Every day I kind of just run through my day, but I feel like I haven't gotten to tell you about life here en la Dominicana. So, today's post is going to be all about what it's like over here. It's different.
I honestly don't even know where to begin. Coming here, I had every intention of going home being fluent in español...well that's particularly difficult when the people that live here freely admit that they themselves don't speak Spanish - they all just say that they speak Dominican. Not only do they speak extremely fast, but they also drop syllables and mash a bunch of words together and it comes out like one big sound that you can't understand. My first day here, one of the moms was talking about us going to visit a place in the mountains called Jarabacoa (which we are going to this weekend), and she was talking so fast that I swore she was asking us if we had ever had Barbacoa - you know, the meat they sell at Chipotle. Good thing I didn't open my mouth and start talking about meat. If you ask them to repeat something or slow down, they assume you don't speak Spanish/Dominican and just laugh and start talking about you in 'Dominican'. I would have to say that's my biggest hardship. And it's not an easy one to just look past. Besides that, there are the small things - no air conditioning, only cold showers (every single day), crazy drivers, never being on time, the humidity, etc.
Other than that, life is really good over here. People over here really take pride in the way they dress and look. All of the locals are always wearing beautiful colors, their make up done nicely, hair curled, etc. It almost makes me jealous! The first time we went to the Blue Mall, our host mom asked us if we wanted to change or freshen up before we went out. Well, we were just wearing shorts and a relatively casual shirt, and we just told her that no, we didn't need to. She kept insisting and we just kind of brushed it off. Big mistake. We walk in to this mall and everyone just keeps staring - they're all dressed up in heels and super nice clothes and we just look like the "stupid Americans'. Bad first impression to say the least. Since then, we always take the time to put on some nice pants and at least a little bit of make up.
Don't get me wrong, even though people take care of themselves, it doesn't mean that this is a 'nice city'. The place looks broken and a bit run down. The infrastructure is terrible - potholes in the roads, really no stop signs or stop lights, old buildings, etc. I haven't taken many pictures of the city itself, but I'll try to take and post some so you can get a feel for where I'm living. The country is said to have other beautiful areas - beaches, mountains, rain forest - but Santo Domingo doesn't exactly make the list for Top 10 Places to Visit in the Dominican.
Life itself is quite relaxing, and everyone is very friendly. The people that do speak English are always willing to help you out, and even those that don't speak English are generally willing to try and help you. It's kind of weird though, I think my English is getting worse as my Spanish gets better. In my head, I'm always translating so many things back and forth that when I speak Spanish, random English words will get thrown in there - which always leads to me getting funny looks from the locals. Then, when I speak English, I either throw Spanish words in, or I speak as if I'm literally translating the Spanish. Por ejemplo, in Spanish, they don't use apostrophe's to denote a possession. Ex: Olga's house in English would translate to La Casa de Olga in Spanish. Well, instead of me saying to my friends, "Oh, I'm going to Olga's house," I'll end up saying "I'm going to the house of Olga." And even more weird than that, none of my friends seem to notice because they're doing it too. I think it's going to be hard coming back to the US and speaking English all the time! I have also noticed that when I do speak Spanish, I'm starting to drop syllables and am beginning to adapt to the Dominican style of speech. (You have no idea how many times in this post alone I've had to go back and insert letters because my spelling is just awful - but only because the words in my head are all wrong.)
This truly is one of the best experiences I've ever had...no joke. I am really starting to love this country and the people and the culture, and although I'll be ready to see my family and friends, I know that I won't be ready to leave this place. I'm not only learning to appreciate all of my blessings at home so much more, but I'm also noticing how much the little things in life really do matter. The way the people talk to each other here just makes you feel so welcome. At the end of a sentence, they'll throw in "mi amor" and it really does give you such a warm and fuzzy feeling.
I'm really having trouble putting all of this into words, so I hope this post makes at least a little bit of sense to you guys. Basically, I'm loving it here and I wouldn't trade it for anything! Hasta luego mis amores!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Día 8
BEST DAY EVER. Seriously though, we saw so many cool things!
It didn't start out that way though - more classroom stuff to start off our day. Or at least we thought. Turns out, we were just getting briefed on the patients that would be going in to surgery today. Thirty minutes later, and we're being dragged into some room with the residents. We make a collective decision that we don't want to be stuck doing nothing again for an entire day, so we walk out and head to surgery. You could say that we acted like we owned the place - grabbing masks, head covers, and little booties to cover nuestros zapatos (our shoes).
Off to Quirofano 7. We walk in, and the baby laying on the table has this huge pink mass of something protruding from his estómago (stomach). The large mass resembles a heart, but it's coming out of the area where you would imagine his belly button to be. Turns out, this large mass is most of his internal organs. This poor child was born without an abdominal wall to keep his insides from falling out, so basically all of his organs came out of his belly button - or so I assume from what I can see and what I can make of the doctor's explanation. In this mass, we found his kidneys, stomach, bladder, colon, and what would develop into his genitals. The doctor makes an incision above the mass and begins pulling intestines out of the incision. He has eventually pulled out so much of his intestines that he's now able to pull some of this mass back inside the gaping hole it's all hanging out of. Well that's a start. They begin to sew the baby back together, and we decide to leave. We didn't get to see the outcome, but I'm sure it ended better than it began.
