I feel as if it is time to write another newsletter but I am at a loss for words. Perhaps that is due to my low energy level. I guess I will mix it up and start out with a prayer request this time! For those of you who do not know I have been dealing with a health condition for nearly a year now. Before coming to Mexico I was nearly healed but since arriving here I have gotten worse very quickly. I do not think that is due to any one factor but a combination of factors. I have discussed the issue with both my parents and my doctor and we are currently on “watch and wait” orders. As it is, I believe it would quite literally take divine intervention to prevent me from being required to return home early to give myself more time to recuperate before the start of school at the end of August. Yes, I miss my family. Yes, I am looking forward to coming home, but I do not want to go home early especially due to these circumstances. The possibility of having to go through a similar experience to last year at this time is not encouraging. Boy, the command to “count it all joy whenever you face trials of many kinds” must be one of the most difficult to obey in all of Scripture!
Working at the hospital in Valladolid has been exciting and rewarding. On Wednesday I woke up at 5:30, left at 6:30, and arrived at the hospital at 8:00. There were no complications in travel until I arrived at Valladolid at 7:30 and asked directions to the hospital. Apparently the hospital is known by two names. I only knew one name, and everyone else only knew the other. What a sight we must have been arguing whether they are the same hospital or not! I finally decided to follow their instructions (“go straight”) and find out whether it is or not. After walking for 15 minutes and the required amount of blocks I found myself in a residential district with no obvious signs of a hospital in the vicinity. I asked some women working outside their house whether they knew where the hospital was. They then called a young woman from the house because they apparently did not know enough Spanish to give me directions. I was told to take a right and walk five blocks. Exactly five blocks later I arrived at the front entrance of the hospital in Valladolid (on the way I walked around the smashed carcasses of two very large tarantulas, the first I have spotted on my trip). Interestingly enough, I was also told to “go straight” from the hospital to get back to the bus stop. On the way back I discovered a funny shaped intersection where I should have taken the street just off to the right to arrive in front of the hospital.
I found Dr. Solis just inside the hospital and was directed to the director of nurses. I spent the first several hours in the maternity ward observing a lot and asking questions. I soon discovered that the maternity ward is where all the stable mothers and infants are held I decided to change locations after lunch. I watched a caesarean section and then spent a little time in the labor department. Because there was not much I was allowed to do in that area (and there was not much to do) I asked whether I could go to the emergency department. There I met some really nice nurses and a couple really funny doctors and interns. Once they found out that I am fascinated by wound care they promised that I would be responsible for every wound that came into the department from that point on! Wow! I guarantee you I would not be allowed to do that in any of the hospitals around where I live.
I grin as I imagine that some of you reading this journal are rolling your eyes or gawking at this point. For your continuing information, I am considering specializing in wound care. Even more than tissues in general I am fascinated by our skin; its defensive and protective qualities, its ability and inability to heal, and its incredible variability. One cannot appreciate the both delicate and resilient nature of skin and other tissues until you watch multiple surgeries. Did you know that scar tissue cannot sweat? Did you know that scar tissue from a burn can completely immobilize a limb if not cared for correctly? Did you know that healthy skin is one of the most difficult tissues to penetrate in the human body? I would tell you a bit about the protective nature of skin as evidenced by burn victims but I will refrain for the more delicate stomachs of non-medical personnel reading this journal. ;-)
Since coming to Mexico my desire to work in an emergency department has only grown. Beyond caring for individual wounds I really enjoy dealing with emergent patients; doing rapid assessments and employing immediate interventions. I am sure that my squeamishness (yes, I may have just made up a word) when confronted with a patients’ pain will continue to diminish with time and experience to leave in its wake a confident but sympathetic nurse. I am also sure that is why I have had such a struggle with the fear of needles. I cannot remember the reference, but there is a verse either in Corinthians or Colossians about how God allows us to go through certain hardships so that he can give us grace and we can minister with that same grace to others in the same situation. I cringe to call a fear of needles a hardship but I believe it applies. I have literally had to learn relaxation techniques so that I could control the anxiety before an injection. Perhaps I will be able to teach the same techniques to someone in the same situation.
Ok, back to Valladolid.
That afternoon I had the opportunity to take care of one major wound, that of a man dealing with a venous ulcer for the last several years. Amazingly, I watched Dr. Federico care for a similar wound just two days before that and I had even researched the condition to help solidify what I observed! Apparently, the information had been absorbed well enough that I was never corrected on my techniques and was told I did a good job when finished. :-D I spent another couple of hours in the consultation area of the emergency department before leaving at about 7:30 pm. I arrived back to the clinic at 9:30 and hit the hammock at 10:00.
The next day I did not return to Valladolid to give myself a day to rest up but I did return on Friday (my walking time from the bus stop was 10 minutes instead of 20 now that I knew where I was going). That day I spent half the day in labor and delivery because it was very busy. I saw another caesarean, a multiple mammary node removal, and a cyst removal. The second half of the day I spent in the emergency department. The department was not as busy as Wednesday but I did care for the man’s venous ulcer again and saw my first case of Dengue fever with hemorrhagic characteristics (the poor little baby boy!). I left the hospital at 7 pm with Dr. Osorio and Dr. Pech as they were scheduled to help out with a surgery in Xocempich.
Graduation last night was… interesting. It was a great service but the attendance was the lowest Femia had ever seen and none of the doctors who often work with the girls arrived for the ceremony either. Two girls, Lina and Clauda, graduated last night which was two months after three of their colleagues were expelled. That created a rather sombre mood and the absence of the doctors was felt strongly by the girls as the two other Americans and I were asked to fill in for their usual positions during the ceremony.
The clinic is a bit quieter with only four nurses now. I may have more to say about that in a later edition but for now, I must again hit the hammock!
Prayer:
My health. Please pray that my condition will continue to improve so that I will not have to come home early.
The baby boy with Dengue. He is in serious condition as he could possibly go into shock if he continues bleeding internally.
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