Day 13

Teaching day!!!!! I got to go into town and teach a group of 1st and 2nd year nursing students about wounds. It was a very interesting experience. The school was two rooms with no electricity. The kids did their labs outside. The desks were like the school desks we sat in a kids back in elementary school. I was having flashbacks to the stories my dad told me as a kid about his school days. The kids were engaged in the lecture and asked great questions. It was fun watching them during the lab part. I was teaching them how to debride and dress a wound. As I was talking to the kids I found one of them Jd recently burned his leg on a motorcycle and had crushed up amoxicillin and put it in his burn. Needless to say , I told him to come back to the clinic with me so I could clean the wound and dress it . After teaching I cam back to the clinic and treated wounds for the rest of the day with one or two ortho patients thrown in there. I did get to needle a patient independently which was fun. I still have some ortho skills under all the neuro skills!
Although overall today was great, I did have a very sad case today. I was treating an 8 year old for a pressure injury on her knee. The wound had never been addressed and was very hypergranulated. Her kneecap was also exposed meaning she had a bone infection as well. Her leg and knee were very swollen and she was sick. The girls was also very malnourished . I though she was a toddler ( she maybe weights 30 lbs at most) Her mother has very limited means and ate a bowl of rice( if that) per day.  I learned that often times a child like the one I was treating  were left at orphanages or used as sacrifices. In addition to the fact that this was just a very sad story, I also did. It have he supplies unneeded to help her wound. Luckily I work with a very inventing attaemding at Spaulding who advised I try play dough to help decrease the granulation tissue. Since we did. It have play dough I made some ( very easy... flour sugar and water) and used it to help with the wound. Hopefully it works! This poor girl and her mom need something to go their way .
After clinic we ate showered and then .... salsa night!!! We danced the night away. By we I mean me dragging all the men in the group up on the stage to dance 😃. They were all good sports though. There were not a lot of Haitians dancing which was unfortunate. They are all such good dancers and I love watching them. Most of them don't have any formal training and their technique may not be perfect but they just know how to move and move well . The tap tap ride there and back was far less dramatic this time. There were not piles of trash to block flooding and out tires stayed inflated . We are just getting back now around 1130 and I am ready for bed! Night !

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