Baby Jaundice, Gunshot Wound, Diabetic Ulcer, Suture Removal, and Laura's Birthday

Monday, July 14, 2008 - Part 2

We saw a 5-day old baby boy who came in to get his umbilical area cleaned. In Haiti, they use alcohol pads to wipe it, so it looked painful. The baby was quite jaundiced so we advised the mother to let the baby have more sunlight (my classmates should know exactly how that works). It was cool to see in real life something that I had learned in class.

I also got to see a man with a gunshot wound that went through his right thigh. The man works in the Bahamas, so he could speak some English. He explained that a thief had robbed him, hit him on the eye with the butt of the gun, and shot his leg. It was neat to see a gunshot wound for the first time, but only because it didn't seem too serious... Ok, it would be kind of neat even if it was serious, but I wouldn't be saying that.

There was an old woman who had been having chronic skin ulcers on her legs since 1998. They were at least 10 cm (4 in) in diameter. Since she had been coming to the clinic for such a long time, she had a really thick chart. I wanted to figure out why she was having these chronic infections, but the handwritings were illegible. So I talked with the patient to get her history while Amy changed her dressing. I was kind of surprised how well I could understand her, but that's probably because she talked slowly. Hopefully I might be actually getting better at understanding spoken Creole. Anyhow after a longwinded story of how everything happened, she told me that a white doctor who was at the clinic long ago told her that she had high blood sugar. Well, go figure.

Then we saw Ruth, one of our Haitian staff from the OMS office, who lacerated her right shin and got 6 stitches a few days ago. The wound was healing well, and it was time to take out the sutures. Evan showed me how to take one out, and I took out the rest. I guess taking out stitches aren't that big of a deal, but first times always feel kind of special.

Tragedy, Repentance, Baby Hymen, and Paranoid Fever

Monday, July 14, 2008 - Part 1

This morning I found out from Gavin how the boy with diphtheria really died. On Tuesday night, he woke up when he was still intubated, and while no one was watching, he took out the tube himself, which caused his airway to shut completely. By the time someone came, it was too late. What a tragedy, and such a waste after all our efforts to save his life. How sad that the boy unwittingly killed himself, and that he died without his family around. It's one thing if he had died of the toxin, but he still had a very good chance of survival. If only he had been monitored or sedated...

We also heard a good news today. Ms. Prudence told us that the man who injured Madelene with a machete had come out from hiding, apologized to everyone at the church, and became a Christian! While he was hiding, Ms. Prudence's husband, who is the pastor of a church up in Souffrier, told him that Madelene is healing well, and that he should repent. It was really cool to hear that something good came out of what seemed to be an unfortunate event.

Most of our regular patients come on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so we got to see many of them today. And by regular patients, I mean Madelene (machete wound), Augusma (torn hand and broken elbow), Kettelie (pubic sore), and Acephise (facial abscess). The more I work at the treatment room, the more I become familiar with these patients. It was great to see how each patient was getting better, except Acephise's abscess still seemed pretty bad. She had lots of green discharge which smelled awful as usual. Because the abscess is right on her cheek, she could hardly talk. We're still not sure if she's taking the antibiotics. I think she'll be coming to the clinic everyday now.

Maranatha, Turtles, and Homemade Ice Cream

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Today we went to Maranatha Church, which is a few minute walk down the street from the compound. This is the church that Scott has been going to. Scott is a long-term missionary who's been working at the radio station for many years, and he's going back to Alabama for good on Tuesday. Since this was his last Sunday at the church, he spoke to the congregation and bade them farewell.

Afterwards, Amy, Laura, Evan, and I went to Christoph, took a quick dip in the pool, and ate lunch at the poolside. They have a few turtles at the hotel, so we paid them a visit. Nothing too exciting, and their water needed to be changed, but it was cool to see turtles in Haiti.

Amy joined us again for dinner. The kitchen ladies had prepared sloppy joe and ice cream for us (they don't work on Sundays, so they made them yesterday). Ice cream was a bit too sweet for me, but it was still ice cream, so it was good. Later we hung out at Amy's as usual, and the three of them (Amy, Laura, and Evan) watched another episode of Grey's Anatomy while I chatted with friends online. I love Grey's, but I'm not big on re-watching shows unless they're hilarious.

It was another relaxing weekend.

