I cannot believe that we only have 2 more days left in South America!!! The time has passed very quickly. I have very mixed emotions about leaving. When I am at the clinic and thinking about how many days I have left with the friends that I have made here, I am very sad at the thought that I will likely never see them again. However, when I am at the apartment and packing, I am extremely excited to go home and see my husband, dog, family and friends.
Monday at the clinic was actually a much more interesting day than what we have been having. I saw my first case of Cushing's. He had the moon face, buffalo hump, and a few other signature signs. There was also a teenage girl that had drank a little too much alcohol, which led to vomiting. Since it had blood in it, we had to give her a referral for an endoscopy to check for ulcers. The scariest case of the day was a mother that had been feeding her baby water mixed with plantain powder for the first 30 days of the baby's life because the mom said she couldn't produce milk; however, I watched the nurse work with her and show her how to help her baby get her breast milk. This is definitely something that I will never see in the USA. The nurse was basically pulling/massaging her breast and squeezing milk out much like a baby suckling would do. What was so strange about the situation was that it was out in public. I have gotten used to seeing patients just whip out a breast to feed their child in the middle of a conversation, street, grocery store, etc.; but this took it to a whole new level.
Yesterday was a little slower day with a little bit of flu and another pregnant lady. Listening to an unborn baby's heartbeat will never get old! In the afternoon we took the chance to go to Fe y Luz. This place is pretty incredible! Fe y Luz works with children that have handicaps of some sort and also works with the families of these children to help them learn how to take care of their children properly and deal with their situation. There are several different types of therapy they focus on: physical therapy, speech therapy, critical thinking type skills, etc. There are also talks that are given about disease states and other important information for the parents and families. There are approximately 90 children there every day and 7 staff members, only 4 of which are health care professionals.
I also forgot to mention a few weeks ago that we went to the Center for Nutritional Recuperation. This place is also incredible. Their primary goal is to get the children to the nutritional levels they should be at. Their secondary goal (however still just as important), is teaching the mothers the best way to provide their children with the necessary vitamins and nutrients. This center, Fe y Luz, and Centro Medico Hombro a Hombro are all affiliated with FASCA (an association that helps fund the clinics).
Today I was with Mercedes in the community. I was able to counsel a couple of patients on their medications and listen in on one other patient interview. We then had to take a gentlemen to the ER at a nearby hospital because his blood sugar was 580! Unfortunately we didn't get to stick around to see what happened. In the afternoon, Stella and I participated in the Hypertension and Diabetes group for women. We gave a brief talk over the two disease states and talked a little bit about the medications that each woman was taking. According to Maggie (the Peace Corps volunteer) the meeting went really well. The ladies were asking a lot of questions and seemed to be in tune with what we were saying for the majority of the time. It was a great experience for the both of us, especially since we love the personal, counseling aspect of pharmacy.
When we got home, we packed a little bit more!!! I know I already said this, but it is getting so close!! We will be leaving Santo Domingo around 3:30 on Friday afternoon and should be back in the state around 6am. I am looking forward to a fabulous last two days at the clinic!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
The Last Adventure (seriously this time), theLast Load of Laundry, and the First Bag Packed
I can't believe that this six week rotation is already on its last week; at the same time, I am so ready to get back home.
We had a short week at the clinic this week because Maricela, who works at the clinic, got married on Saturday. So we had half of a day off on Thursday and all day Friday off so everyone could help prepare for the wedding. We decided to take a short day trip to a zoo near Quito. Thursday we "food-hopped" on La Ronda and tried several different types of food (which were all delicious), and then we saw a couple more churches on Friday morning before we left for the zoo. It was an expensive taxi ride, but I am glad we went. Unfortunately, Stella did not get to see her blue-footed boobie, but we did get to see the giant Galapagos Tortoises and some other really cute, and really ugly animals. We took the same taxi back to the bus terminal and thought we were getting there an hour early...however, there was a ridiculously huge line of people going from Quito to Santo Domingo (why, I am not really sure). We waited in line for an hour but still got tickets for the 3:30 bus which left about 10 minutes after we bought our tickets. God has really taken care of us this trip, especially when it comes to catching good taxis and buses.
