We are back in Santiago, DR now. Yesterday was quite a day of travel. Our expected 5 hr trip turned into 9 hrs. Took 1.5 hrs to get out of Cap-haitien due to all the rain in the past few days. We heard later that mudslides there killed 4. Once out of Cap-haitien our bus broke down. Oh boy. Nothing like hanging out on the side of some Haitian road for a couple of hours. What was a little concerning is it was the only part of our trip when we were down to just the 4 of us who don't speak Creole. Luckily we found another passenger who spoke English and gave us updates on what was going on.
Our last day at the hospital in Dessalines, we only worked the morning so I thought it would be a slower day. Nope. The whole mood in the place shifted. You could feel more desparation in the Haitians b/c they realized we were leaving. So I had a lot thrown at me, but it was AWESOME. My 6 yr old girl with the knee contracture returned and we put her under conscious sedation only to find that we still couldn't get her knee straight enough for her to be able to walk. Nuts! So Tim (ortho doc) took her to surgery to release part of her gastroc and got it straight. In the midst of that, I was explaining things to her family. I thought they were her parents, but found out it was aunt and uncle. Parents were killed in the earthquake. I bit my lip on that one. Had to squeeze back tears so I could show them strength that she was going to be ok. We'd get her walking again. That was a tough one. I got to hold Samailia's hand as she woke up and I could see her mouthing "porquoi", "why?" and thank you in creole. It was one of my favorite moments of this trip. Her aunt gave me Samalia's school picture. I'll treasure that.
I also got an opportunity I wasn't expecting. As I'm running around the hospital, my translator Ywans (the chaplain) pulled me aside to say this woman had lost her oldest dtr in the quake and he needed me to come with them and counsel. Umm...ok. Talk about shoving me outside my comfort zone. My first thoughts were, I'm no psychologist, what the heck am I supposed to say. But I had to quick jump out of my own crap and step up to her needs. So we stepped into a small room and sure enough they both looked at me like well, what are you gonna say? Ok, right, let me come up with something. But as I stepped all over myself trying to come up with words to share, things came to me. I remembered others explaining that these people have symptoms of PTSD but don't recognize them as "normal". They think they're diseased or possessed or something. So I went over those symptoms and explained that they are expected. I shared my experience with grieving and she cried. I shared some of my spiritual thoughts and she listened. It was a wonderful, personal moment and I hope it helped her some, because I know it did a world of good for me. Ywans later explained that even though he is a chaplain, he knew she needed to hear from me. I guess as an American who came to help and share with her. To show that we weren't just here to give medical care, but also because our hearts hurt and we wanted to be present in these moments WITH them. I know we came to help others, but what's awesome is how much a trip like this gives to us too.
And later I saw a 52 yr old man who had a stroke the night before. His symptoms had already improved, but he still was weak on his right side and had trouble speaking, swallowing, no use of his wrist and hand, very uncoordinated. I realized people here don't have models for people with strokes getting better. They usually debilitate more and then die. So I spent a lot of time showing him and family how to rehabilitate him and trying to convince them all, he has great potential for full recovery. Got tense when his youngest dtr arrived and saw her dad sitting on the bed, drooling and leaning to his right. Once her tears started, his came back and the whole family lost it. This culture wails when they are sad, so I had to get out of the area with Ywans' guidance and let them cope for a while. I later returned and again explained his prognosis for recovery, and trained the man's brother on walking, exercises, having him use his right arm for functional tasks, swallowing. Here, I'm an OT, PT and speech therapist. So funny.
The rest of the time I walked around the hospital finding patients with broken bones or whatever injuries and giving them tips. I even chased down one 20-some yr old who was leaving with crutches to tell him to start putting weight on his previously broken leg. Our ortho guy had seen on xray that the fracture was healed so he was in a walking boot but wouldn't put his foot on the ground as he walked. He laughed at me. I was pretty aggressive in telling him to put his foot down as he walked. Those I work with in the States will not be surprised by this :) But, really, here there's no time for sugarcoating. It's a perfect fit for me. Ha. Ha.
Love to all! Amy
Our last day at the hospital in Dessalines, we only worked the morning so I thought it would be a slower day. Nope. The whole mood in the place shifted. You could feel more desparation in the Haitians b/c they realized we were leaving. So I had a lot thrown at me, but it was AWESOME. My 6 yr old girl with the knee contracture returned and we put her under conscious sedation only to find that we still couldn't get her knee straight enough for her to be able to walk. Nuts! So Tim (ortho doc) took her to surgery to release part of her gastroc and got it straight. In the midst of that, I was explaining things to her family. I thought they were her parents, but found out it was aunt and uncle. Parents were killed in the earthquake. I bit my lip on that one. Had to squeeze back tears so I could show them strength that she was going to be ok. We'd get her walking again. That was a tough one. I got to hold Samailia's hand as she woke up and I could see her mouthing "porquoi", "why?" and thank you in creole. It was one of my favorite moments of this trip. Her aunt gave me Samalia's school picture. I'll treasure that.
I also got an opportunity I wasn't expecting. As I'm running around the hospital, my translator Ywans (the chaplain) pulled me aside to say this woman had lost her oldest dtr in the quake and he needed me to come with them and counsel. Umm...ok. Talk about shoving me outside my comfort zone. My first thoughts were, I'm no psychologist, what the heck am I supposed to say. But I had to quick jump out of my own crap and step up to her needs. So we stepped into a small room and sure enough they both looked at me like well, what are you gonna say? Ok, right, let me come up with something. But as I stepped all over myself trying to come up with words to share, things came to me. I remembered others explaining that these people have symptoms of PTSD but don't recognize them as "normal". They think they're diseased or possessed or something. So I went over those symptoms and explained that they are expected. I shared my experience with grieving and she cried. I shared some of my spiritual thoughts and she listened. It was a wonderful, personal moment and I hope it helped her some, because I know it did a world of good for me. Ywans later explained that even though he is a chaplain, he knew she needed to hear from me. I guess as an American who came to help and share with her. To show that we weren't just here to give medical care, but also because our hearts hurt and we wanted to be present in these moments WITH them. I know we came to help others, but what's awesome is how much a trip like this gives to us too.
And later I saw a 52 yr old man who had a stroke the night before. His symptoms had already improved, but he still was weak on his right side and had trouble speaking, swallowing, no use of his wrist and hand, very uncoordinated. I realized people here don't have models for people with strokes getting better. They usually debilitate more and then die. So I spent a lot of time showing him and family how to rehabilitate him and trying to convince them all, he has great potential for full recovery. Got tense when his youngest dtr arrived and saw her dad sitting on the bed, drooling and leaning to his right. Once her tears started, his came back and the whole family lost it. This culture wails when they are sad, so I had to get out of the area with Ywans' guidance and let them cope for a while. I later returned and again explained his prognosis for recovery, and trained the man's brother on walking, exercises, having him use his right arm for functional tasks, swallowing. Here, I'm an OT, PT and speech therapist. So funny.
The rest of the time I walked around the hospital finding patients with broken bones or whatever injuries and giving them tips. I even chased down one 20-some yr old who was leaving with crutches to tell him to start putting weight on his previously broken leg. Our ortho guy had seen on xray that the fracture was healed so he was in a walking boot but wouldn't put his foot on the ground as he walked. He laughed at me. I was pretty aggressive in telling him to put his foot down as he walked. Those I work with in the States will not be surprised by this :) But, really, here there's no time for sugarcoating. It's a perfect fit for me. Ha. Ha.
Love to all! Amy
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