Cap-Haitien Tour, Bargaining, and the Twelfth

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Today we went on a tour of downtown Cap-Hatien. Amy, Wadner, Laura, Evan, and I drove over to Enoch's house and walked around the city from there. Enoch is a Haitian ergonomist who deals with agriculture and works with an organization called Hope Seed. He plays piano at the English Bible Fellowship on Sundays. He was our tour guide for the day.

First we went to the city square (see it on Google Maps), which is between the Notre Dame Cathedral and the city hall. We went inside the cathedral and looked around for a bit. Then we visited a few private catholic schools. I guess it's no surprise that schools and buildings funded by the richest church in the world are the prettiest attractions in this city.

We also visited the Justinian Hospital (Google Maps), which is the biggest hospital in Cap-Haitien and the one we usually send patients to in case of emergencies. At hospitals in Haiti, patients have to pay for every single equipment that is used for them, even gloves. With the food crisis, less and less people can afford healthcare, and more and more people are becoming sicker. Just when you thought the US healthcare system was bad...

After that, we walked through the Iron Market, which is probably the biggest market in Cap-Haitien. If you look up Cap-Haitien on Google Earth (or Google Maps), you will see a big brown square the size of 4 blocks put together. It was so crowded, smelly, and dirty that we were busy just trying to get through, so we couldn't see much of it when we were inside. Watch out for pickpockets!

Then we went to the Boat Market (Google Maps), where you will find a number of tourists. There is one long row of shops that sell paintings, sculptures, jewelries, dresses, and all sorts of souvenir items. I wanted to buy some paintings, so I went scouting down the entire row, then went back to the shops that had ones that I liked.

As usual, I had to bargain like no other. The first seller offered me three paintings for 3000 gourds ($80), but I bargained it down to 1100grds ($30). I probably could have got them for less, but at least it was quick. The second seller offered three paintings for $300US(!), claiming that one of the pieces was done by a famous painter, which is total bull crap, but I didn't want to offend him by calling him a liar (not good for bargaining) After a long negotiation he offered them for 2000gds ($53), but I only had 1600gds ($42), so he just took that. I probably could have paid less if I had been carrying less money... Bargaining takes so much energy out of you.

Then we walked over to La Kay restaurant (where we ate yesterday) and had lunch. I got chicken spaghetti this time, but it was very salty... I still ate it though. I should have gotten cheeseburger again.

In the afternoon, Amy, Evan, Laura, and I went over to Gavin's house to celebrate the Twelfth of July (an Irish tradition). We tossed around a rugby ball for a while, then ate food prepared by Gavin. For dessert we had caramel ice cream, which was probably the best ice cream I've ever had in Haiti.

Chapel, Blisters, Lightheadedness, and Cheeseburgers

Friday, July 11, 2008

This morning, instead of having a devotion at the clinic, we met at the seminary chapel with people from other OMS ministries. Dr. Rodney lead the devotion, all the different ministries shared their praise and prayer requests, and we all prayed together. We have these meetings once a quarter or so.

In the morning we saw some of our regular patients including Madelene (girl with machete wound) and Augusma (fractured elbow and sutured hand). Madelene's wound still seemed to be healing well. Last time she was here, we put some steristrips across the wound to bring the skin closer and make the wound narrower. The wound was a bit narrower, but there were a couple blisters under the steristrips. It may have been caused by friction from steristrips, or she could be allergic to them, so this time we just bandaged the wound. We'll see if the blisters are any better next time.

Then we saw Augusma, whose hand also seemed to be healing well. So Gavin took out the stitches while I held Augusma's arm so his elbow won't move. After 10 minutes or so I started to feel lightheaded, so I got Laura to cover for me and sat down. Earlier this morning I had some loose stool (probably a side effect from erythromycin). I hadn't had much water since then, and I could feel my heart palpitating (fast and hard), so I was probably dehydrated. Then my stomach started to feel queasy just before I felt lightheaded. Good thing I saw that coming and was able to hold Augusma's arm until someone took over. I sat and put my head between my knees for a while, went to the bathroom, and then I felt much better.

All the missionaries took a half day today and went out to lunch as a farewell for three long-term missionaries: John, Dorothy, and Scott. We went to La Kay restaurant, and most of us got cheeseburgers with fries. We don't get to eat much burgers in Haiti, so it was a treat.

In the afternoon I took a long nap to recuperate from my illness this morning. I feel all better now. After dinner we hung out at Amy's as usual.