Well I can't believe it. I only have 4 more days here in Chicacao (the village where I have been living). I am going to Guatemala City on Friday night to catch my flight out on Saturday morning. What a bitter sweet thing. I am excited to see my family and friends at home (and get a warm shower and be in air conditioning), but I am also sad to leave my family and friends here. Clinica Ezell is the best work environment I have ever had, and I am sad to leave the other nurses, staff, and doctors. I feel like I really fit in with this crew and played a crucial role (especially when the Surgical teams came through). I think it helped the Guatemalan staff to have me here as a kind of liason between them and the new North American nurses because I could communicate to both and understood how things should flow. I was blessed by the honor of turning into the charge nurse on multiple shifts as many of the North Americans came to me with questions....and they weren't new nurses either, but ones with many more years in nursing than me. It was quite an honor.
We ended up doing 63 surgeries, and I think so far all the patients left with good outcomes. One little boy, Douglas, was in for a circumcision....bad thing to happen to a 9 year old. He was beside himself at first, but we got him calmed down, and I even had time to play some Uno with him and give him some lovely stick on tattoos. The other patient who stood out to me was a sweet grandma who had a hernia fixed. She started crying and blessing me as I helped her sit up and take a tylenol. She was just tearing up saying how caring the nurses and doctors are at the clinic. It was one of those moments where you know that your life and the life of a stranger are intertwined so closely for a brief moment in time that it feels like all other time stands still.
The other Americans all left last Saturday to go home after a fun 24hr in Antigua. (I got a pedicure, went swimming, and picked up a few more souvenirs.) Once I got back to Chicacao, I was so exhausted I took 2 naps on Saturday and Sunday! The family was so sweet when I got back. The dad, Jose, wasn't home when I got in, but he woke me up from my nap just to give me a hug, kiss, and a chocolate cupcake. I got up with the family on Sunday morning at 5:00am to sell bread and ended up making the chocolate cupcakes that the dad always gives me. Then, I carried a big basket of bread on my head with one of the sisters to the tienda to sell. After, I went with them to the market to buy our food for a few days. I really cherish that time with them.
So, today I went on a mobile clinic with Doctor Walter and helped in the lab/pharmacy area. I'm not sure what I will be doing the rest of the week, but I think the families have some little parties planned for me that I'm not supposed to know about. :)
Other crazy stories from Guatemala:
-So a mouse lives in the bookshelf right next to the head of my bed. Just to recap, I have few little geckos who live in my room, the occassional roach who I usually kick out, and a mouse. I kept hearing something when I was sleeping the other night so I turned on my flashlight to find myself nose to nose with a little blonde mouse. She scurried away, and I went back to sleep.....I've learned just to let things go!
-The other happening was that last night, the power went out in all of the village. And when the power goes out in the only little village in the area, it gets dark, really dark. But it was a fun bonding experience as me and all the other squealing sisters tried to find our way home from church over the cobble stone road with the just the light from our cell phones!
A 4yr old boy successfully french kissed me on Sunday too. Now, just to make it clear, this was unwanted on my part! Some random family member was at the house with her son, and he was like a magnet to my face. I kept pushing him away and the kid was like a spider monkey to my face everytime I sat down or layed down. So, I ended up standing up, dodging a 4yr old all day Sunday.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Mooo
Well, we are in day 2 of surgeries for this week, and so far so good! This group is a lot different than the last surgical group that came in, but I guess every group takes on its own personality because of the people that come. I think for the last trip, the majority of the doctors/nurses were middle-aged to twenty year olds, but now I'm pretty sure I am the youngest nurse here. We have 3 teenagers who came with their moms, but other than that there are 4 other 20-somethings out of the 50 people that came and the rest are grandparents. My roommate is a grandma to 5, sweet as can be, and just so nervous about all this new stuff in Guatemala. So very cute. I am thankful she brought her Breathe Right Strips.
The patients are mostly GYN and hernia patients like last time. We did have a thyroid removal last night and will probably have a couple gall-bladder removals too. I have a sweet patient named Lilly who was just enthrawled when I told her that her name is an Easter Flower. I felt so special that she remembered my name.....even if it was when she was yelling for me to tell me she was about to throw up everywhere. Poor thing! She is feeling much better today, and was so proud to tell me that she got up and walked this morning with the morning nurses. I am working mostly the 3p-11p shift again. They had to divide out the spanish speaking nurses, so I'm the one for this shift- what a compliment! Talk about pain, nausea, and needing to pee, and I'm your go to girl, but talk about a whole lot beyond that and I need help! I think that when I get home I'm going to need to buy Rosetta stone or something so that when I come back again I'll get all the rules and vocabulary down that I'm lacking.
Now for some Guatemalan stories? Ok, so on Friday night, we ate these things called like Chervichis. I'm not really spell them. But basically, its like a gumbo made of onions, various sauces, cilantro, tomato, and shrimp. But, the meat can be substituted for other things if you like. Well, at church on Friday night (remember they go to church every night....) we had a special service, more community oriented and had Chervichis afterwards. But.....Mario, one of the my friend here who speaks english, started laughing when he heard what it was made with. So, finally he told me it was made of cow stomach! I'm not even kidding. I ate like 3/4 of it, but then I saw the little boy from my house eating only the stomach out of it, I thought I would be generous and donate my meat to him! It was so weird people. It was like meshy and you could see like the acid pumps as like these tentacle parts.
On Saturday, I got to go to Mazate (the "big" city near my village) for the day via public transport. It was really fun. We went to the mall and ate Pizza Hut. Mmmm. On the way there, we rode in like a 15 passanger bus where we each had our own seat. But....on the way back to Chicacao, we had to pack into what they call the "chicken bus" which is an old american school bus. We had to sit 3 to a seat with the aisle packed too. It was like playing twister in a bus! I am pretty sure I had someone's hand on my butt, my shoulder in someone's back, a foot in my face, and some random child trying to breast feed off me. Ok, I made up the breast feeding part, but that would have made the experience complete. It was a fun ride back....you can't say you have fully experienced Guatemala until you ride the chicken bus.