And now, neurocirugía (neurosurgery). This kid's head is literally the size of a cantaloupe, or small watermelon. I'm somewhat in shock, but I can't control my laughter. That's mean, I know. But honestly, if doctors got upset about every sick child or patient that they saw, how would they make it through a day? You have to joke about your job when it's something as serious as this. I couldn't imagine being sad all the time, I would be so depressed. So instead, we laugh. The nurse explains to us that this child has a genetic defect that doesn't allow his cerebral spinal fluid to flow naturally. Instead, it all collected in his brain when he was first born, causing his skull to expand. The insane amount of pressure makes his head look like an alien's head, and his eyes look like they're about to pop out. Babies have a soft spot in their heads, called a fontanelle that allow them to come out of the birth canal with much more ease than with nothing but a hard skull. Well, over time, the soft spot becomes hard as the skull grows and closes the gap. Sadly, this baby already has a completely hard skull, thus leaving him with a permanently large head. The doctor makes a superficial incision in his stomach and forces a metal rod under his skin and up through his abdomen, neck, and finally into the skin covering his skull. He replaces the rod with a catheter that he inserts into the brain that contains the spinal fluid. In doing this, he has created a place for the fluid to go - somewhere into his abdomen - that allows the fluid to circulate through his body. Although he'll have to keep the catheter forever, there will be less pressure in his skull and less pain in every day life.
There are so many different things I saw today, each of which I could write a novel about. But I'll try to keep the rest of these cases as brief as I can. We saw something called a Sistrunk Procedure, which removes a thyroglossal cyst. This is a cyst that forms right around where an Adam's Apple would be. We watched a circumcision in a 4 year old boy - not too exciting. The last surgery we attempted to watch (before we had to leave), was another neurosurgery. We didn't get a whole lot of information on what was about to happen, but I do know what I saw. This poor 3 month old little girl, had part of her brain coming through her sinuses and sitting on the front of her face. No joke. By looking at the MRI pictures, it looked there was an enormous build up of fluid in the brain that wasn't allowing her brain to rest naturally in the skull. The only place it had to go was through her sinuses and out on to her face. I'm not sure how they planned on fixing it, but it was pretty crazy to see.
Most of these extreme cases are the result of congenital defects, and are the worst of the worst in the entire country. They may also be the result of such poor living conditions in this country - anything from toxic water, poor sanitation, bad hygiene, to poor habits during pregnancy. I wish that there was something I could do to help them all out...one day I will though. Fortunately, we met a doctor who I guess really liked us, because he told us that if we wanted to we could scrub in to surgery and actually help with the procedures. UHM YES PLEASE. Much like the 'taking blood' situation, I'm not going to get my hopes up too high until it actually happens. But this was very promising and we were told that on Friday there will be lots of surgeries that we can help out with. I'm soooo excited! Wish me luck! Adios!
It didn't start out that way though - more classroom stuff to start off our day. Or at least we thought. Turns out, we were just getting briefed on the patients that would be going in to surgery today. Thirty minutes later, and we're being dragged into some room with the residents. We make a collective decision that we don't want to be stuck doing nothing again for an entire day, so we walk out and head to surgery. You could say that we acted like we owned the place - grabbing masks, head covers, and little booties to cover nuestros zapatos (our shoes).
Off to Quirofano 7. We walk in, and the baby laying on the table has this huge pink mass of something protruding from his estómago (stomach). The large mass resembles a heart, but it's coming out of the area where you would imagine his belly button to be. Turns out, this large mass is most of his internal organs. This poor child was born without an abdominal wall to keep his insides from falling out, so basically all of his organs came out of his belly button - or so I assume from what I can see and what I can make of the doctor's explanation. In this mass, we found his kidneys, stomach, bladder, colon, and what would develop into his genitals. The doctor makes an incision above the mass and begins pulling intestines out of the incision. He has eventually pulled out so much of his intestines that he's now able to pull some of this mass back inside the gaping hole it's all hanging out of. Well that's a start. They begin to sew the baby back together, and we decide to leave. We didn't get to see the outcome, but I'm sure it ended better than it began.
And now, neurocirugía (neurosurgery). This kid's head is literally the size of a cantaloupe, or small watermelon. I'm somewhat in shock, but I can't control my laughter. That's mean, I know. But honestly, if doctors got upset about every sick child or patient that they saw, how would they make it through a day? You have to joke about your job when it's something as serious as this. I couldn't imagine being sad all the time, I would be so depressed. So instead, we laugh. The nurse explains to us that this child has a genetic defect that doesn't allow his cerebral spinal fluid to flow naturally. Instead, it all collected in his brain when he was first born, causing his skull to expand. The insane amount of pressure makes his head look like an alien's head, and his eyes look like they're about to pop out. Babies have a soft spot in their heads, called a fontanelle that allow them to come out of the birth canal with much more ease than with nothing but a hard skull. Well, over time, the soft spot becomes hard as the skull grows and closes the gap. Sadly, this baby already has a completely hard skull, thus leaving him with a permanently large head. The doctor makes a superficial incision in his stomach and forces a metal rod under his skin and up through his abdomen, neck, and finally into the skin covering his skull. He replaces the rod with a catheter that he inserts into the brain that contains the spinal fluid. In doing this, he has created a place for the fluid to go - somewhere into his abdomen - that allows the fluid to circulate through his body. Although he'll have to keep the catheter forever, there will be less pressure in his skull and less pain in every day life.
There are so many different things I saw today, each of which I could write a novel about. But I'll try to keep the rest of these cases as brief as I can. We saw something called a Sistrunk Procedure, which removes a thyroglossal cyst. This is a cyst that forms right around where an Adam's Apple would be. We watched a circumcision in a 4 year old boy - not too exciting. The last surgery we attempted to watch (before we had to leave), was another neurosurgery. We didn't get a whole lot of information on what was about to happen, but I do know what I saw. This poor 3 month old little girl, had part of her brain coming through her sinuses and sitting on the front of her face. No joke. By looking at the MRI pictures, it looked there was an enormous build up of fluid in the brain that wasn't allowing her brain to rest naturally in the skull. The only place it had to go was through her sinuses and out on to her face. I'm not sure how they planned on fixing it, but it was pretty crazy to see.
