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It is 6pm. I am back at Hlabisa after another bumpy journey. I gave the tube of blood Sister handed me as I left clinic to the lab and have nipped back to see what they have found.

The lab tech hands me the blood results. I quickly scan them. Normal white cell count – I had feared she might have leukaemia. Normal haemoglobin. But there at the bottom, the platelets: 4. Should be at least 150. The platelets play an essential part in the body’s blood clotting system. 4 is well below the point at which spontaneous bleeding can occur. There are a few possible causes but Hlabisa Hospital is not the place to investigate them. I get on the phone to a specialist at our referral hospital who offers to accept the patient for investigation. I pull out the scrap of paper on which I wrote the lady’s cell phone number and call her. As it rings I offer yet again a silent prayer of thanks for the cellphone, a device that has transformed the level of contact we can have with our patients, many of whom have no address to speak of. Somewhat bemused she agrees to go to the referral hospital.

As I hang up I realise that I rather enjoyed myself. In the mass of TB and HIV it is easy to forget that all the conditions we see at home can occur anywhere in the world. Just because the Game Park is full of zebra does not mean that I might not also see a horse.

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