A 30th birthday to remember

It seems I turned 21 again today. I woke up expecting a normal day on the wards in OPD followed by goat stew then a couple of Mosi (the local beer) in Tiko's (the local bar). The first half at least was true!

Work was tough - the Prof is away and a major case I did last week (the extended right hemicolectomy for a transverse colon volvulus) has not been doing well. He developed a post op ileus, which is difficult to manage in the UK with IV feeds and complex blood tests as well as intensive care back up. Here it is nigh on impossible and he died while I was seeing him on my round this morning. I don't think it was any error on my behalf (he was sick for ten days before even transferring here and indeed he was so obstructed his bowel was about 15cm in diameter), but it remains a tragedy when a young person dies.

Following this, the rest of the day was pretty straightforward and I got home early to interrupt Charlotte being devious [This was very naughty of him and he really ought to stick to the Prof's 4pm meetings even when the Prof isn't here...]. I was instructed to close my eyes while she left in a hurry. We then had sundowners in front of a beautiful sunset, then a surprise dinner at Nat and Will's, with them and Rory and Fiona. A firelit dinner, under a mango tree and black moonlit sky, is quite a special way to spend a birthday, and we also had a huge chocolate cake. Rory and Hamish only temporarily tried to interrupt proceedings by asking for an empyema to be drained, but then decided not to do it tonight.

[He forgets to mention that we cooked bangers and mash with peas and onion gravy, well, I say we but I mean Nat and Fi! Thanks girls!!! I was helping Rory with the drying up when I realised that he'd covered Nat's floor in sausage fat (Unlikely to go down well). Obviously the next thing to do is cover the fat in washing up liquid 'You're a scientist Charlotte, you should know what I'm doing!' No Rory, I'm a girl, and I know that adding another slippery substance to the first one on the floor is not going to make Nat happy - getting the mop and bucket on the other hand...]