Most of these extreme cases are the result of congenital defects, and are the worst of the worst in the entire country. They may also be the result of such poor living conditions in this country - anything from toxic water, poor sanitation, bad hygiene, to poor habits during pregnancy. I wish that there was something I could do to help them all out...one day I will though. Fortunately, we met a doctor who I guess really liked us, because he told us that if we wanted to we could scrub in to surgery and actually help with the procedures. UHM YES PLEASE. Much like the 'taking blood' situation, I'm not going to get my hopes up too high until it actually happens. But this was very promising and we were told that on Friday there will be lots of surgeries that we can help out with. I'm soooo excited! Wish me luck! Adios!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Día 7
Today has been the biggest let down of the trip, by far.
Getting up at 6:30, only to find out that it's 'Academic Day' and I'll be spending most of my day in a classroom, is a really sucky feeling. We get to el hospital a las siete y media, and are hustled into a classroom for more case studies. They are pretty boring to say the least - just medical school students reading off of Powerpoints and diagnosing more kids with sickle cell anemia or nemonía (pneumonia). I dozed off for about 20 minutes...oops. We head upstairs towards cirugía (surgery), and I get overly excited. I was ready to head back in to the operating rooms and watch some more kids get cut open and fixed up. Just as we're approaching the swinging double doors, we make a quick turn a la derecha (to the right), and are whisked into yet another classroom. Naturally, the only available seat is at the front of the room, and I find myself directly in front of the doctor who is head of surgery. Awesome. Two hours, and a few small naps later, I see that it is 10:30 and we have yet to see anything exciting in the least bit. While coming in and out of consciousness, I remember hearing bits and pieces of a conversation regarding sarcomas, carcinomas, malignancy, and many other cancers of the sort. Hmmm, we did see a kid down in Urgency with some sort of brain tumor...maybe this is him? Maybe he needs surgery? Maybe we'll get to watch? I really hope so..not today though. Ugh.
We finally get released from the confines of this awful room, and find out from one of the residents that we can expect the rest of the day to be very similar. More classrooms, more case studies, and no patients. No thanks. We briskly head down to radiology and spend the rest of our day (which is only like an hour), following the radiologist around the hospital. Ayer (yesterday), he promised he would show us a place to eat that's only about a one minute walk away. It's finally time to eat, and he shows us this little restaurante, very similar to the one from yesterday, and equally as cheap. 130 pesos, and a full plate later, we dig in to more rice, beans, and carne. Jose (the radiologist), excuses himself and comes back with two bottles of El Presidente - the best beer in the country..both of which are 1 liter. Is he for real? Apparently..he starts pouring glasses for us. And come on, it's rude to say no when someone has so generously bought you a gift like this. I must admit, this has been the best part of our day thus far. Is that bad? Ehh, maybe. But, I feel like it's only appropriate for me to thoroughly embrace the culture while I'm here. And la cerveza is most certainly a part of that.
It's one o'clock and our ride is waiting. Off the grocery store - we made an executive decision to buy bread/peanut butter/jelly...it's much cheaper than going to buy lunch somewhere every day. The rest of my afternoon consists of napping, running, eating...and the best part - lounging by a pool. Jose (our cab driver), is a member of a country club and he invited us to go whenever. So, we spend a few hours lounging around and enjoying the rest of our day in the sun. It really takes it out of you though, I must admit that I am thoroughly exhausted and ready for some sueño muy necesario (much needed sleep).
On that note, it's time for me to go. Tomorrow, we are under the impression that we'll be en los quirofanos otra vez (in the operating rooms again). I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high just yet, but I really need some blood and guts. Hasta mañana y duerme bien (and sleep well)!!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Día 6
Unfortunately, this is an early week. We have to be at the hospital a las siete y media todos los días (7:30 everyday). And I'm not a morning person, to say the least.
We get there this morning and meet the doctor that will be taking care of us during our week in the surgery wing. He tells us that today, there are two very important procedures, and that we can watch either. The first is something called a Kasai procedure. Basically, your liver produces a substance called bile that drains through ducts into your intestines to help with the digestion of your food. Whenever those ducts are blocked, your body can't effectively digest food. This procedure basically removes the blocked ducts, takes part of your intestine and creates a new passageway for the bile to drain. The other procedure that we can watch is a colostomy. In this particular colostomy, the patient's colon needs to be inserted into the rectal muscles so that he/she can control her bowel movements. Currently, they have no control over this and suffer from incontinence. We chose to watch this procedure, but I won't go in to detail about what we saw, as I know most of you don't have to stomach that I do when it comes to blood and guts.
Although their quirofanos (operating rooms) are not as pristine as ours, they get the job done. They only have the materials they need for the particular procedure, and they only have basic machines at their disposal. Surprisingly, the rooms were nicer than I expected. After what I had seen in the urgency room, this was really nice (although nothing compared to the US). If you can imagine what a hospital would look like in a poor and run down area of town - maybe like The Projects, for example - this is what we are working with. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's the best comparison I can make. I'll try to snap a picture this week if I can! Anyway, the area where the patient is being worked on is obviously sterile and they take this very seriously - thank God. Although we are in close proximity with the work area, I feel at least a bit more comfortable here. Sadly, laproscopic procedures (or minimally invasive procedures - google it), are not common and I wish there was some way I could change that. The risk for infection in this hospital is high enough as it is, and for the insides of these children to be so exposed to the air and other bacteria - it really does scare me. I want them to have an easy and healthy recovery, and watching the doctors pretty much pull intestines in and out of the child's stomach - it freaks me out. I don't see how this is safe, let alone what they were taught in Medical School. But I guess they do it all the time.
