Once upon a time in the highlands there was a physiotherapist working in a hospital. Since he had been in the physiotherapy department for a month, he wanted to broaden his horizon as to what the hospital offered. He did this by asking the HEO (Health Extension Officer) of the emergency unit if he could join them on a Saturday. The HEO agreed and on a certain Saturday morning this eager volunteer was ready for the experiences that arise in an emergency ward. Walking around this ward, the HEO explained the main procedures of the ward and soon we were looking at patients coming in. A young man with an acute appendicitis, an older woman with TB on a respiratory mask inhaling medication and than a case where I could help. An older man with an abscess in his foot who could barely walk came into the ward. The HEO cleaned his foot cut it open and the volunteer cleaned it out and put a bandage over it. The volunteer didn’t know it at that time, but here he started to loose the idea that physiotherapists only perform conservative therapy. The next patient came in and the HEO had to stitch this patient’s leg after the man had taken a wrong swing with his axe. He explained every step of the way and it seemed like a piece of cake to the volunteer. So when the next patient came in, it was a lady who had been stabbed in the hand by another lady, the HEO asked the volunteer to do the stitching. Now this was the point where the volunteer should have said; No. I’m a physiotherapist I’m not allowed to do this and I don’t have the knowledge and the skill to perform this kind of surgery.
But alas, he did not. It’s important now that you know the thoughts the volunteer was having. He thought that it would be an extra skill for him to help more people. He thought that he could help out the busy HEO. And maybe he thought some more positive things why he should do the stitching on this lady.
Unfortunately for the volunteer and fortunately for the rest of the world something happened which changed his views on being in that emergency room doing what he was doing at the time. Struggling to get the needle through the skin, the skin suddenly gave way and the volunteer pricked his thumb with the needle. Time froze as the volunteer thought of the implications this could have. He cleaned up his hands after bleeding the wound. The HEO didn’t seem overly concerned and it wasn’t until the Monday after the volunteer called his program officer that the seriousness of the situation hit him. He was flown to the head office of his organization and given drugs to counteract possible infection with HIV or AIDS. Unfortunately the volunteer didn’t check if the patient was tested positive or didn’t check if she wanted to do a test. After the program manager of this naïve volunteer told what he had been doing, the situation hit the volunteer full on. He got some time to think over his sins while adjusting to the medication given, because he had to stay at the head office for observation. He was to take this medication for a month. As a punishment, because this is how he saw it, there had been no precedent in handling a volunteer with a suspected HIV/AIDS infection. After a week without any serious side effects, he returned back to the highlands where he found out another week later that he wasn’t taking the proper doses of one the drugs. He corrected this and the doctor said he had to take the medication for a whole month again. Within 3 days his body started to reject every form of food. The food either came back out or it passed his body without getting nutrition from it. This resulted in loosing 7 kg of fluids over one weekend. So the Monday after this dreadful weekend he met his doctor and she put him on an IV. After 4 liters and stopping with the medication he felt better again. Than his doctor found out that he didn’t have to take the medication he was taking, but a lighter version was available and much more suited for his situation. He started on those and didn’t experience any side effects. The misery in getting the right medication in the right proportions didn’t end here. After two days he found out that he was taking one drug unnecessarily. So until now the volunteer had heard he needed to start the month all over if he changed his medication. Finally God smiled upon him or maybe Shiva or was it just karma, he didn’t know. But he heard that part of the medication he was taking from the beginning and had been taking ever since was the drugs he needed to take. So in the end he could stop the medication after he started the original treatment a month earlier.
So now there is nothing else to do but to wait for another two month before he can do his HIV/AIDS test to see whether or not he is going to test positive or not.

As it goes with good fairy tales there is a morale to this story, actually two.
First morale is a Dutch expression: Schoenmaker blijf bij je leest. Translated it says; do what you are meant to do.
Second morale is: it’s not always good to be first.