Yesterday was a light day for medical patients. Aida (heel sutures) came for a bandage change & then only one other person besides her. I think it's safe to say that this last patient made up up for the light day.
WARNING: Do not scroll down for the 'before' picture if you are not up for a seriously gnarly wound. It is at the very bottom of this entry, so you can still read the story. The after picture is up above on the previous post.
Allow me to introduce our second domestic case covering La Digue and the surrounding areas:
Titi (tee-tee) is 34 years old and lives down the road from us. He was in an argument with his wife/his wife's cousin (maybe both, maybe one or the other - still a little unclear on that). For whatever reason, his wife's cousin hit him in the face with a pot. I'm not really familiar with pots having jagged edges but I think they must be making them here with this special feature.
While I was cleaning it out, Titi was talking with Pastor Sonson (whose school is one of the places that kids are fed) about pay. I understood what they were saying and told them that pay wasn't necessary. Later on, I told him that I had changed my mind. I jokingly told them that after thinking about it, I'd decided that Titi's wife's cousin needs to pay me, since she caused the wound which brought the work. They both laughed & seemed to like that idea a lot.
In all my suturing experience (a whole 3 months & 9 patients), this was the hardest wound to suture. I wasn't thrilled with how it closed up, but I am just praying it heals nicely anyway. I did about 7 deep sutures inside and 10 surface sutures outside. It took about an hour and a half, filled with numerous needle breakings, changing suture sizes, stopping to inject more lidocaine & lots of sweat dripping from my face onto Titi's face.
I'm just thankful it is over & am hoping that the jagged edged pots are not used as weapons again any time soon.
Allow me to introduce our second domestic case covering La Digue and the surrounding areas:
Titi (tee-tee) is 34 years old and lives down the road from us. He was in an argument with his wife/his wife's cousin (maybe both, maybe one or the other - still a little unclear on that). For whatever reason, his wife's cousin hit him in the face with a pot. I'm not really familiar with pots having jagged edges but I think they must be making them here with this special feature.
While I was cleaning it out, Titi was talking with Pastor Sonson (whose school is one of the places that kids are fed) about pay. I understood what they were saying and told them that pay wasn't necessary. Later on, I told him that I had changed my mind. I jokingly told them that after thinking about it, I'd decided that Titi's wife's cousin needs to pay me, since she caused the wound which brought the work. They both laughed & seemed to like that idea a lot.
In all my suturing experience (a whole 3 months & 9 patients), this was the hardest wound to suture. I wasn't thrilled with how it closed up, but I am just praying it heals nicely anyway. I did about 7 deep sutures inside and 10 surface sutures outside. It took about an hour and a half, filled with numerous needle breakings, changing suture sizes, stopping to inject more lidocaine & lots of sweat dripping from my face onto Titi's face.
I'm just thankful it is over & am hoping that the jagged edged pots are not used as weapons again any time soon.
Working .... dripping:
Before. I feel like gnarly is the perfect descriptive adjective.
