Today some of us left at 0730 to help with a village clinic set up by a traveling medical mission from Oklahoma. I spent most of the morning playing pharmacist- handing out pills, constituting liquid meds, & teaching the patients how to take their new meds. It was fairly busy with just 1 doctor seeing patients. Lots of parasites (more on that later), respiratory infections, some pneumonia and asthma, and lots of runny noses. In the afternoon, more doctors came to work and we were VERY busy. I switched to intake (where we do vitals & short health histories) and took more blood pressures in 4 hours than I can count. We saw over 100 patients today! One that stood out in particular was a 30 year old woman with severe lordosis & scholiosis. In the U.S. this would have been surgically corrected during childhood, but we are in Peru. It was very sad to see, her growth was majorly stunted and she was having significant pain.
After a 10.5 hour day, we headed back to the parish with plans to return to this village tomorrow.
So about those parasites... I have them/it. I am like 98% certain- I've had suspicions for about the last week due to some minor symptoms, but today I have white spots on my face and arm. Apparently parasites can affect the pigments in your skin (temporarily... I think). It really isn't surprising since sooo many people have them and we get so many kisses. I really feel fine so family who are getting worried please don't! I snagged 400mg Albendazole (a 1x treatment) this afternoon at the clinic so I expect to be rid of the problem soon.
Other health concerns include the possible closure of my nosering :( I am sure my family will be so sad to hear this news. I took it out for a night because it was starting to look infected and made the situation worse. I must be running out of interesting things to talk about if I'm mentioning this, lo siento si no le importa.
Thirdly, my blood pressure is in rebellion, which is why I'm resting tonight.
I GOT TO MEET MY FAMILY TONIGHT! :)
They are super cute- a married couple and twin 2 year old girls (but they want more kids). The little girls were very shy but I got to talk with the parents for awhile. The father is very involved in the kids' lives (which is rare) and was very kind.
Meet my family!
Missing from this picture are their 5 dogs
I have no idea what the rest of the week will bring with the medical team here. We only have 3 more days in Piura, which is so crazy. This time next week I will be eating pizza instead of chicken & rice...
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