Monday, March 31, 2008
WSU SoZ
The extended version can be seen HERE.
This year the event's charity was the National Bone Marrow Donor Program... over $6900 was raised for this organization and many signed up for the registry!
Again, congrats to the class for sweeping all the awards... and making us laugh the entire time.
And as a nod to all those who have gone before/ are going ahead (sorry for all the inside jokes, but I hope you all enjoy... and goes to show that med students really do more than study):
From the current 4th years class (from a few years ago) ... congrats again on matching!!!
From the current 3rd year class (from a few years ago)
From the current 2nd year class (from a few years ago)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
When did life get this crazy?!
The past week has been absolutely crazy... The above picture is my to-do list for the past week (not including class)... Sadly, I did not complete it all... I was a little extreme in estimating my abilities (and motivation). However, before I get back to Costa Rica updates (next weekend?) I thought I'd update you all on my craziness.Last Friday there was a HUGE birthday party for a BUNCH of people... And by that I mean... Me, Eileen, Riki, Dan, Shareen, Berger, Joel, and I'm still forgetting someone I think. We all met up out a friends apartment for a little fun and then took the people mover (my first time) down to a local club for some fun.
The next morning I headed home for Easter. I spent the day catching up on sleep and dying eggs with my brother. Sunday was spent at church and with my extended family at Grandma's. I LOVE EASTER.. just throwing that out there.
Even Izzy celebrated by wearing some festive stickers.
Grandma and Darcy (my youngest cousin)
Xavier (my oldest cousin's 3 month old son)
Peter showing his new sib some brotherly love
Tuesday was busy with class, but I also had CMA lunch about caring for Christian patients (being on e-board for next year, I kinda needed to be there). I had to leave this early for an interview for Pediatric Care Interest Group... I was interviewing for co-coordinator (hoping I get it, but if not, I'm hoping I make sub-committee for volunteering).
Right after school I had to make a run to my favorite food store Joe Randazzo's, an amazing fresh fruit and veggie market... This was essential for two reasons, 1) I was out of fruit (and veggies), which is basically my main dietary substance, and 2) I needed to get supplies to make eggplant parmigiana for Thursday.
I got back just in time to unload and eat dinner before weekly fellowship... always a highlight of the week.
Wednesday was another full day, right after class there was a ceremony for the AIDS Quilt, which has been on display at our school for the last week. This was followed by me running upstairs to the PCIG's Match Panel. Which I ran from to get home and make pasta sauce for Thursday, which I stopped before cooking to play my last floor hockey game (I think)... during which I made my first goal (which I'm not really counting since it was completely set up and the teams were really unequal at that point... but whatever, I got it in).
Thursday was a nice little breather.... in the sense that all I had to do was make eggplant parmigiana for 12+ people and host a movie premiere for the Lampoon's Zombie Video (see below).
Friday was my birthday! And it was great... We celebrated my birthday and my roommates by going to Pizza Papalis, an amazing pizza restaurant in Greektown... unlucky for us there were TWO athletic events making the only real option walking... not that we were complaining too much... it was just the whole trying to get home issue prior to dinner.... Again, to whoever oversees city events... you should be fired. Two huge athletic events on the same night when half the roads are under construction... that just makes you an idiot.
Saturday I spent the morning at a local clinic and Saturday night was Lampoons. Lampoons is the annual "talent/sketch comedy show" put on my the students. It was funny... and we laughed a lot... In the end, the 1st years won both best video and best live skit (which is super funny since we didn't really have a live skit... just little video setups). It was here that the movie that the party was for was presented to the masses.... Imagine the cadavers coming to life and taking over the school.... As soon as it's up on Youtube (with the others) I will put links up here... It's one of the few that everyone will get without being a student here... but the other ones are crazy funny as well.
Needless to say... I'm behind in the school work with less than 2 weeks to the next exam. That means that this week I need to be super productive... and pray that it's not as crazy.
