Clinics and Fires

September 27, 2010:

So I thought that two weeks ago was my first clinical experience. Nope. That was today. The OFFICIAL clinical day took place in Pucallpa.

Last night we all got together and had a big meeting. In this meeting leaders were chosen, responsibilities were given, and some details were discussed. It was a lot. But when is it never a lot. The same night Rachel and I were up till 1 AM packing up meds and setting things up for this big medical campaign.

At 6 the next morning I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the whole crew. We all packed up the truck and headed to Pucallpa. Half of the crew left in taxis to Pucallpa. Meanwhile, the rest of us had an adventure riding in the truck to Pucallpa. Caleb, after learning how to drive stick two weeks ago, drove to Pucallpa. He did such an AWESOME job! I told him to think of it as a video game. The closer we got to Pucallpa, the levels would get harder. Then the boss of the video game was following the Doc on his motorcycle in Pucallpa traffic. However, tonight Caleb battled against the ultimate boss; following the Doc on his motorcycle at night in Pucallpa traffic. Every time I ride with Caleb I have complete trust that he will do a great job. And he always does.

We arrived to an empty house that contained a medium and large room. Both Doctors set up their tables in the medium room and then pharmacy and dental set up in the large room. It was a bit crowded, but bearable. After 30 minutes we had a crowd surrounding outside the building. At first I worked on triage with Hanna. I took many vitals and talked with many patients. I would also then be called here and there to translate. I felt like I was running all over the place for about 5 hours straight. It got a bit tiring. I was working nonstop that I had forgotten my hunger. When 3 pm came around I finally got a chance to take a breath and eat a very late lunch with the whole team. We had some delicious noodles and salad. Immediately after eating my lunch I was back at it.

This time there were more people doing triage so I jumped back in the pharmacy and passed out meds with Rachel. At this point Doc was flying through his patients and Rachel and I were sweating buckets trying to keep up him. Which is almost impossible. The funny thing is that we didn’t notice how soaked we were in sweat until after we had finished. We were so occupied with patients that we didn’t even have time to think about our own bodies.

Even though I feel like we have worked like horses, it was a good day. I met a lot of nice people, saw new things, and I was enjoying my time. Yes, it was crazy at times, but I can see God really working in me. I’m loving this service that we are doing! I just pray that God will continue to provide me with strength and His love. We were told that this particular campaign is two weeks long. So I need a lot of strength J

Oh and I forgot to mention that around 7 AM on Sunday the new doctor arrived. Dr. Shiar, will be joining us for two weeks. He’s really cool and nice. I’m glad he has joined our team momentarily.

September 28, 2010:

Second day. Today went a little smoother compared to yesterday. We showed Anthony how things work in the pharmacy, we found a better way to organize our meds, and we had more supplies. I still ran around here and there; translating, doing triage, and pharmacy.

We headed home a little early to say goodbye to Dr. Dianne and Mary. We had our last soup supper with them and then they were off to the airport. We counted our number of patients and recorded our clinical stats. Once that was done we headed over to the pharmacy to unpack everything, take inventory, and then repack. We finally got to bed at around midnight.

Procedures done today:

Toenail extraction

Ear cleanings

Scraping out puss and infection from an open leg wound. Then dressing it up again.

September 29, 2010:

Day three. As we arrive we see a large line of people waiting to be attended. We quickly unpack and start our day. The same lady with the huge wound on her leg came in and we scraped out more infection and then wrapped it up. Today we finally learned the names of the helpers we’ve been having. Gady is the lady who helps with dental registration. Veronica and Xiomi help with pharmacy. Daniel helps with medical and dental patients.

We were seeing patient after patient. It felt as if it would never slow down or stop. Then all of a sudden the doctor says that we need to speed it up because there is an emergency. A friend from the base had called for help. A fire near our house had gotten out of control and it needed to be stopped before it reached any closer. So, the doctor saw a few more patients and we vamped up the speed. We were trying our hardest to deliver our best service to our patients in such a fast pace.

At 4 PM we were driving towards home. When we got home we all threw on long sleeve shirts, jeans, and bandanas. Then we all jumped in the shower to soak ourselves. We filled a big container of water and headed towards the jungle. In the jungle we found the rest of the locals fighting the fire with water and machetes.

I couldn’t believe it. We were literally jumping in there, dumping water, stomping out fires, and slashing at the flames. We were finally able to put it out after three hours of battling. We went back home, had a small supper of fruits, had a team meeting to discuss improvements, showered, recorded stats, and repacked meds. It wasn’t till 1 AM when I closed my eyes.

Lord continue to provide me with strength. It is only because of you that I’m still standing and breathing.

September 30, 2010:

Day four. Today really felt like it would never end.

Last night in our team meeting we had all agreed to have breakfast at 6:30 and to be out on the road by 7:30. We had to stop leaving at around 9ish, it wasn’t fair to our patients. So, today my day started at 5:30 AM in the kitchen making breakfast. At around 8 AM we were in the clinic ready to go.

I did ear cleanings, gave shots, helped in triage, translated, dressed wounds, and so much more. Thankfully, Anthony had caught on very quick and was a lot of help. I knew that I could stop in the pharmacy and take care of a procedure or translate for someone. I knew that Rachel and Anthony had it all under control. We could be backed up with 20 patients, but they had it under control. Today we saw a premature baby come in who really looked like it wasn’t going to make it. Very sad.

Tired and exhausted we arrived home to find out that another fire had started up again. We put on our crusty, dirty fire clothes and jumped on the tractor. We fought for about 2 hours until we were able to control it. We headed home and showered and got ready for bed. All of a sudden we hear, “fuego!” Out again we go. It took us another 2 hours to battle the flames and put them out.

It wasn’t till midnight-ish that we were finally asleep.

October 1, 2010:

Day five. Our last day in Ivan Sicke. We arrived early and gave it all we had. We saw the same stuff that we had been seeing the past four days. Kids with infections, fungal problems, rashes, colds, and of course bichos (worms). Adults with hurting bones, body aches, headaches, and of course bichos. At 3 pm we decided to have our lunch and pack up the clinic. While we were eating we discussed our next week of clinics as a team. We could either stay in Pucallpa or travel up the river. We calculated the cost of meds, supplies, foods, and transportation. In the end we decided to travel up river and visit different remote villages. I’m so stoked!

When everything was packed in the truck, Rachel, Lauren, Jenessa, Hanna, Caleb, and I decided to shop for a few things in Pucallpa and to eat at a pizzeria. We felt that we had been working really hard and we just wanted to treat ourselves. We got all our shopping done and then headed to the pizzeria. Just as we had ordered I get a call from Shirley (the Doc’s wife). In a frantic voice she tells me that we must head home immediately. A fire has started up again behind the house and the Doc is alone with only one other worker. We no hesitation we cancel our order an fly home. Literally, we were driving so fast, it felt like we were flying. It was almost 7pm when we arrived home and started battling the flames. After an hour we put it out and headed home to have some ramen for supper. Before I could even get a bite of my ramen, I hear, “fuego!” AGAIN. I put my bowl down and headed out AGAIN. It took another hour until it was gone. We went back home, ate my ramen, showered, and went to bed around 11pm.