Anyway, since we are so sick of la comida en la cafetería, we decide to ask the guy who picks us up from work to take us to a place that is cheap and has local Dominican food. Best idea ever. We go to this place where we get our entire meal for 150 pesos. And let me tell you, it was at least 3 times the amount of food we got in the cafeteria, and 100 times better. Today, I indulged in arroz blanco, habichuela, y carne de pollo (white rice, habichuela - which is a lot like charro beans, and chicken). I finished my meal with empanaditas de dulce (empanadas filled with sweet guava sauce, and covered in sugar). This is the only type of empanada that I can bring myself to really enjoy.
We get home around 2 and spend most of the afternoon just lounging around. We originally had plans to go to the Blue Mall, but those get tossed by the wayside when Danny, our country director, stops by to see how our jobs are going and to wish my roommate, Christina, a happy birthday. I guess the Blue Mall will have to wait until later this week - which I can't wait for. This mall has 6 floors, and a ridiculous amount stores. An entire floor is nothing but rich people stores (Louis Vuitton, Cartier, etc.), one is nothing but food and a movie theater, the top is an entire play place for kids, and the rest of the floors are for the normal people. Lots of boutiques, tons of shoe stores - basically, it's heaven. Me and the other girls can't wait to spend an afternoon here! It'll be some much needed retail therapy.
Well, I have an early day tomorrow, along with the rest of the week, so I'm off to bed! Hasta mañana mis amores! (See you tomorrow, my loves!)
We get there this morning and meet the doctor that will be taking care of us during our week in the surgery wing. He tells us that today, there are two very important procedures, and that we can watch either. The first is something called a Kasai procedure. Basically, your liver produces a substance called bile that drains through ducts into your intestines to help with the digestion of your food. Whenever those ducts are blocked, your body can't effectively digest food. This procedure basically removes the blocked ducts, takes part of your intestine and creates a new passageway for the bile to drain. The other procedure that we can watch is a colostomy. In this particular colostomy, the patient's colon needs to be inserted into the rectal muscles so that he/she can control her bowel movements. Currently, they have no control over this and suffer from incontinence. We chose to watch this procedure, but I won't go in to detail about what we saw, as I know most of you don't have to stomach that I do when it comes to blood and guts.
Although their quirofanos (operating rooms) are not as pristine as ours, they get the job done. They only have the materials they need for the particular procedure, and they only have basic machines at their disposal. Surprisingly, the rooms were nicer than I expected. After what I had seen in the urgency room, this was really nice (although nothing compared to the US). If you can imagine what a hospital would look like in a poor and run down area of town - maybe like The Projects, for example - this is what we are working with. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's the best comparison I can make. I'll try to snap a picture this week if I can! Anyway, the area where the patient is being worked on is obviously sterile and they take this very seriously - thank God. Although we are in close proximity with the work area, I feel at least a bit more comfortable here. Sadly, laproscopic procedures (or minimally invasive procedures - google it), are not common and I wish there was some way I could change that. The risk for infection in this hospital is high enough as it is, and for the insides of these children to be so exposed to the air and other bacteria - it really does scare me. I want them to have an easy and healthy recovery, and watching the doctors pretty much pull intestines in and out of the child's stomach - it freaks me out. I don't see how this is safe, let alone what they were taught in Medical School. But I guess they do it all the time.
Anyway, since we are so sick of la comida en la cafetería, we decide to ask the guy who picks us up from work to take us to a place that is cheap and has local Dominican food. Best idea ever. We go to this place where we get our entire meal for 150 pesos. And let me tell you, it was at least 3 times the amount of food we got in the cafeteria, and 100 times better. Today, I indulged in arroz blanco, habichuela, y carne de pollo (white rice, habichuela - which is a lot like charro beans, and chicken). I finished my meal with empanaditas de dulce (empanadas filled with sweet guava sauce, and covered in sugar). This is the only type of empanada that I can bring myself to really enjoy.
We get home around 2 and spend most of the afternoon just lounging around. We originally had plans to go to the Blue Mall, but those get tossed by the wayside when Danny, our country director, stops by to see how our jobs are going and to wish my roommate, Christina, a happy birthday. I guess the Blue Mall will have to wait until later this week - which I can't wait for. This mall has 6 floors, and a ridiculous amount stores. An entire floor is nothing but rich people stores (Louis Vuitton, Cartier, etc.), one is nothing but food and a movie theater, the top is an entire play place for kids, and the rest of the floors are for the normal people. Lots of boutiques, tons of shoe stores - basically, it's heaven. Me and the other girls can't wait to spend an afternoon here! It'll be some much needed retail therapy.
Well, I have an early day tomorrow, along with the rest of the week, so I'm off to bed! Hasta mañana mis amores! (See you tomorrow, my loves!)
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Día 5
Feliz Día de las Madres! (Happy Mother's Day!) En la Dominicana, they don't celebrate Mother's Day until today. You can bet that we had quite a long but wonderful day!
We wake up around 7:30 to shower and get ready, and we're out the door and on our way to La Romana by 8:30. La Romana es la ciudad donde vive la madre de Olga (La Romana is the city where Olga's mother lives). It's about a 2 hour drive, but well worth it - this city is beautiful! There are so many colors and we're told that this is a typical Dominican city. We arrive at Olga's mother's house, but are only there for 5 minutes before Olga's son takes us to a place called the Casa de Campo. It's an all-inclusive resort about 10 minutes from the city, and it is absolutely beautiful!! It has everything from the most elegant houses, to beautiful beaches, to marinas and yachts, to even a shopping center. Francisco, Olga's son, tells us that within this resort is a city that some rich guy gave to his daughter for her quinceñera (15th birthday). Just think about that, you're turning 15 and your dad tells you that he's built a whole city for you - and this is what it looks like...
