Mobile Clinic Wannabe

While dragging myself out of bed to traipse through Port Au Prince in the rain with a raging headache and drippy nose was not on my list of preferred activities yesterday, I am ALWAYS glad to get out and about.

Abe woke me up with a phone call and arranged to get me shopping money for the market and then proceeded to line out a meeting with some ladies who suffered from various maladies needing antibiotics, assessments and medication. Relatives of members of the crew he runs who's illness was brought to his attention. Abe is always so good at actually listening AFTER the programmed "How are you today" greeting. And if everything is not okay, well then he finds a way to make it so! When it was all said and done, I am glad I was able to be a part of a few people's better day.

The driver picked me up and Davidson, who just happened to still be in town, came along for the ride to interpret. He was a trooper as we drove through slow windy streets to eventually squish into a tiny bedroom where he translated a long list of potentially embarrassing female issues. How thoughtful of God to bring someone into my life who actually had a job interpreting for an American Dr in a local hospital. He always has everything planned out to a T!

I had a slight idea of what the patients were going to need so I stopped by a few pharmacies and stores to get certain items and pills I knew they would not be able to afford. Cut into our grocery budget a bit, but all in all I was very pleased to be able to find most of what I needed. It surprised me how many scary items are available to the public here without a prescription. Also duly noted is the lack of FDA approval on everything I purchased. I am eternally grateful for the small arsenal of remedies I was able to bring from the States.

After spending FOREVER drilling into the ladies how to properly execute the treatments I gave out we headed for the market. I should have added earlier that, as it was Adam's turn to go to the market with me, he was forced to patiently tag along in all my adventures. His GI Joes got a LOT of play time with him.

We used the rest of my weekly allowance and even found someone willing to sell me eggs for a fair price. Right as we were wrapping it up Abe called and asked for me to hurry to the job site. While one man was taken to the hospital for attempting to sever his hand on a saw, another fell from a ladder and was not behaving normally. They didn't have a driver to take him to the hospital and as they make glorified band aid stations look desirable, the nearby hospital would not be able to scan his head for injuries even IF he would be able to afford it. I was anxious to get my hands on some real trauma again, but you may all rest assured that my blood lust is still unquenched. Once I arrived he had come to and while he had the typical symptoms of a decent concussion, his skull, neck and back were sound. I patched up his shoulder, elbow and knee without needing to break out the suture kit and left him with pain killers for the morning and strict instructions for his brother to watch him. I wanted him to go home, but finally succumbed to promises from Abe that he would stay off of ladders and sit for the rest of the shift. Well, it was good for me. ;-)

I made it home as the end of my headache medicine and Theraflu approached. Tired and happy to be useful again I organized and reassessed my supplies. I will need some refills soon. Any one wanna come visit?!