Photo is Unrelated

I don’t have any photos from placement, but since that’s what I’d like to talk about, the photos in this post have nothing to do with the words beside them.

Yesterday got off to a bit of a rough start; during our morning jog, I tripped on a particularly terrible piece of sidewalk and biffed hard, resulting in some pretty annoying road rash. This is the first time I’ve used the rubbing alcohol and Fucidin in my first aid kit for me, though, which is kind of impressive given my track record for clumsiness. (Nothing like dear Rae, though. Go read her blog after this. She’s funny.)

After the disastrous run, Jason left for Haiti and I left for the clinic. I was vitals girl again, and did a lot of weighing people. I did get to talk to one woman about eating more healthily, which was really important because her BMI was 38; she really needs to make some lifestyle changes. She said that she knew she should be eating toast instead of soft bread (what?) so I talked to her about whole wheat bread instead of sweet bread. It’s definitely interesting to see the kind of things people think about nutrition. While it can be discouraging when their ideas are myths that won’t help at all, it shows that they do care about it. She seemed ready to make a difference but just wasn’t clear on what to change.

My experience at the clinic so far has been very different from John and Brianne’s. I’m beginning to think that I simply won’t get very much hands-on experience there – with paps smears, breast exams and prenatals – for two reasons. First, the place is full of residents who want to get that hands-on experience too and second, the doctor just doesn’t seem to do them there! Brianne suggested that I see if there’s a nurse somewhere who’s doing all these exams. We’ll see.

That being said, I think my time at the clinic will still be well spent. First, I feel like I can make a bit of a difference with health education; the poster is still being read and I can throw in my two cents whenever nutrition is mentioned in a consult. In terms of a less medical experience, I’m starting to get to know the interns/residents/doctors better. One of them, Roxana, invited me to go over to her place sometime, which I think will be really cool. Elio, another resident I spend a lot of time with in the clinic, says he has a farm with fruit trees and animals that I can go see! It’s so near to have friends here – doctors, nurses, firefighters, store owners, waiters, schoolchildren… I’ve said it before, but I like feeling like I really live here.

Another clinic things I’m excited about just started yesterday. Because the patients suddenly stop coming at about 10 AM, I was looking around for something to do when I noticed that the door to Fisioterapía was open. What luck! I snuck in and met Luisa, a lady who instantly seems kind, gentle and sincere. I really enjoyed talking to her – she had no patients at the time – about the kind of work she does. She said that she usually works with babies and younger children with developmental difficulties, but we spent the better part of twenty minutes talking about a nine-year-old patient of hers with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This woman really cares about the work she does; the one book she had that mentions Duchenne is highlighted, dog-eared and very well-read. Still, she said a few times that she’d like to know more. Since she doesn’t really have computer access or skills, I said I’d see what I could find and bring her some useful information next week. I think that working her after the clinic has died down could be really cool – we’ll each learn from each other, and hopefully a few boys with Duchenne will benefit.

That’s it for the clinic right now. I’m also really enjoying my time working in the emergency department. Carlos and Esperanza have been really great to me and I’m getting to do a lot of injections. I can mix meds and prepare IVs no problem now, and they let me give IV meds once they’ve done the canalisar part. I started one with some help last week, but I want to be doing them in my own by the time I leave. I think I’ll get there.

I wish I had time to say more, but there’s always too much to talk about! Here are some other important details:

- I’m planning to keep spending time in maternity and the OR, too.

- We got three new volunteers yesterday.

- Brianne and I are going camping today!

- My cousin Carly is getting married today. Congrats, Carly and Shaun!