Kōman ou ye!!!
(How are you?)
Today was another amazing day. An aftershock was felt today for about 5 seconds and every Haitian screamed and ran out of the clinic. We were able to transfer our spine patient via a German helicopter to Milot. (She has an unstable T11/12 fracture dislocation injured in the earthquake who walked into our clinic last week on a walker with incomplete neuro deficits.) Two German pilots picked her and her husband up in the Double Harvest compound north of our clinic, amid 100’s of Haitian (and American) “gawkers”, me included. Thanks to Dr. Burgess for making the contacts and giving her a chance. We have learned about Voodoo seizures (hysterical). We have delivered 6 babies in 4 days (2 via C-section).
We were met with 100’s of new patients in the clinic. Monday is typically the busiest day as Sunday no one does much other than go to church. Frantz (the DH administrator) was great in establishing order, setting up triage tents across the street, and arranging so all patients were seen. We saw things one would never witness in the States: 6-week-old talar neck fractures treated with cast as they had no x-rays before, non-op treatment of Schatzker 6 tibias (in great alignment!), spica cast changes for bilat distal femurs fractures in a 3-year-old with shortening of 3 inches (but equal limb lengths and perfect rotation). Trying to put ourselves in the shoes of those that went before us is impossible but the respect for them and what they did, without any of the resources we now enjoy, grows everyday.
Couldn’t be more proud of our team. Andria has been jumping in and is doing everything. She is a scrub nurse, cast tech, comforts the babies and has been a great team player. Dr. Jim and Valeri our ER PA, run the clinic with a caring, professional attitude despite seeing things that none of us has ever seen before. For example, a lady with huge untreated goiter and even tropical illnesses (2 malaria cases today)… Dr. Chad (the General Surgeon who joined us from Indy) has jumped in and taken off casts, done dressing changes, and in between he and his team have done orchiectomies for 20-year-olds with undescended testicles, hernia repairs, breast biopsies, and assisted Dr. Jonas with C-sections. Dr. Elysee has been involved in every aspect of our work and even gave us a lecture about Haitian medicine at night. Vicki has run the nursing service nonstop including working with the Haitian nurses to cover 3 wards. Kathleen took over the PACU and has everyone’s total confidence. Dr. Tim is throwing in blocks on every extremity and organizing 3 CRNAs to run 2 OR’s and a sedation room for dressing changes. Dr. Karl has administered our patient lists, entertained the patients and his peers, and still found time to do surgery. And Stephen has worked harder than any time in his life, doing everything anyone asks and even has time to get every patient out of bed, range extremities as instructed in rounds (BID), modify wheelchairs to fit kids with ex fixes (even tape part of a crutch to wheelchair to serve as leg extension?). I couldn’t be any more proud of him.
The VanWingerdens have been the most gracious hosts imaginable. They personally cooked all of us dinner, which included steak, fresh tomatoes with ranch dressing and baked potatoes. Even brought cookies and Milky Way bars. They occasionally make rounds with us. They fix the generator, suck up the bees into a shopvac that are infesting our storeroom and suck the water off the tarp roof in the middle of the night to protect our patients during rainstorms.
This is an amazing place. (I know I have said this before). There is a reason so many of the people that have worked here want to come back. Becky Hanna left us on Saturday and already has emailed me that she wishes she was still here. The connection one has with patients is different that anything one has in the States. They pray for you. They laugh and cry with you. They care about each other. On behalf of our whole team, thanks to all for this opportunity to make a real difference. We are all (too) well fed. Showers are not really that cold. We drink the water out of the tap and feel as safe here as we have anywhere else in the world. We appreciate our partners covering for us so we can be here. We miss our families. But each of us is sincerely grateful for the opportunity to make a difference here.
Signing off from:
18°, 32’, 47.17” N,
72°, 11’, 36.22” W
Double Harvest
Tom
Team 6B
