Day 6: Home visits and Polyclinic in Punta Gorda...

Today was the same routine as yesteray. Home visits with Amanda (and nurse James) in the morning, and then at the polyclinic (which is right next to the hospital) afterward. Today we had a nasty wound to clean and re-dress. This patient had had this wound for more than 30 years. If it was legal to get a picture, I would have. It went down to the deep fascia and was open but dry and very hard. When she peeled off the bandage bugs were crawling around inside of it. Her foot was bubbly in appearance and swollen and bugs were crawling all over that too. I get shivers just thinking about it again. That was a nasty wound to take care of - they think it is fungal, but...icky...who knows.


We then went to see three severely disabled children. That was very very sad. Their parents married too close in the gene pool (1st cousins) which caused these birth defects. Their home (if you can even call it that) was so dirty and worn down. It smelled like urine, and a couple of the children just were lying on the bed because they are unable to walk or stand. That was a sad bunch to see...it's hard to believe it's even real.

During lunch we had a presenation by the Snake Doctor - known for his ability to cure people from posionous snake bites. That was somewhat interesting, though it's hard to always believe what these "traditional doctors" have to say.

In the afternoon Amanda and I helped out at the Polyclinic right next door to the hospital. We helped with the prenatal clinic, doing exams on pregnant women. We measured the fundal height, felt the position of the baby (I felt each baby's head!), listened to the fetal heart beat and figured out the probable due date. I have never been able to be in an OB setting like that and really enjoyed working with nurse Cai (rhymes with "sky").



After finishing up at the clinic, Amanda, Sarah and I went over to the Coral House Inn which is run by Americans from Idaho. For $10 BZ ($5 US) we swam in the pool and bought a drink and relaxed. We took a taxi back to Hillside and enjoyed some homemade pizza for dinner. A lady down the road from Hillside makes pizzas for $25 BZ...so we got two larges and each paid $5 US for a very yummy meal.