BECOMING A SONOGRAPHER…BREATHING AS A POET

Dear readers,

It began as a curious adventure prior to my entering into the university when my dad told me about his experience with the MRI machine in a Italy. So, short history, my dad is a pastor from the church of Pentecost, had an accident on his first mission and got his leg amputated. So he had to rely on a prosthetic leg, so that took him to India( where he and my mother survived a bomb blast in New Delhi claiming about 60 lives) and the subsequent ones he had them done in Italy.

After school, my grade wouldn’t permit me to get anything near Medicine, but something a around allied health sciences. I had nursing in mind until a friend spoke to me about Sonography.

I liked the idea of the whole taking images because I love art. But it was a fee paying program, new in the system and I had some uncertainty.

After discussing with my dad, he was excited about my decision to go for the program.
In school, it was an internal battle, the subtle stigma around the program, how people will just go like” what course is that, often it wasn’t why they asked, but how they asked.. there were also some tags…. you know how fee paying students are sometimes tag as “not too smart” well…

The beginning of the program was hard just because I began to feel not good enough especially when we had to take classes with the human biology students. In my mind they were smarter, beautiful, more accomplished than me.

Coupled with my passion of writing, drama rehearsals, fears, loser mentality and all those negative energy I managed to pull a second class lower after first year. It was a wake up call for me, I wanted to prove that I could become better, so I began working more harder but not quitting any of my passion for writing or drama.

After my four years, I graduated with a second class upper and I was really proud of my self.

Service took me to 37 Military Hospital and I met amazing Radiologists and Residents who really impacted knowledge into my life. They gave me the freedom to learn as much as I could, challenge me with cases where I was left alone, and also secured me a part time job just some few months into service under the training of one great Radiologist at his certified and approved private diagnostic center which helped me both financially and academically.

For almost a year and half my life was linear. From Dome(home) to 37, ( service) from 37 to Tema Comm 1.( part time job). I almost always got home after 9 PM,having worked all the hours of the day. I wanted something, I wanted to secure something and I knew God was right in there too with me too.

Then after service, I worked another year at Tema until my boss once again from 37 secured my current job which I am in my second year, having to learn from amazing Sonographers from SA, with in-depth knowledge and I will always be grateful to Gemma Brock, one of the best Doctor of sonography I have ever met. She challenged me to read more, attempt difficult cases and even taught me the things she learned at her masters program. She believed in me, cheered me on and constantly tell me, Jo, you are a Star.
She constantly provided me with great novels and books to read any time she visited Ghana, my favorites of all The Poison Wood Bible, Glass Castle and a memoir of Nina Simone.

Why do I take social media to share this story?
Because I am a writer and writers share and I hope to encourage someone that sometimes we are so not sure of what the future holds, but we can take a step, and work towards achieving it, no doubt the universe will bring people who are meant to be helpers on the way.

Our beginnings are not our end, life is progressive and everyday we must be better than our old selves.

This year, I decided to take my poetry writing seriously and share more, regardless of the time consuming and the vulnerability involved, and I must say I am glad I am getting somewhere.

Sometimes I shake, I doubt, I battle with emptiness because my soul yearns for more meaning to life and fulfillment but I am learning to take a step at a time, speak to trusted friends, be gentle with myself and the process I am on to become who I am meant to be.

Today I only know in part, but I sure know even as I journey on, I will know more. I love and I am proud of my job as a medical Sonographer because I play a part in the big cake of health.

I get inspired at the ultrasound room by patients. Sometimes it gives me inspiration to write poems, and expand my level of sympathy.

Today I want to celebrate the woman I am becoming and to let her know, that I am proud of her, and I thank her for holding it all together with hard work, and perseverance, and mistakes, and lessons.

I am my woman crush Wednesday.

Dear readers I hope you will be kind to your life and journey.
You will figure it out. Celebrate what you have, you deserve it, it is not showing off… it is gratitude.

There are many things i wish to share honestly, but then i will be writing a whole literature here, but i want you to know, you have all it takes to be better than what you were yesterday.
Just show up in life, everyday…things might not grossly and significantly change, but they will be different.

Trust the process.

Love,
Jo Nketiah
Poet and Sonographer

PS: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!!!!