The other big happening was that I got into an ant pile yesterday. I should have known better. After church, I stepped into the grass to talk to somebody and all of a sudden had an incredible burning pain in my feet. I looked down and was covered! After running like a mad woman (in a skirt) across the grass, it took 3 doctors to help me get the ants off my feet. But, thankfully, I got back and coated my feet in benadryl cream, and I can't even feel the itch anymore. I'm glad it happened to me instead of one of the new comers because I blame myself....I know better than to get in the grass here. Don't drink the water, don't get in the grass, and don't eat cow stomach.
But all is well here. I'm going to go back to my room and rest before lunch so that I'm ready for my shift in a bit. Hope everyone is doing well. Be home in less than 2 weeks now.
The patients are mostly GYN and hernia patients like last time. We did have a thyroid removal last night and will probably have a couple gall-bladder removals too. I have a sweet patient named Lilly who was just enthrawled when I told her that her name is an Easter Flower. I felt so special that she remembered my name.....even if it was when she was yelling for me to tell me she was about to throw up everywhere. Poor thing! She is feeling much better today, and was so proud to tell me that she got up and walked this morning with the morning nurses. I am working mostly the 3p-11p shift again. They had to divide out the spanish speaking nurses, so I'm the one for this shift- what a compliment! Talk about pain, nausea, and needing to pee, and I'm your go to girl, but talk about a whole lot beyond that and I need help! I think that when I get home I'm going to need to buy Rosetta stone or something so that when I come back again I'll get all the rules and vocabulary down that I'm lacking.
Now for some Guatemalan stories? Ok, so on Friday night, we ate these things called like Chervichis. I'm not really spell them. But basically, its like a gumbo made of onions, various sauces, cilantro, tomato, and shrimp. But, the meat can be substituted for other things if you like. Well, at church on Friday night (remember they go to church every night....) we had a special service, more community oriented and had Chervichis afterwards. But.....Mario, one of the my friend here who speaks english, started laughing when he heard what it was made with. So, finally he told me it was made of cow stomach! I'm not even kidding. I ate like 3/4 of it, but then I saw the little boy from my house eating only the stomach out of it, I thought I would be generous and donate my meat to him! It was so weird people. It was like meshy and you could see like the acid pumps as like these tentacle parts.
On Saturday, I got to go to Mazate (the "big" city near my village) for the day via public transport. It was really fun. We went to the mall and ate Pizza Hut. Mmmm. On the way there, we rode in like a 15 passanger bus where we each had our own seat. But....on the way back to Chicacao, we had to pack into what they call the "chicken bus" which is an old american school bus. We had to sit 3 to a seat with the aisle packed too. It was like playing twister in a bus! I am pretty sure I had someone's hand on my butt, my shoulder in someone's back, a foot in my face, and some random child trying to breast feed off me. Ok, I made up the breast feeding part, but that would have made the experience complete. It was a fun ride back....you can't say you have fully experienced Guatemala until you ride the chicken bus.
The other big happening was that I got into an ant pile yesterday. I should have known better. After church, I stepped into the grass to talk to somebody and all of a sudden had an incredible burning pain in my feet. I looked down and was covered! After running like a mad woman (in a skirt) across the grass, it took 3 doctors to help me get the ants off my feet. But, thankfully, I got back and coated my feet in benadryl cream, and I can't even feel the itch anymore. I'm glad it happened to me instead of one of the new comers because I blame myself....I know better than to get in the grass here. Don't drink the water, don't get in the grass, and don't eat cow stomach.
But all is well here. I'm going to go back to my room and rest before lunch so that I'm ready for my shift in a bit. Hope everyone is doing well. Be home in less than 2 weeks now.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Surgical Brigade #2
A real quick update......
We are busy cleaning and preparing the clinic still. The new group gets here on Saturday, so its very close! It is supposively a huge group (and mom said she thinks some people are coming from my home church). I'm not sure yet if I will be staying up at the clinic during the week or with my family in Chicacao, but I will let you all know.
I've been helping Kata clean and sanitize everything. She laughed a little too hard when I told her about how I used to dust (and still do dust) my room at home.....mom can atest to how I just cleaned "around" things and left a carpet of dust showing where things had been placed for the 6 months before. I think she laughed so hard because she doesn't quite approve of my cleaning techniques here at the clinic. Haha, cleaning has never been one of my strengths!
I'm really enjoying the friendships I am making here, and I will be very sad to say goodbye to them. I think I have more close friends in Guatemala now than I do back in Knoxville. But, all in due time. Hope you all are well. Will write more soon when I have more stories to tell.
We are busy cleaning and preparing the clinic still. The new group gets here on Saturday, so its very close! It is supposively a huge group (and mom said she thinks some people are coming from my home church). I'm not sure yet if I will be staying up at the clinic during the week or with my family in Chicacao, but I will let you all know.
I've been helping Kata clean and sanitize everything. She laughed a little too hard when I told her about how I used to dust (and still do dust) my room at home.....mom can atest to how I just cleaned "around" things and left a carpet of dust showing where things had been placed for the 6 months before. I think she laughed so hard because she doesn't quite approve of my cleaning techniques here at the clinic. Haha, cleaning has never been one of my strengths!
I'm really enjoying the friendships I am making here, and I will be very sad to say goodbye to them. I think I have more close friends in Guatemala now than I do back in Knoxville. But, all in due time. Hope you all are well. Will write more soon when I have more stories to tell.
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