1 Month and Counting

Yes, believe it or not, I have been here for a month; and what a fast month it has been.  It feels like I just got here, but at the same time, it feels like I have been here forever.  So you may ask, "What have you accomplished in the past month?"  Well, to that I answer, "I don't really know!"  Actually, it has been a month full of many things, but mainly it has been a time of adjustment.  Getting used to the speed of life here, the routine of working at the clinic and having free time...yeah I know, what's that?! and getting to know the people that I will be spending time with over the next weeks, months, and some, year.  Let me give you a brief recap of what life has been like over the past month.

At the clinic, I have been learning many things.  Aside from Ms. Peggy, I am the only nurse at the clinic...what big shoes I have to fill!  What would take at least a couple weeks in the states, my orientation to the clinic lasted 4 days.  After that?  I was on my own for the next two weeks; Peggy was on her way to the US for that time.  Wow!  What a busy, busy woman she is.  I can see why she needed help.  Clinic runs from about 8 to 12:30, with patients showing up starting at about 7 to get registered and then triage starts at 7:30.  On any given morning at the clinic, my job ranges from triaging patients, doing EKG's, distributing medications, answering questions for the docs and/or pharmacist, cleaning up after docs (go figure!), watching/assisting with small procedures, and learning more and more about medicine everyday.  By about 1:00 we are worn out and ready to go home for lunch.  Somedays our work is finished at this time, while other days, it continues in the afternoon.   This past Thursday, we had to make a house call to administer a shot of Haldol to a schizophrenic patient.  This patient literally is locked in a "house" which in the states, we would refer to more of as a large shed.  It's got four walls, a toilet, a bookcase (with nothing on it), a table and chair, and a bed (with no mattress or sheets).  The lady, Miss Sarah, is locked in this "house" because she is suffering from severe schizophrenia and there is literally nothing else they can do for her.  To add to this, she is also blind.  Typically, she is supposed to get a shot every month; however, this time around it had been nearly two months since the last time she got a shot.  Needless to say, it showed!  While I have dealt with a schizophrenic patient during my mental health rotation while in school, it was much more controlled than what I saw here.  This lady, because she hadn't had her medicine in a while, was suffering from the illness.  She didn't have any cloths on because they were all full of the evil spirits...she needed new ones, with clean souls.  She kept screaming at us that she didn't want her injection because it was from the devil; it wasn't going to help her.  Now, you may think, just stick her real quick, get it over with, and then once the medicine kicks in she will be better.  Not that easy...Miss Sarah is quite strong and there was a whole mL of Haldol that needed to be injected; not something that happens quickly, especially when you are fighting against the person.  After Ms Peggy talked to Miss Sarah for a good 10 minutes or so, we decided we needed to take another approach.  We went back to the clinic to get some oral medicine that we were going to mix with some food and then come back once that had kicked in to give the injection.  Well when we got back to the house, the daughter was home and she decided that we would just hold Sarah down and give the injection.  That's what we did, but man, was it work.  Hopefully that won't happen again!  Anyways, I digress.  Aside from clinic in the morning, the select house calls in the afternoon, and the meet and greats with donors and friends of the clinic, there are always emails to be answered and things to be lined up--lucky for me, Ms. Peggy does those; unfortunately, that usually leaves her quite swamped.  Hopefully now that I have had some time to get adjusted to life here and kind of get a feel for how things run around the clinic I will slowly be able to help her with more of those things.

Now you ask, "If clinic only goes until 1, and you aren't answering all the emails, what do you do with all your free time?"  I would like to know the same thing.  What do I do with all my free time.  There seems to be only so many things I can do online before I get bored of the computer.  I can usually only read for so long before I get bored with reading.  In order to get to any other towns on this island, it costs a taxi fare.  We are right in the midst of rainy season so the weather has cooled off a bit, you never know when it will rain, and sunny days have become few and far between.  We'll have to start playing more games and come up with something to fill our time I guess.  Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons, I go to the Sandy Bay Alternative School where I work with a girl named Vanessa on reading comprehension.  She is in 3rd grade, but I would say she probably has the comprehension skills of about a 1st grader; simply because her english isn't that good yet.  I have also learned of another program called the Sol Foundation that meets just down the road everyday from 5-9.   This program is a program where kids can come for tutoring help as well as just come to hang out.  I think this week I am going to go check that out, because hey, I can't pass up the opportunity to spend time with kids!  Then there are the evenings.  Typically, Jessie and I cook dinner together and the 2 PA students come over as well.  Some nights it's kind of funny because we will make dinner but then just sit in the room in silence each doing our own thing.  When the guys leave to head back to their apartment they will make a comment..."well, it was nice talking with you guys"....when actually not much conversation took place.  Sometimes though it is just nice to be in each others' presence.  Makes you feel not alone.  Last night, we went down to West End for dinner and a drink and then we decided we would walk part of the way home because the volunteer teachers that are here live within walking distance.  Well on our way, the bartender drove by and offered us a ride.  So we ended up hitching our first ride in Honduras in the back of a truck for part of the way home.  Then when she turned off the main road we hopped out and continued walking the rest of the way home....in the rain!  But let me tell you, it didn't actually end up being at terrible as I would usual assume walking in the rain to be.  It was actually quite enjoyable!

Another thing that I have learned here, is that weekdays go by really fast and the weekends go by really slow...who would have thought!  It's the complete opposite of in the US, but I think it's because we are not used to being able to rest and relax.  If only it could be that way sometimes in the US.  I must admit it is kind of nice, but at other times, I feel like I am just wasting my time not doing anything.  I will have to come up with a hobby or something I think.. Any suggestions?!

Some of you may be wondering about my first trip off the island.  Well, unfortunately it did not actually end up happening.  A long serious of events leading into it and just some lack of coordination and organization meant it didn't happen.  But I'm alright with it; I will get a chance to leave the island in due time.  Hey, instead of my first trip off the island, this weekend I got to have my first 3-day weekend due to the holiday this past week!

But, that's probably about enough for this time.  I've taken enough of your time for now, next time I will think of some things that you can ponder.  Hope all is well.  Enjoy the fall colors for me!

Laura