I am slowly working my way back into surgery. My first big test was a very ill ten month old baby that needed major abdominal surgery for a piece of bowel that had become gangrenous. The operation was routine but twenty four hours later the baby was very poorly with a fast pulse rate and a very high temperature. I diagnosed that the baby had malaria which was treated and the next morning I went to the ward half expecting to see an empty bed, however I was greeted by a well baby happily drinking his mother’s milk. The mother smiled as she knew the baby was making good progress after the worry of the previous evening. This progress continued and we discharged the child a week later.
The baby in theatre before surgery with a tense abdomen.
The removed gangrenous bowel.
A contented baby ready for home