Few Clinic Highlights of the Past Few Days..

Our birthday party surprise for my roommate last night went great! She ended up knowing that we were going to have a party but she didn't know the full extent of it.. which was still super fun! We had a real cake and ice cream, plus we got a card and flowers... all of which she had no clue about! And she was so surprised!! And very excited.. I overheard her skyping her parents later on that night before bed and she was so happy! We made her birthday here in Roatan so special! And it made my day, to help her celebrate and feel at home here! 

God blessed me with this awesome roommate! I'm thankful for Danielle every day! We get along so well, which is key when you live in such a tiny apartment! He really just made a way for us.. neither of us can imagine what we would have done without the other! :) I love how He always knows best, even when we have no clue!

Clinic has been interesting the last few days and I actually have a few fun stories! Clinic is always such a mis-mash of patients.. we get a ton of 'cold/flu', back pain, you know.. the typical clinic/ER client load. But we also get the more interesting tropical things.. like diarrhea, dehydration, parasites, worms (which are different!), malaria etc. Here are a few of my favorite stories of fun 'nursing' stuff I got to do these last few days:

- we had a very dehydrated older gentleman.. he was honestly 101lbs and taller than I am.. very emaciated (basically he was starving.. in the literal sense). His blood pressure was REALLY low, so they wanted him to get fluids..the PA student wanted to practice IV insertion, so Laura & I (the nurses) setup all the equipment and taught/guided her with inserting the IV. I was a bit disappointed at not getting to insert the IV myself, however as lame as it may sound, I really enjoyed the opportunity to ‘be with’ the patient. He was really nervous and I held his hand and talked him through the procedure. I was frustrated that she didn’t exactly do the insertion smoothly, thus ultimately caused him a bit more pain.. but she was learning, so what can you do. I provided comfort for the patient and felt I really improved the experience for him.

-Teenage girl who originally came in with very distressed with severe abdominal pain and shortness of breath, who rapidly became a priority case! We were running getting her on oxygen, taking her vitals and trying to calm her down. It turns out she just had a severe panic attack, which caused her worsening shortness of breath, but it was a bit dicey for a bit while we tried to get her calmed down and breathing more effectively on the oxygen. Again, not only did I enjoy the technical skills of administering the oxygen and monitoring her vitals etc, I really enjoyed spending time reassuring her frantic mother and providing her comfort while calming her down.

We also had some interesting cases of communicable diseases, such as a woman with active TB, and a case of adult varicella (chicken pox). It is difficult when these patients are living in poverty because the precautions or treatment that is necessary may just not be an option for them. I was trying to educate the patient with TB about  the medication we were providing her and about the follow up tests the Dr had ordered for her. But she looked at me and admitted that she wouldn’t be getting the necessary tests because they would be too expensive and she simply couldn’t afford them. Without the tests and definitive diagnosis of TB she wouldn’t be able to get appropriate treatment and if she simply returned home, she would expose many more people to TB. I provided as much education as possible to this woman, but she just didn’t understand.. its hard sometimes for the clients to take my advice when they look at me and know that I have never been in poverty like theirs; they think I couldn’t possible understand.. and maybe they’re right.. Thankfully this story ends well because I spoke with the Dr and he educated her further and found a way for her to get the necessary tests without paying.. but how many other cases don’t end this way.. how many other untreated cases of communicable diseases simply return home because they cannot afford the necessary health care, and just spread the disease further. It really helps put into perspective the care we provide at the clinic.. how vital our services are. Many people would be very sick and some may have died without the treatment and medications provided by our clinic. God has really blessed the people here with the clinic.. and often they will say that.. we just brush it off with a ‘thank you.. and yes, God is good to you’ but truly, He is! How blessed have I been to simply serve here.. but I can’t even imagine how blessed they must feel to know that God has provided such an important medical resource here in their community.. so that they can be taken care of!