Sunday August 3 to Sunday August 10
Me and Hannah have had a very adventurous weekend as we were let loose on the Roatan roads by ourselves. We took Peggy's rickety truck and luckily survived the crazy taxi drivers-who love to pass cars on blind turns-the invisible potholes every couple feet, and the random people walking along the sides of the road. Yesterday we went to go solicit donations from businesses in Coxen Hole and West End for Sundae by the Sea, the silent auction that Peggy's clinic holds every year to raise funds for Clinica Esperanza. And today we picked up Stephanie and Allen - the new volunteers - at the airport. Today we were supposed to go la Colonia to distribute Kids Against Hunger food packets to the families, but Dr. Ivan - who was going to also give a presentation on dengue - was called to la Ceiba because one of his patients got dengue hemorrhagic fever. Hopefully next weekend before I leave.
I can't believe I only have three days left in the clinic! This past week we've been working at a really fast pace because we have Dra. Srit, Dra. Laura, and Dra. Prado here everyday. On Monday, Dra. Srit drained a scalp abscess and the scream of that young girl will forever be burned in my brain. On Tuesday she came in again and I watched Dra. Laura repack the hole. I thought the gauze would never end as she pulled it out of the gaping, bloody hole on the back of the poor girl's head. After clinic that day, we all went to the local daycare to administer antihelminth medication to the 15 or so children there. Boy was that chaotic. We had one tiny room to fit the four of us AND two or three crazy little children. We all felt like we had gone through war as we left the daycare; those kids were super energized because our team came right after they had had their nap. My little monkeys at the orphanage seemed like quiet little angels after the day care.
Wednesday started the introduction of the new patient sheet. For me, it only means asking four more questions about past medical ailments, current medication, vaccination history, and any known allergies to food or medicine. Lidia explained to me that getting this new sheet was such an accomplishment because apparently it had been vetoed multiple times. Lidia said the hospital bureaucracy does not particularly like changes in methodology. Thursday was super fun at the orphanage because the kids and I dyed Hannah's hair! We dyed her hair a burgundy, chocolate cherry color and of course as I reminded the kids to be careful about not getting dye on Hannah's face, Chenice slaps a big handprint of red on Hannah's forehead. It was a hilarious process, and the kids really enjoyed it.
I've still had several mothers come in with their chief complaint being, "no quiere comer nada nada." We had one mother come in with this complaint about her 2 year old child, and as Dra. Laura tried to convince her that she was the boss, not the child, I could see a look of doubt and confusion appear on the young mother's face. The two year old apparently walked around the town buying only junk food and candy. So Dra. Laura told the mother to stop giving her son money, to stop letting him walk out alone because of possible danger, and to just wait for the child to get hungry. "He'll eventually eat anything if he's starving," Dra. Laura said. I guess it sounded kind of harsh to the mother, because she left a bit disgruntled. Another mother came in with her daughter and as the mother started complaining that her child was not eating anythingwas answering my questions, her daughter sat there with cheese covered fingers, shoving cheetohs into her mouth. It's frustrating to keep seeing these mothers come in with the same complaint; I swear we see at least 5 a day!
Friday night I went with Peggy and the Clinica Esperanza team to rotisserie chicken (YUM) and we had to leave midway through for a medical emergency. The son of the future president of El Salvador had fish (and apparently he is allergic to fish) and did not have an epipen like was recommended to him, and so he was shipped to Peggy's clinic for treatment. Everything turned out fine but it was an exciting end to the night.
And now, me and Hannah are going to be adventurous and try and cook something delicious.
3 more days in the clinic!
