My fourth week at the clinic just seemed to have flown by. We didn’t have anything too unusual, but things were different because Dr. Rhee was gone and Dr. Prado was also away due to a family emergency. That left only Dr. Srinivasan and the new attending, Dr. Kuhl. Things went rather smoothly though, with none of the children needing to be admitted. On Monday, the highlight of the day was when I watched Dr. Kuhl lance a post-varicela abscess on an 18-month-old boy’s bottom. The boy had come in on the Friday and Dr. Rhee had prescribed him some antibiotics hoping the abscess would get smaller so that it wouldn’t have to be lanced, but they hadn’t helped. By Monday it had gotten so bad that the poor little boy couldn’t walk or sit down comfortably. The interesting thing about it was that with Dr. Prado gone we didn’t quite know where things were. I had to go to the E.R. to get a surgical blade and the doctors searched the clinic looking for gauze, iodine and bandages. We eventually managed to find the rest of the supplies at the clinic, but unfortunately, we didn’t have any anaesthetic. I had never seen an abscess be drained before so although I expected to see a lot of pus, I didn’t think it’d be so bloody. The boy took it really well though, he cried and screamed, but didn’t kick or squirm much. The rest of the week went by pretty steadily, and we managed to get out early a few times. On Friday, Dr. Srinivasan showed me an ear infection, so I was pretty happy about that.
Outside of the clinic, I didn’t do too much. On Tuesday I went to a yoga class at Land’s End with some of Peggy’s volunteers. It was very nice because we could see the sun setting on the ocean and hear the sound of the waves crashing, as we did yoga. I think we’ll return again this week. I am now living with two of Peggy’s volunteers in another apartment at the White Diamond. I am very happy with it.
On Wednesday the bad weather started on the island and I saw rain for the first time since I have been here. The rain didn’t stop until Sunday and the cloudiness and strong winds are expected to stay until Tuesday. Even though I had plans to go hiking at the Carambola Botanical Gardens on Friday and go on the glass-bottom boat in West Bay on Sunday, I wasn’t able to do so. I’m really hoping the weather clears up next week.
