:
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