The Latest

Several days ago I had my first "patient." There was a young boy with a cut foot who I cleaned up, wrapped up, and sent off with a smile. Of course almost anyone could do that, but it still gave me a really good feeling, and a tiny glimpse of the internal reward of practicing medicine. The next day, things got a little more serious. I assisted the Haitian physician ("Dokte Jakob") with a surgery, and it was no piece of cake. The boy had what I thought to be a Guinea worm in his neck, but it turned out that it was a metal piece of a belt buckle that was completely buried under the skin. I later learned that one of the child's parents had beaten him with a belt, and had now brought him in, 8 days later, because the area was swelling and painful. During the entire surgery, in which Jakob removed the metal bar, the child was squirming and screaming at the top of his lungs. Everyone was looking with pity and discomfort on their faces--it was not a pretty sight. Jakob put plenty of numbing medicine on the area before making the incision, so he assured me that the child's screams were out of fear, and not pain. This knowledge, however, made the process no less grueling. Afterword, I asked whether the parents would be reported for abuse--"maybe," Jakob said, but in Haiti this is not at all uncommon, and even if they were reported, most likely nothing would be done. I'm reminded every day, in many different ways, of how primitive it is here.
Most of my time not spent in the clinic has been spent detailing the timeline for our "Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite" project, as well as going into town to buy supplies. Every house needs to be cleared out, bombed with insecticide, painted, re-bombed, and then we move in the new beds and furniture. There are 20 houses that need this treatment--it looks as though, barring any major unforeseen problems, we'll finish this project before I leave. Pretty exciting.
I've also been helping Will outline his Malaria project proposal, which has 3 phases: treatment, prevention, and education. Hopefully that will be approved and up and running soon.
I'm also excited for my parents arrival on Sunday--they'll be a significant helping force in the medical clinic, and are bringing numerous medical (and other) supplies with them. Although I'll be busy bombing houses with insecticide and touching up their insides with caulk, I still hope to spend a good amount of time watching and helping them.