Last Monday, I posted about it being Medical Madness Monday. This could be called the second installment, but somewhat diminished & without the large lacerations.
The day did not start too well, I woke up last night around 2am. What woke me up, you ask? The heat. I am not one to complain but it had to have been pretty stinkin hot to awaken a normally heavy-sleeper. It has been increasingly hot the last few days. Waking up in your own sweat is not cool.
The second start of my day was much better. I got going on my school by 8:15 and accomplished a lot. The way that the curriculum is set up is in week-long lessons. They give the list of things to be completed in each lesson/(week) but then I do them on my own time. I like that. I think it's good to be forced to practice time-management & planning skills. Plus, then I don't have to read all 29 or 14 or 44 pages in one day. It looks like my life will now consist of reading, reading, and more reading all the while trying to retain the information. I knew college courses consisted of a lot more reading but I guess I will just have to take it one day at a time & not go all OCPD on myself & figure out how many pages that is per day per class and all classes combined. Seriously, I do that.
My dad spent the day building a desk for my room. Right now I'm using a standard school desk, so the new desk will have room for a few books to be laid out and also the computer. Isaac & I painted it this afternoon, in-between seeing patients.
Today, I started a new rule. Upon my mom's suggestion, I've set up a timeline for when I will be seeing patients. If you live in the La Digue area and have a cut or sore or burn, you can come anytime after 3pm. If you attain a new cut or burn before 3 pm and it is something that cannot wait ... you are free to come anytime. Today was the first day of this structure. I really liked it. I didn't have to feel irked about being interrupted from my school stuff because it never happened. And when people did come, I had more time to spend with them. Excellent idea, Mom; you are always right.
In-between painting the desk, we saw a whopping 10 people today. Most of the patients were return-patients. I've had a very constant flow of people whose bandages need to be changed everyday. In America, most of those things could go a few days but bandages fall of because the tape literally melts in the heat and also they get really sweaty & dirty & just fall off. Here's a run-down of who & what came today:
~Mirmose, a LL cook, came saying that she had 'tension' which is what they use to refer to blood pressure. I don't know how to take blood pressure yet (hint hint, Jamie & Sharon) but I felt her pulse and it was faster than normal. I went and got the Where There Is No Doctor: a village medical guide and looked up the symptoms for heat exhaustion. Turns out that she had every symptom. We sent her home & told her to lie down in a cool place with her feet elevated & also to drink salt water. That is what the book said; I'm really glad I have that for a quick resource. It is very hot right now and working in the hot canteen around hot stoves seems to be the perfect setting to get heat exhaustion or heat-related cramps.
~Odnuel, the 14yr old son of a LL employee, came with these sores:
He says they started 15 days ago, but just recently started opening up and leaking pus. There are 5 little sores, and the skin seems to have peeled off around the area. He says they don't hurt or itch. His ankleis quite swollen. I cleaned the sores out & told him to come back Wednesday.
I really don't know if they're just infected bug bites or something more serious.
Maybe you guys: Drs. Jen, Jamie, Sharon, and Nik have some ideas.
~My 'assistant' (as shown in a previous post) Akim came with a chunk of his fingernail cut off. I've seen a few people with this problem. Ow!
~Keeping with the owie fingernail pattern, Rena came for a dressing change. Below is a picture from yesterday. The finger got crushed when a motorbike fell over on his hand. While I clean it and change the bandage, it does not bleed. But everyday (he first came last Friday) when he returns, the bandage is soaked in blood. Is it normal, (health professional friends), for it to continue to bleed like this? With the other broken-off fingernails that I've seen, it usually bleeds a lot the first day but stops after that.~Silfana first came on Friday (I am enjoying maintaining my medical log - it makes for an excellent resource). She burned her thumb on a hot pot.
(shown below right)~Titi, the owie eye laceration, came for a bandage change. I will take his sutures out tomorrow. It is healing up very well, even with the less-than-perfect suture job.
~Aida, the heel sutures patient, had her stitches removed today. I took them out sooner than normal because her skin was starting to grow over the sutures. We are trying to allow more air to get to the bigger area where the skin was scraped off, but at the same time not permitting dirt to enter.
~Krispe came for a bandage change, he seemed very discombobulated and was acting just, well, strange. I think he as well might have been suffering from heat exhaustion. I thought he was going to throw up or pass out on me, so I was pretty freaked. I had him sit and brought him water & fruit snacks. This is just confirming for me how hot it really must be, if Haitians are being affected by it, then it must be bad. The remainder of the ulcer is scabbed over (as shown to the left), but I don't want to just let him go. I am afraid that it will open up again. What I really need is compression stockings, but I still need to find/buy/attain a knee-length pair.
Ahhh .... everyone hates this toe. I know, stop posting pictures of it already, right? Well this is Rosius' toe and it is healing up very nicely. The white stuff on the right looks infected, but his toe was kind of wrinkly today, similar to how your fingers get after sitting in the bathtub too long - in his case, wrinkly from sitting in a sweaty bandage too long.
I am actually very pleased with how quickly it is closing up and new skin (the bubbly/wrinkly white stuff) is forming.
Last, but certainly not least is Kamita. She is 5 and is Rosius' daughter. He mentioned something about her last time, so I said I'd like to see 'kisa li gen' (what she has). What she has is a birth defect. Kamita was born with 12 toes and 12 fingers. One of the extra toes was removed at birth. The other one has been giving her problems when she needs to wear closed-toe shoes, mainly for school. Obviously I am not in the business of amputating toes, but I suggested a clinic to go to & that maybe we would be able to help with the operation costs. Rosius is a great guy & exceptionally joyful; he's never asked for anything ... which is rare for return-patients. We'd love to be able to help out his daughter. Please pray that the clinic will be able to do the operation.
