Ups and downs of medicine
Today we had 127 patients, and it seems that we are seeing the majority of them in the morning, this makes breaking for lunch a welcome interruption to our day. We have had 4.5 days of clinic under our belts and have gotten ourselves into a smooth running routine. This should make the last 3.5 days a walk in the park...
Our cases of interest today included two women with ascities(swelling of the belly, that makes people look pregnant) of unknown pathology. One of the women also has a goiter (swelling of the neck due to a lack of iodine in the diet). The medical staff are fighting the frustration that comes when we don't have access to lab tests, xrays and other things used to identify internal pathology/causes of illnesses. For example one of the women we are sending for an ultra sound, but they only do ultra sounds once a week on Saturdays...so we have to wait. Something we are slowly getting used to here.
We also saw Darchemie today. She is the girl that came to the clinic in November of last year. She presented with a growth on the left side of her face that was identified as a tumour growing in the enamel of one of her teeth. She has gone for surgery and two installments of chemotherapy, and has four pending treatments. The growth has gotten bigger and it seems that the chemo and surgery have not been successful in reducing the size of the tumor but have been good in decreasing the pain she experiences. This is one of those heart breaking moments in medicine when you have to let go of what you think you can do and let God do. Please pray for the complete healing of this precious little girl.
God is so good, as he blessed us with a positive story from the last clinic as well. There was a little girl named Ginna who was sick in the clinic for a week. She got attached to a few of the team members (and I think they got attached to her as well!) She came back for a check up and was a picture of vibrant health. It was such an encouragement to know that we do make a difference in the lives of others.
Jaime wrote the following,
Hot as it is in Haiti drinking coke makes you feel better (I didn't get paid to advertise). But we are lucky to have these drinks. The Haitians drink un purified water. They don't have milk to grow big and strong, they only have three main fruits, mangos, jackfruit, and bananas. I think this is why six year olds weigh an average of 19 kilos. I'm missing almost three weeks of school to be here and yet half the kids here don't go to school because their parents cannot afford the school fees. But I still had work to do. My main assignment while I am here is to take the height and weights of the Haitian kids(ages 5-13 years). We measured 150 kids at home and hope to measure 150 kids here. This is a part of our school project to compare heights and weights of kids here with kids at home. I think the kids in Haiti will be lighter than back in Canada, but we
are still in the process of collecting information.
2 Comments:
Wow... what a day! Thanks for sharing... I just made me smile and get a bit teary to see and think of Ginna and how she was when we saw her in December. I'm glad that she is doing well. She has so many odds against her. I remember thinking she is in God's hands truly and only He is big enough to save her from all of those odds. Jody, thanks for taking a picture of you and her. Just love it!
I also have to say that I really like the school project idea of comparing the sizes of the Haitian kids to the Canadian ones.
Thinking of you all of you. Hugs, Amber
Great to hear you guys are doing well and doing such great work - thanks for all the updates!
Hugs to Jackie, Paul and Dr. Bob from the 3 Blundells that are still in Canada :).
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