When we got back to the apartment we had a nice relaxing night of movies and TV shows. I enjoyed just chilling at the apartment for a little while since we had been running kind of crazy all weekend. Saturday we had a lazy day in the morning and then after lunch we actually started packing!! It's crazy that we are already at this point. When I think about working at the clinic, it doesn't seem like it has been very long at all, but when I think about being in Kentucky with my husband and family, it seems like it has been an eternity! Although I dislike packing, I am trying to think of it as a life-size Tetris game where my husband is the prize at the end :) Saturday night was Maricela's wedding. (It would be more accurate to say Saturday night and Sunday morning.) The service started late, as most things do in Ecuador ;) , but it was beautiful. Of course I did not understand everything that was going on, but I could tell that they bride and groom were very happy. After the wedding and pictures, we all went to her parents house where the reception was held. There was A LOT of dancing! Since I was one of the only people there that had zero Hispanic blood in my genes, I was also one of the only ones that could not dance, not like they do anyway. Fortunately I couldn't understand what people where saying if they were making fun of me, so I still had a great time. I danced with a crazy old man, some of Maggie's friends, and another guy that was a little too much for this married girl. We finally ate supper around 11:15 and then danced some more. Stella and I were hoping to have cake, but since it was already 1:00 am and the shindig was supposed to continue until 6 in the morning, we decided to not wait around for the cake.
Today we walked around Santo Domingo to see if we could see anything new and different. After eating a piece of cake at a bakery (since we didn't get any wedding cake last night), we came across a market that was full of clothes, jewelry and other accessories. It was also a day of "last's" today. We did our last load of laundry by hand in Sto. Domingo and our last trip to the infamous Shopping.
Although I am very ready for Friday to get here, I am going to do my best to enjoy the 5 days I have left in South America. I am hoping for an interesting week at the clinic and a laundry-free week at the apartment!
We had a short week at the clinic this week because Maricela, who works at the clinic, got married on Saturday. So we had half of a day off on Thursday and all day Friday off so everyone could help prepare for the wedding. We decided to take a short day trip to a zoo near Quito. Thursday we "food-hopped" on La Ronda and tried several different types of food (which were all delicious), and then we saw a couple more churches on Friday morning before we left for the zoo. It was an expensive taxi ride, but I am glad we went. Unfortunately, Stella did not get to see her blue-footed boobie, but we did get to see the giant Galapagos Tortoises and some other really cute, and really ugly animals. We took the same taxi back to the bus terminal and thought we were getting there an hour early...however, there was a ridiculously huge line of people going from Quito to Santo Domingo (why, I am not really sure). We waited in line for an hour but still got tickets for the 3:30 bus which left about 10 minutes after we bought our tickets. God has really taken care of us this trip, especially when it comes to catching good taxis and buses.
When we got back to the apartment we had a nice relaxing night of movies and TV shows. I enjoyed just chilling at the apartment for a little while since we had been running kind of crazy all weekend. Saturday we had a lazy day in the morning and then after lunch we actually started packing!! It's crazy that we are already at this point. When I think about working at the clinic, it doesn't seem like it has been very long at all, but when I think about being in Kentucky with my husband and family, it seems like it has been an eternity! Although I dislike packing, I am trying to think of it as a life-size Tetris game where my husband is the prize at the end :) Saturday night was Maricela's wedding. (It would be more accurate to say Saturday night and Sunday morning.) The service started late, as most things do in Ecuador ;) , but it was beautiful. Of course I did not understand everything that was going on, but I could tell that they bride and groom were very happy. After the wedding and pictures, we all went to her parents house where the reception was held. There was A LOT of dancing! Since I was one of the only people there that had zero Hispanic blood in my genes, I was also one of the only ones that could not dance, not like they do anyway. Fortunately I couldn't understand what people where saying if they were making fun of me, so I still had a great time. I danced with a crazy old man, some of Maggie's friends, and another guy that was a little too much for this married girl. We finally ate supper around 11:15 and then danced some more. Stella and I were hoping to have cake, but since it was already 1:00 am and the shindig was supposed to continue until 6 in the morning, we decided to not wait around for the cake.
Today we walked around Santo Domingo to see if we could see anything new and different. After eating a piece of cake at a bakery (since we didn't get any wedding cake last night), we came across a market that was full of clothes, jewelry and other accessories. It was also a day of "last's" today. We did our last load of laundry by hand in Sto. Domingo and our last trip to the infamous Shopping.
Although I am very ready for Friday to get here, I am going to do my best to enjoy the 5 days I have left in South America. I am hoping for an interesting week at the clinic and a laundry-free week at the apartment!
The Galapagos Turtles
Stinky pigs that looked like wart hogs
The Spectacled Bear
Cute little frog. All of them hid in the Bromelia
I went all the way to South America to see a white tailed deer.
The buck, in velvet.
My favorite, aside from the turtles. He looked like a mix between a weasel and a monkey. The name on the sign was cabeza de mate, whatever that means.
Cute monkey.
Again, all the way to Ecuador to see a turkey. These were a different type though I think.
Llamas!!!
Hoot owls.
A replica of Jorge. The 800 year old Galapagos turtle.
The happy couple, Maricela and Renee.
The beautiful bridesmaids. Starting from the left: Maggie, Barbara, and Lijia. These are the three of the bridesmaids that we work with at the clinic.
Stella and I waiting to throw roses for the newlyweds!
Here they come!!
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