I just can't believe that this is real, I'm only used to seeing pictures like this in magazines and movies. And it's funny, Francisco said that these aren't even the most beautiful beaches in the country. He told us that the most beautiful beaches are in Punta Cana..and as luck would have it, one of the family members invited us to come stay with her this weekend! I'm so pumped, you have no idea. AND, I finally get to go diving! I could go through everything we did and saw, but I feel like a picture is worth a thousand words - and here are 9 of them. So enjoy - and there will only be more to come this weekend!
Tomorrow we get to go into surgery, and I have very high hopes for this coming week! Until then, hasta luego, y tiene un buen noche! (see you later and have a good night!)
We wake up around 7:30 to shower and get ready, and we're out the door and on our way to La Romana by 8:30. La Romana es la ciudad donde vive la madre de Olga (La Romana is the city where Olga's mother lives). It's about a 2 hour drive, but well worth it - this city is beautiful! There are so many colors and we're told that this is a typical Dominican city. We arrive at Olga's mother's house, but are only there for 5 minutes before Olga's son takes us to a place called the Casa de Campo. It's an all-inclusive resort about 10 minutes from the city, and it is absolutely beautiful!! It has everything from the most elegant houses, to beautiful beaches, to marinas and yachts, to even a shopping center. Francisco, Olga's son, tells us that within this resort is a city that some rich guy gave to his daughter for her quinceñera (15th birthday). Just think about that, you're turning 15 and your dad tells you that he's built a whole city for you - and this is what it looks like...
I just can't believe that this is real, I'm only used to seeing pictures like this in magazines and movies. And it's funny, Francisco said that these aren't even the most beautiful beaches in the country. He told us that the most beautiful beaches are in Punta Cana..and as luck would have it, one of the family members invited us to come stay with her this weekend! I'm so pumped, you have no idea. AND, I finally get to go diving! I could go through everything we did and saw, but I feel like a picture is worth a thousand words - and here are 9 of them. So enjoy - and there will only be more to come this weekend!
Tomorrow we get to go into surgery, and I have very high hopes for this coming week! Until then, hasta luego, y tiene un buen noche! (see you later and have a good night!)
Día 4
What a waste of un Sábado (a Saturday). We have an entire country waiting to be seen, and we spend our day lounging around.
First, we sleep in until like 11 o'clock - which if I were at home, I wouldn't have cared, but the fact that we wasted the whole morning in another país (country) is kind of irritating. Granted, we did have a long week and it was much needed sleep, but still - I can sleep when I'm dead. We finally get up to eat breakfast, and decide that we should go to the store - and this is our big trip of the day. One of the guys needs clothes, and we kind of want to get some normal comida to snack on. How exciting. Seriously though, that's all we did all day.
After dinner, we head to another casa and hang out there for the evening. We end up playing dominos - which according to los Dominicanos, we play the wrong way. Well, we're about to start a new game when the father of the house comes out to introduce himself. A little bit of small talk, and we ask him (or try to ask him) about an area called Los Tres Ojos (The Three Eyes). They are a set of caves that are supposed to be beautiful. One of the guys accidentally calls it Los Dos Ojos (The Two Eyes), and this old man goes off on this long tangent, and we aren't exactly sure about what. We come to the conclusion that he has this huge conspiracy theory about the United States, the FBI, and the CIA. He claims that they drugged him and messed with his brain, and that we aren't truly a democratic society, and how our government kills off anybody that has new ideas (like President Kennedy..not sure how he got to that extreme). It's a good 30 minutes before he's done bashing the US and claiming that La Dominicana is the best country, blah blah blah. Part of me feels bad, because the whole time I can't stop laughing about how we got to this. We just wanted to know if he'd seen the caves, and now we're bashing the US. Hmm, interesante (interesting).
Anyway, that pretty much sums up my day. Super boring. Until next time, buen día (good day)!
First, we sleep in until like 11 o'clock - which if I were at home, I wouldn't have cared, but the fact that we wasted the whole morning in another país (country) is kind of irritating. Granted, we did have a long week and it was much needed sleep, but still - I can sleep when I'm dead. We finally get up to eat breakfast, and decide that we should go to the store - and this is our big trip of the day. One of the guys needs clothes, and we kind of want to get some normal comida to snack on. How exciting. Seriously though, that's all we did all day.
After dinner, we head to another casa and hang out there for the evening. We end up playing dominos - which according to los Dominicanos, we play the wrong way. Well, we're about to start a new game when the father of the house comes out to introduce himself. A little bit of small talk, and we ask him (or try to ask him) about an area called Los Tres Ojos (The Three Eyes). They are a set of caves that are supposed to be beautiful. One of the guys accidentally calls it Los Dos Ojos (The Two Eyes), and this old man goes off on this long tangent, and we aren't exactly sure about what. We come to the conclusion that he has this huge conspiracy theory about the United States, the FBI, and the CIA. He claims that they drugged him and messed with his brain, and that we aren't truly a democratic society, and how our government kills off anybody that has new ideas (like President Kennedy..not sure how he got to that extreme). It's a good 30 minutes before he's done bashing the US and claiming that La Dominicana is the best country, blah blah blah. Part of me feels bad, because the whole time I can't stop laughing about how we got to this. We just wanted to know if he'd seen the caves, and now we're bashing the US. Hmm, interesante (interesting).
Anyway, that pretty much sums up my day. Super boring. Until next time, buen día (good day)!
