Last night, no rain, which I think emboldened all the wildlife, mostly the dogs and roosters. Around 1 AM our watchful canines must have sensed danger and were patrolling the perimeter constantly and incessantly barking…which in turn awoke the roosters early…and repeatedly. Result – NO SLEEP!!!
We finally gave up as the sun rose and got ready for the day. We had a filling breakfast and divided up again for the clinics ahead. Today Carey, Sarah, Lindsay and Ches stayed back to handle the onslaught of patients…90 in total (the highest total yet). The rest of us loaded up again for the trip to the bush. Melila and Heather’s first moto ride today and they had a grand time getting to and from clinic. Today’s ride was only 30 minutes but no less jarring! It was somewhat comforting to see the same location today (our 3rd visit) and even some familiar faces, especially the sweet teenage Down Syndrome patient that always comes to visit at the end of clinic.
Surprisingly, I was the first to see pus and successfully drain it from a sweet little girl’s bottom…I could feel Kitty’s envy until, of course, she had a patient with a horrible infection of his leg that Kitty was dying to surgically debride, though our location and time did not allow it. Our sickest patient was a 2 month old with persistent seizure activity that we hoped to help get to a hospital for treatment. We are awaiting word and hope to contribute to her ongoing care. Of course, this is a patient that Vanessa will most certainly keep tabs on. As I have always said, one of our purposes here is to see all comers and be on the lookout for the child that needs extra attention. I think we found her today.
We saw a total of 90 patients, with Melila working with MOL’s health worker Jelinesse, and I had Kiki tackling most of our adult patients, allowing me to be a Pediatrician again. I think I have seen more kids and infants on this trip than I have seen on 5 previous trips combined…feeling spoiled! Chelsea and Heather handled the pharmacy mob with ease with the help of our new translator Patrick. He is a real cool customer and we are lucky to have the additional help.
Once all the patients were seen we were treated to a delicious meal from our hosts, especially the cabrit and picklis. We made our 30 minute drive home, thanked and paid our drivers and joined our colleagues in Clinic Jolivert to help finish clinic.
After some awesome downtime and a push to finish our beverages, we had a nice meeting with our hosts which ended with a promise to assist us as we venture out to discover our own identity as a fledgling organization. We are so lucky to have the friendship and guidance of these fine people and I foresee this as a lifelong relationship. We would not be in a position to seek our own direction if we had not lived through these past experiences.
Now we are just winding down for our 2-3 hours of interrupted sleep before we awake to a short morning clinic and another new adventure tomorrow. Looking forward to sharing the exciting new experiences of tomorrow, tomorrow night.
Love to All,
The Team