Crazy week at clinic but always good fun..

So this week has been CRAZY!! I moved into my new apartment on Wednesday and its been so busy! I've hardly had time to get things unpacked! The first night I was here, the power went out while I tried to unpack so I couldn't do much in the dark (which is why I haven't posted pictures yet 'cause my camera was dead and power has been sketchy.. but I will take and post some tomorrow). But I hung out with my new roommate, and I'm so blessed to be getting to know her! Then clinic on Thursday was crazy because they did another outreach and we were short two doctors so things were moving slower and just more hectic. Oh and my favorite story of Thursday was that I got to take out my first set of stitches! Which is actually quite an accomplishment for me, because to be honest I get a bit squeamish around stitches.. you'd think I'd like them, with my passion for sewing and all.. but I dont! Anyway, Laura was taking stitches out of a little boy's upper lip and she let me do it! :) Nothing too crazy, just cutting out a few stitches but I thought it was fun! And clinic was just the same old crazy hectic-ness.. I can't think of any specifically funny or interesting story but just long and hectic. We didn't get out til 15mins before tutoring, so I just came home and changed and went straight to the school.
I really enjoy tutoring, and Micheal my student is really fun. It is so awesome to see a 5th grade boy who is so keen on learning and just soaks it up. I mean he is still mischevious and tries to convince me he should be allowed to 'research things on the computer' rather than do his spelling words.. but he just loves to learn! And he is so sweet! He made me a necklace this week just to thank me for being his tutor!
Then after tutoring some of the other volunteers came over and hung out on our porch because we are basically right on the water.. like I'm not kidding, I could probably spit into the ocean, not a word of lie! So we hung out on the porch.. well, I tried to get schoolwork done but they were too distracting! Then I cooked us supper and we hung-out and ate it all together. It was fun to bond with the other volunteers and it was the perfect first supper in my new apartment! I just feel so old and mature now - buying my own food at the market, preparing group meals and eating together.. it is just so much fun!!

Emmy, ME, Vanessa, Micheal, Oscar and Mado (other clinic volunteer)

So then today was a really hectic day in clinic too! We were short doctors again, only this time we were short on of our staff doctors who oversees the students so that REALLY slows things down! So now all the med students have to have their consults checked by only one doctor rather than two.. so this creates serious backlog. Plus one of our computers was down, and unfortunately it was the one the receptionist uses to register patients so there was a long wait while she did registration more manually than usual.  It took us forever to see all the patients and normally if we are short a doctor, we cap the patient load for the day, but since it was friday and we are not open on the weekends they decided not to cap.. and we ended up seeing a ton of patients. I saw a real variety of things today.. I assisted a doctor do a pelvic exam and ultrasound on a pregnant 15yr old who was bleeding a bit, and it turned out she had miscarried... I did an EKG on a woman who was having a heart attack.. we saw a young man who was paralyzed on one side (similar to a stroke) but this was due to a gun shot wound in his forehead from 3months ago. So just a real mis-mash like always.
Then we got home just in time (like 30sec to spare) to do my midterm evaluation with my professor at UPEI, which went well. We did a skype interview, and I think my favorite part is that my roommate didn't realize what was going on and she walked by in the background several times wearing only her bikini (which is hardly anything) lol. I'm sure my professor thinks I'm crazy! lol Then just as we ended the call we heard shouts from the dock and everyone was crowded around something. We called over and found out that a kid had cut his foot on the dock really badly and needed stitches. So we got the keys and headed back to the clinic to stitch him up. One of the students stitched and Laura and I assisted. We got him all stitched and bandaged up, a tetanus shot and some wound cleaner and sent him on his way. Maybe I'll get to take his stitches out in a few weeks when he returns to the clinic.

Anyway, thats a long enough post for today.. but if this is how my new adventure begins, I can hardly wait to see what is yet to come! Thanks for all your prayers and support!