Friday, May 25, 2012
Día 3
Today was one of those days. Pretty slow, and no blood or sutures. Just another day en el hospital.
We hung out in radiology for the entire morning, and we actually saw some pretty interesting cases.
I don't understand why these pictures aren't rotated, but anyway...the case to my left is of a little boy with a massive tumor that has actually changed the shape of his skull and is protruding out of his head. The case to the right is of a little girl who was hit by a car (and yes, she actually was hit - not just a metaphor). Her ojos (eyes) were swollen and bruised and she was unable to open them. Also, by looking at the MRI, you can see that there is massive swelling on the outside of her skull - I don't need to explain that this isn't good. If you look at the top of the picture, you can see that there are two fractures - one on the left and one on the right, in the temporal area. Luckily, the doctor made it clear that there was no brain damage (but I could have misinterpreted that as well), and he said that after surgery she would be just fine. I certainly hope so!
Lunch time. Yesterday I said that empanadas were beginning to get old...well so is ALL of the cafeteria food. I think they take the same meat and cheese and simply put it in a different type of bread and call it something different just to try and trick us. No joke. I had "pizza" today - it was the same insides as yesterday, but it was mashed between two pieces of bread that were cut in the shape of a slice of pizza. I just can't do it anymore. And I guess it makes sense, the place is empty every day we go eat. - now I see why. Although I'm excited to venture out and find new food, my wallet is not going to feel the same way after about a week. Our first Dominican meal cost us 600 pesos each - I can't afford that every day!
Back en el área de urgencía, we see the same pacientes from the previous dïa and it's just starting to get boring. Oh, and I've never seen so many women openly breast feed their children in public. Sorry if that mental image isn't what you were expecting, but really, at any given time there are at least three moms just hanging out (literally), feeding their kids. I mean, there are curtains in the room for a reason, but they just don't seem to care. Anyway, we finally get to see something somewhat interesting. This little baby comes in and they suspect that she has meningitis, so they have to take fluid from in between her vertebrae to send off for testing. As we watch the procedure happen, I'm a little disturbed as to how rough they are with this baby, as well as how little they are worried about sterilization. A little background - once an area has been deemed 'sterile', it instantly loses its sterility if anything or anyone who isn't sterile comes in contact with that area. We watch the procedure from close range and neither doctor really worries about anything but the fluid they need to retrieve. It's shocking.
As the days go on, I'm starting to understand this hospital more and more. I found out that this hospital is run by the government, and it is 100% free. And I mean completamenta gratis (completely free). It's just crazy to me! But it all makes sense now. This hospital has virtually nothing, and by that I mean no supplies in excess. There's never toilet paper or paper towels en los baños (in the bathrooms), no gauze or bandaids or cotton balls, not enough gloves to waste even a single pair, and the worst one of all - not nearly enough blood. (Again, I don't know why the top picture isn't rotated, but bear with me). So the picture on the top shows the entire blood supply...for the ENTIRE hospital. I couldn't believe it. The wouldn't even last an hour in any hospital in the US. The picture below it shows what each shelf within these fridges look like. There's seriously no blood to sustain the hospital and all of the many children that pour in every day. And when I say pour, I mean it. Like I said, this is the best children's hospital in the entire country...and it's completely free. Just imagine the amount of people that come through every day. Esta loca! (It's crazy!)
Well, that was pretty much my whole day. We ran en el parque (in the park) after work, and we're just planning out our evening. Maybe the movies, or maybe la discoteca (a club). I'll let you know mañana, but until then, hasta luego!
We hung out in radiology for the entire morning, and we actually saw some pretty interesting cases.
I don't understand why these pictures aren't rotated, but anyway...the case to my left is of a little boy with a massive tumor that has actually changed the shape of his skull and is protruding out of his head. The case to the right is of a little girl who was hit by a car (and yes, she actually was hit - not just a metaphor). Her ojos (eyes) were swollen and bruised and she was unable to open them. Also, by looking at the MRI, you can see that there is massive swelling on the outside of her skull - I don't need to explain that this isn't good. If you look at the top of the picture, you can see that there are two fractures - one on the left and one on the right, in the temporal area. Luckily, the doctor made it clear that there was no brain damage (but I could have misinterpreted that as well), and he said that after surgery she would be just fine. I certainly hope so!Lunch time. Yesterday I said that empanadas were beginning to get old...well so is ALL of the cafeteria food. I think they take the same meat and cheese and simply put it in a different type of bread and call it something different just to try and trick us. No joke. I had "pizza" today - it was the same insides as yesterday, but it was mashed between two pieces of bread that were cut in the shape of a slice of pizza. I just can't do it anymore. And I guess it makes sense, the place is empty every day we go eat. - now I see why. Although I'm excited to venture out and find new food, my wallet is not going to feel the same way after about a week. Our first Dominican meal cost us 600 pesos each - I can't afford that every day!
Back en el área de urgencía, we see the same pacientes from the previous dïa and it's just starting to get boring. Oh, and I've never seen so many women openly breast feed their children in public. Sorry if that mental image isn't what you were expecting, but really, at any given time there are at least three moms just hanging out (literally), feeding their kids. I mean, there are curtains in the room for a reason, but they just don't seem to care. Anyway, we finally get to see something somewhat interesting. This little baby comes in and they suspect that she has meningitis, so they have to take fluid from in between her vertebrae to send off for testing. As we watch the procedure happen, I'm a little disturbed as to how rough they are with this baby, as well as how little they are worried about sterilization. A little background - once an area has been deemed 'sterile', it instantly loses its sterility if anything or anyone who isn't sterile comes in contact with that area. We watch the procedure from close range and neither doctor really worries about anything but the fluid they need to retrieve. It's shocking.
