Sunday, February 7, 2010

Shot in the Butt

Since yesterday morning, Matt, Dan and I have been working to replace a termite infested door frame in the clinic. Keep in mind everything we use has to be carried the quarter mile to the clinic from the mission compound. In the blazing sun that quarter mile seemed more like the Bataan death march, so any forgotten item would result in adaptation and improvisation with the goal of not having to go back and retrieve said forgotten item.

By yesterday afternoon we had finished the door frame, a project that should have taken less than 2 hours in colder climates. Instead in the oppressive heat any simple task takes inordinately longer than it should. Upon finishing we decided to hang the door but quickly realized that we had neglected to take the dimensions of the door into account when we built the frame, but we decided to postpone that problem to the next day. Today was supposed to be a clinic day until we found that the paint from yesterday hadn't dried yet. So in the morning we headed back to finish up the door by widening the frame at the sides to take care of the massive gaps that had been there before. After finishing this task we hung the door again but realized that now the door was too big. This problem was quickly rectified by the acquisition of a planer with which we made the door small enough to fit in the frame.

Even though the clinic wasn't open Dr. Linares, the mission doctor here, asked us if we wanted to come and observe him check a abscess he had drained yesterday. A Miskito man from the village had stabbed himself with a thorn and gotten it infected. The doctor had drained it yesterday and now wanted to repack the wound. We met the man at the mission and walked back with him to the clinic. He spoke Spanish as well as Miskito and I got to practice my Spanish a little. I'm pretty happy that I can carry on a limited conversation and not have to translate things in my head when I hear them. What I've heard from the doctor is that most of the younger generation are bilingual however older people are more likely to only speak Miskito.

On the way to the clinic it started to rain which was unusual because its actually the dry season. Of course the rain was greatly appreciated because it drove the bugs away and dropped the temperature significantly. At the clinic we helped Dr. Linares gather the supplies for the procedure and prep the drugs. Before he started looking at the wound, the doctor let me give the patient an antibiotic injection in his rear. Here they save needles by using the same needle to fill the syringe as to do the injection. I found that this dulls the needle; when I gave the injection the needle didn't break the skin right away. For a second it looked like the needle was going to bend so I had to give it a little more persuasion. Needless to say the patient wasn't too excited by the experience. Finally I got a small taste of what we are supposed to be doing this semester and it was definitely the highlight of my day. After the injection we watched the doctor clean and repack the wound and we sent the man on his way with some acetaminophen and an appointment for tomorrow for the same procedure. After that we finished up the door and headed back for an early end to the day and a shower before sundown both very awesome.

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