Open for Business - June 15

June 15

Our clinic is open for business!  How exciting!  I was working the pharmacy and had set up all the medicines according to what system of the body they were used for. We had medicine for cough and allergies, medicine for topical issues like rashes and itching, medicines for pain (no narcotics), medicines for bacterial and fungal infections, heartburn meds, GI meds (constipation and diarrhea), and blood pressure meds. Plus every patient unless they were breastfeeding or under two received mebendazole for parasite infections. And every female and child received vitamins. We didn't give the men medicine because the thought was they eat better than women and women need more if they are breastfeeding or menstruating.

We also had dressings for wounds which we haven't seen a lot of. We had canes of all sizes and a few orthopedic supports. We had ear irrigation and a nebulizer.

Charlie warned us that the first day would be hectic and she was correct!  But it still went smoothly. We had a helper from the school named Indida. When the patients arrived they checked in with the nuns who gave them a ticket. All the patients needed to be on the schedule. They had made an appointment previously. Indida brought the patients to our intake station which was downstairs.  At intake, their personal information  was taken and their main health problem was recorded. Then the patient then went to the nurses station where vitals were taken, any obvious lab tests were performed like a urine test or a blood sugar test. Then the patients were brought around the curtains to the doctors rooms. The doctors rooms were separated by curtains on three sides. They were open to the clinic on one side facing the pharmacy and the eyeglass station.

Lindsey and Emily at Eyeglass Station

The eyeglass station was manned by one person who prescribed either prescription or readers to those who needed them. Not an easy task considering we had a simple sheet somewhat akin to a Snellen chart. But I noticed whoever worked the eyeglass station also received kisses and hugs from patients!

Dr. Roberto was in the first doctors room. He has a lot of experience with medical missions such as in Honduras. Dr. Roberto is very efficient with his patients, very calm, and very reassuring.



Emily and Dr. Bob

The middle doctors room was empty. We were waiting for Cathy Valentyn who is a PA and would be using the room. Her flight was really messed up. On Monday June 13 she was to leave from O'Hare, but her flight was delayed THREE times!!  She had been there since 2 pm and she messaged me on Whatsapp at 7:45. She hadn't left O'Hare and she wasn't able to get in touch with any other team member. I was her liaison between her and the team. Her last flight delay would make her late for her connecting flight in Miami to  Lima. So they were put on a different flight which then was delayed twice!  This last delay would only give them 30 minutes in Lima for their connecting flight to Piura. I was very worried she wouldn't have enough time (30 minutes) to claim her bags (including her two donations bags), have security examine the donations bags, go through customs, then recheck her donations bags and get to the gate. Not possible I thought. I messaged Deb and Charlie and ask them when they arrived at The Lima airport if they could request an airport cart to help Cathy and Elena make their connecting flight.

This ended up not being a factor because their new flight was delayed several times!  Wow. I wondered if they would just turn around and go home. But they didn't. All the delays were due to rain in Texas and to not having enough crew members on one of the flights.

They finally boarded their plane and after sitting for 30 minutes the pilot told them to disembark. He was no longer legal to fly due to how many hours he had already flow that day. Everyone gets off the plane. Cathy starts working with an American Airline agent to get them a flight when she sees everyone running toward a different gate!  Those who got there quickly were able to book a flight to Miami.  Ugh!  She made arrangements with America Airlines to leave on a flight the next day. She wouldn't get to Piura until Wednesday the 15th. She and Elena had to stand in line to get a hotel room at the airport!  They have a lot of grit and a lot of faith to keep going. I think the average person would have just called it a day and gone home. But Cathy was more worried about imposing on the nuns since they would have to take a separate trip to the airport to get them. How admirable of Cathy to go through all that and be worried about others rather than herself.

Cathy and Elena at Hostel

They made it to Piura and the nuns brought them to the school where our clinic was. They rested until after lunch and then joined us in time for Cathy to treat a few patients to get her 'feet wet'. Cathryn would Spanish interpret for Cathy.

The third doctors room was for Charlie. Charlie is amazing. She loves her patients. That is so obvious. She is very fluent in Spanish and speaks with an ease that is soft and pleasant. Her patients love her. She walks them through the clinic from the pharmacy to the eye station to the dental area, giving them instructions and just showing them she cares about them. She loves the babies especially.



Caring Charlie

This first day of clinic, the school had a special lunch for us with all the teachers and administrators. We met them in a pavilion inside the gated Catholic school. We were first given a shot glass of red wine!  We all stood and toasted the mission and the school for hosting our mission. Then each of the team members stood and introduced ourselves in Spanish. Needless to say, I was very quick with my introduction!  I now want to take Spanish when I get back home.

The nuns brought us a dish that was sort of a stuffed cornbread with pork and cheese. There was a spicy dab of a mustard on the side to dip it in. It was cool not warm. I ate almost all of it I was so hungry!  I am not one to try new things but I liked it!  I thought that was it but then they cleared our plates and brought a new dish. This dish was turkey or chicken with a gravy on top and a large portion rice with peas and sausage. This was our meal. Lunch here is the biggest meal of the day. I was definitely full and ready to take on the afternoon shift.

The afternoon went much smoother. Olivia, Lindsey, Emily, and Miranda were stationed wherever they were needed. I was so happy that Olivia and Lindsey were able to help in different areas. They did intake, they took vitals, they chose eyeglass prescriptions, they dispensed parasite medication, and they helped in the pharmacy. Great experience.

It was so hot in our clinic. I think it must have been in the 90s. They average 0 mm of rainfall here. It's a desert.  Everyone wears flip flops. We wore athletic shoes and by the end of the night I had earned one blister on my left foot.

We stopped taking patients at 7 pm and by the time they were worked through our system, we finally finished around 8:30 or 9 pm.

Deb had a wonderful light dinner for us that consisted of deli meat and cheese on amazing buns. We also had fresh fruit (including tangerines)!  She had peach juice that was amazing!  She also had soda (even Diet Pepsi- my savior!!!). At dinner we recounted the day and solved minor problems to make the next day easier. We walked together as a group back to our hostel. It didn't take me long to fall asleep. I didn't even have time to blog. Tomorrow will come very soon.


Linda and Baby



Cutest Baby of the day

Submitted by Lisa W.