As the days go on, I'm starting to understand this hospital more and more. I found out that this hospital is run by the government, and it is 100% free. And I mean completamenta gratis (completely free). It's just crazy to me! But it all makes sense now. This hospital has virtually nothing, and by that I mean no supplies in excess. There's never toilet paper or paper towels en los baños (in the bathrooms), no gauze or bandaids or cotton balls, not enough gloves to waste even a single pair, and the worst one of all - not nearly enough blood. (Again, I don't know why the top picture isn't rotated, but bear with me). So the picture on the top shows the entire blood supply...for the ENTIRE hospital. I couldn't believe it. The wouldn't even last an hour in any hospital in the US. The picture below it shows what each shelf within these fridges look like. There's seriously no blood to sustain the hospital and all of the many children that pour in every day. And when I say pour, I mean it. Like I said, this is the best children's hospital in the entire country...and it's completely free. Just imagine the amount of people that come through every day. Esta loca! (It's crazy!)Well, that was pretty much my whole day. We ran en el parque (in the park) after work, and we're just planning out our evening. Maybe the movies, or maybe la discoteca (a club). I'll let you know mañana, but until then, hasta luego!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Día 2
I'm just going to warn you now, I know I built up a lot of anticipation for today's post so this might be a let down for you guys. But nonetheless, it was still a lot of fun and I'm learning some pretty exciting things - well at least I think they're exciting.
When we first got there, there wasn't much to do - just examine los pacientes (patients) and check their vitales. Let me make this clear - there's two different areas in the emergency rooms. Una es el área de Emergencía y el otro es el área de Urgencía (one is the emergency area and the other is the urgency area). The emergency room is typically where the older kids are, as well as cases that require immediate atención (attention). The urgency room on the other hand (where I have been hanging out), is more babies and cases that require frequent attention. Also, the kids are generally there for a longer period of tiempo (time). With not much to do, we eventually head to a meeting which is nothing but a few cases studies regarding bullying and the effect it has on mental health. I must admit, I was hoping for a study about a child who's condition has been troubling them, or a child with a rare disease. I was disappointed to find out it was bullying - don't get me wrong though, bullying is a serious issue and attention does need to be called to it as well as its traumatizing effects.
Anyway, after the case studies, we head to lunch. Coming to La Dominicana, one of my favorite dishes was empanadas. I'm beginning to enjoy them less and less. I've had empanadas every day, in almost every way you could imagine - con queso, con pollo, con carne, con vegetales (with cheese, chicken, meat, vegetables). I mean what's next, just fried bread? Also, I'm slightly disappointed en la comida thus far. I expected dishes that were muy deliciosa (very delicious), and all of the food is somewhat bland. There's not a whole lot of flavor when there's no sauces involved - I can't wait to have some ranch when I get home. On top of that, I had very high expectations for el café (the coffee). Not only have we not had any for breakfast (which I desperately need for these early mornings), but I was surprised at what I got when I ordered some at lunch. I ask for a CUP of coffee, and although it was a cup that my coffee was in, it was a cup that you see at the dentist...you know, the ones you put mouthwash in. Barley enough for a pick-me-up. And no cream. I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted my black coffee and found they had already added azúcar (sugar). Now, don't get me wrong, the food is good and satisfying despite what you may think. On top of that, my entire lunch meal has been less than 80 pesos a day, which is barely $2 US.
So back to work. After almuerzo (lunch), we had to the radiology department again. It's funny how easily things can get lost in translation. The doctor begins to show us a case where a little boy was in un acidente (an accident), and his spine had been displaced. It looked kind of like he had two spines, with some of the vertebrae actually overlapping. The doctor begins to explain what happened, and my heart dropped. I couldn't believe that this little boy was hit by a train, and the worst damage he experienced was the loss of feeling and use of his legs! Turns out, he was only trying to explain what happened to the boy's spine in relation to a train being derailed. Wow. Thank God I was wrong!! It's amazing the things you can tell from simply looking at an x-ray, MRI or a CT scan. We check out some x-rays of children who have pneumonia, or simply fluid in their lungs. By simply seeing what areas are darker than others can indicate anything, from fluid in the lungs, to air in the stomach, to the pathway of liquid through the body. By having a patient drink a fluid generally known as 'contrasto' (contrast), you can watch how that fluid flows and where in the body there is blockage based on where the contrast stops flowing. Pretty cool, huh?
Sadly, there was no blood to be drawn today or bodies to sew up. I have high hopes for tomorrow though. I mean, the doctor doesn't want us to learn how to do these things on babies or small children. With this, I am totally ok with - babies scream and small children squirm too much. No thanks! We'll likely head over to Emergencía tomorrow and learn some hands on skills with some of the older kids.
I promised some pictures today, so here's a picture of the crazy traffic from this morning. It was a bit rainy so there were less people wandering through traffic, but look closely and you'll find a few crazies amongst the cars. (Our driver, José, actually made one of the guys with us jump out of the car in the middle of the traffic! Los Dominincanos están locos!) Also, you can check out my "cup" of coffee! Hasta mañana!
