(Monday) Today I had to get up at 4am to get to the airport for my flight to Nelspruit! It was sooo dark and cold, but the roads were for some reason quite busy! We took off just as the sun was rising - a spectacular view as you float above the orange and red morning sky in a plane! Nelspruit is a lot warmer than JoBurg, but everyone keeps on saying it is cold! They need to come and live in the UK! Haha.
Once I got here and got shown around, I spent my time watching the screening process for new patients. It all seems very formal, but has to be done as patients aren't allowed to be registered at more than one clinic, and to be moved have to have a transfer letter. Also, if they change ARVs without needing to, they may build up drug resistance. The main language spoken is SiSwati (no idea if this is spelt right!!) so the nurses had to explain to me what was happening after the patients had gone! It’s very strange to listen to, as they add in random English words and phrases! Haha.
I then spent time in with the nurse who was testing the patients. They are given pre and post test counseling, and the test is a simple finger prick test with a result in 3-5 mins! If it shows up negative, they can have a 2nd test to verify the result. It’s quite interesting to see. From there they have bloods done to check CD4 counts and viral load, before they come back for results to see if they can start ARVs!
I spent the afternoon in follow up appointments with the nurse, which were mostly straight forward cases who just needed repeat prescriptions. Bloods are tested yearly once patients have been on ARVs for a year, so there isn't much to be done for the inbetween patients!
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