Anyway, after the case studies, we head to lunch. Coming to La Dominicana, one of my favorite dishes was empanadas. I'm beginning to enjoy them less and less. I've had empanadas every day, in almost every way you could imagine - con queso, con pollo, con carne, con vegetales (with cheese, chicken, meat, vegetables). I mean what's next, just fried bread? Also, I'm slightly disappointed en la comida thus far. I expected dishes that were muy deliciosa (very delicious), and all of the food is somewhat bland. There's not a whole lot of flavor when there's no sauces involved - I can't wait to have some ranch when I get home. On top of that, I had very high expectations for el café (the coffee). Not only have we not had any for breakfast (which I desperately need for these early mornings), but I was surprised at what I got when I ordered some at lunch. I ask for a CUP of coffee, and although it was a cup that my coffee was in, it was a cup that you see at the dentist...you know, the ones you put mouthwash in. Barley enough for a pick-me-up. And no cream. I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted my black coffee and found they had already added azúcar (sugar). Now, don't get me wrong, the food is good and satisfying despite what you may think. On top of that, my entire lunch meal has been less than 80 pesos a day, which is barely $2 US.
So back to work. After almuerzo (lunch), we had to the radiology department again. It's funny how easily things can get lost in translation. The doctor begins to show us a case where a little boy was in un acidente (an accident), and his spine had been displaced. It looked kind of like he had two spines, with some of the vertebrae actually overlapping. The doctor begins to explain what happened, and my heart dropped. I couldn't believe that this little boy was hit by a train, and the worst damage he experienced was the loss of feeling and use of his legs! Turns out, he was only trying to explain what happened to the boy's spine in relation to a train being derailed. Wow. Thank God I was wrong!! It's amazing the things you can tell from simply looking at an x-ray, MRI or a CT scan. We check out some x-rays of children who have pneumonia, or simply fluid in their lungs. By simply seeing what areas are darker than others can indicate anything, from fluid in the lungs, to air in the stomach, to the pathway of liquid through the body. By having a patient drink a fluid generally known as 'contrasto' (contrast), you can watch how that fluid flows and where in the body there is blockage based on where the contrast stops flowing. Pretty cool, huh?
Sadly, there was no blood to be drawn today or bodies to sew up. I have high hopes for tomorrow though. I mean, the doctor doesn't want us to learn how to do these things on babies or small children. With this, I am totally ok with - babies scream and small children squirm too much. No thanks! We'll likely head over to Emergencía tomorrow and learn some hands on skills with some of the older kids.
I promised some pictures today, so here's a picture of the crazy traffic from this morning. It was a bit rainy so there were less people wandering through traffic, but look closely and you'll find a few crazies amongst the cars. (Our driver, José, actually made one of the guys with us jump out of the car in the middle of the traffic! Los Dominincanos están locos!) Also, you can check out my "cup" of coffee! Hasta mañana!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Día 1
My first full day at work En La Dominicana! In the US, people love to complain about everything...there is absolutely nothing to complain about.
First of all, I'm shocked that I made it to work alive and in one piece. I've never seen rush hour traffic like this. There were people just walking across 6 o más carriles (lanes) de traffico expecting that no one would hit them. Drivers don't use signals - just their horns. Por ejémplo, one honk means 'watch out', two honks mean 'get out of my way', one long honk means some form of profanity, and so on. And people don't use the lanes - half the time we were driving on the wrong side of the road and people were honking at each other and traffic was merging and it was just insane. Thank God I don't ever have to drive in this country.
We finally get to work, and I'm amazed at how many people look at me and think I'm already a doctor. Seriously, families coming up to me, "Doctora, Doctora, tenemos una pregunta!?" I'm just like, "Sorry I'm not a doctor?" Bien, we finally find our head doctor, and she kind of just lets us loose. Honestly. She basically told us to go read any of the patient's charts and familiarize ourselves with them. Uhm...what? After wandering around aimlessly, another doctor finally explains what to look for, what the charts mean, etc. Then as she's about to take someone's blood, she looks at me and asks if I want to do it. Of course I want to! But I've only seen it in movies, so she decides that she'll teach us tomorrow. She makes the mistake of asking me if I want to suture a patient, and after learning that I've only ever sutured a banana, she realizes just how much she's going to have to teach us. We agree that today she'll explain everything to us, but that tomorrow we better be ready to examine new patients, take their vitals and medical history, as well as learn the art of a needle along with a suture. As the day goes on, we learn so much information, from reading x-rays to reading blood work. I just feel like a little kid again, so much to look at and learn!
On top of all that, I realize just how lucky I am to live en Los Estados Unidos and how lucky we are to have an awesome and substantial form of health care. Trust me, I never would have expected to say that - but at least I know that when I go to any sort of doctora, I can be sure that I will be treated with sterile equipment and that all of my information is private, among other things. I felt like I was in a zoo - anyone wearing clothes that even mildly resembled scrubs or a lab coat, along with a decent amount of medical knowledge and some español could walk up to any patient, read their charts, and essentially begin to treat this patient. Not only that, but nothing is sterilized in quite the same fashion as in the US. Sure, people lavarse sus manos (wash their hands) and clean the area before any procedure, but used needles with blood are simply marked with tape and placed in a drinking cup on a desk in the room for later tests. And I don't mean an individual's room, I mean a huge room with 20 beds all filled with screaming children.
On that note, as most of you know, me and children don't exactly go together. But I'm doing much better than I had initially expected. I can handle seeing the sick children, and I'm learning to deal with all of the crying and bloody murder screams. But, I do think that my future lies elsewhere.
Bueno, yo necesito una siesta (well, I need a nap). It was a long day, and I know that tomorrow will be filled with even more to learn and do. Until then, tiene un día maravilloso! (have a wonderful day!)
PS. I'm going to do my best to take pictures of the crazy traffic and other oddities of the country, so trust me - pictures will come!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Hola!
Hola desde La Republica Dominicana! I figured it would be a good idea to start a blog, mostly so I don't have to keep telling everyone about my trip every day. I'll do my best to keep you updated and post some pictures every now and then. I'm also going to try and work some Español in to my blogs, mostly for my benefit, but also so that you guys can learn a little on the way! Enjoy!
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