In Other News.... for the last 3 years I've been making mixes of my favorite songs on the radio... it started off with my roommate Jen senior year on the way to and from church. We kept saying "I LOVE THIS SONG." Since then, I've been using it to document my years by the seasons. I just finished downloading songs for my spring mix and thought I'd share it. Here goes:
Keep Breathing - Spring 2K08
1. The Anthem (feat. Lil Jon), Pitbull
2. Cupid Shuffle, Cupid
3. Don't Stop the Music, Rihanna
4. Feels Like Tonight, Daughtry
5. Get Buck in Here, DJ Feli Fel
6. Keep Breathing, Ingrid Michaelson
7. Kiss Kiss (feat. T-Pain), Chris Brown
8. Killa, Cherish
9. Love in this Club, Usher
10. New Soul, Yael Naim
11. No Air, Jordin Sparks
12. No One, Alicia Keys
13. Pocketful of Sunshine, Natasha Bedingfield
14. See You Again, Miley Cyrus (dedicated to my brother...)
15. Sensual Seduction, Snoop Dogg
16. Shadow of the Day, Linkin Park
17. Stop and Stare, OneRepublic
18. Superstar (feat. Matthew Santos), Lupe Fiasco
19. Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill) (feat Akon, Lil Wayne & Nila), Wyclef Jean
20. With You, Chris Brown
21. 4 Minutes (feat Justin Timberlack & Timbaland), Madonna
God Bless and may you all have a wonderful week!!!
P.S. Please keep Ms. Bev in your prayers, she's going through some hard health times right now (http://wwww.beverly-brandon.blogspot.com)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
"I need more cowbell"
This weekend at church they played two songs that features the cowbell... and this is all I could think of (this is the closest I could get to the original):
If you've never seen the real thing, go rent SNL: The Best of Will Ferrell... because the funniest part is watching Fallon lose it.
If you've never seen the real thing, go rent SNL: The Best of Will Ferrell... because the funniest part is watching Fallon lose it.
I Owe Updates... I know.
Sorry that I haven't gotten the rest of Costa Rica up yet. My life has been crazy.... lots of things going on and not enough time. I was going to use the weekend to update but between birthday parties, Good Friday and spending Easter at home, I just didn't have time.
That being said, my friend Angela gave me an award.... and I now have to pass it on to 10 more people.... I'll do that this afternoon (hopefully.... again, my day has WAY too many things to fit in). But thanks Angela!! You're awesome!!
That being said, my friend Angela gave me an award.... and I now have to pass it on to 10 more people.... I'll do that this afternoon (hopefully.... again, my day has WAY too many things to fit in). But thanks Angela!! You're awesome!!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Costa Rica part 2
Day 4 (Sunday)
Sunday morning found ourselves back in La Carpio, only this time my team was staying at the main clinic for the day and working with Dr. Dorset. The main clinic actually had two different clinics, the makeshift one (upstairs, also where we had orientation) and the actual, everyday clinic (located on the ground floor). Four of us went down to the actual clinic with Dr. Dorset, while the rest of the team stayed upstairs with Craig (a 4th year student who was helping out our trip).
The main difference between this day and all the others thus far was the fact that we were in groups of two... this made communication a lot harder. I was working with my friend Jamie, who spoke some Spanish... but there were still a lot of times that we had to pull Gail into the room to help figure out what the patient was trying to tell us.
Some of the team in the pharmacy (upstairs of main clinic)
The other main difference in that clinic was that the general health of the population seemed to be a bit better. Instead of seeing a lot of la gripe (which, although meaning flu, is more like a cold), we were seeing more of general muscle pain due to work.
Patient of the Day: While presenting our HPIs, Gail came in to tell Dr. Dorset that there was a special patient coming in that she wanted her to see. This led us to the opportunity to see a child with Maple Syrup Urine Disease. This is a disease in which the body cannot break down specific amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) and leads to neurological damage and excretion of proteins in the urine. Currently the child is on specialized formulas coming from the states that have a high sugar content.
After we were done with clinic we all piled into the bus and made our way to a nearby city to visit a church and see a soccer game. The church was of the patron saint of Costa Rica.
As the story goes there was a little girl who found a doll in the river, she picked it up and took it home. The next morning it was gone, but she found it again in the river. This happened for a few days and then she talked to a priest. He said that it was a sign that she should make a church at that location... and thus we have the story of the virgin patron saint of Costa Rica (sorry if the story is confusing/ incomplete, but that's all I really understood of what was going on).
Cathedral of the Virgin Saint of Costa Rica
The church was absolutely gorgeous.... we spent about an hour walking around and in the church. Interestingly, all the parishioners were walking to the alter on their knees. When we asked why (seeing as it wasn't a holy day), we were told that this church was kinda of like a mecca for people to come to, thus it was common practice. After exploring the church a few of us ran across the street to get ice cream (before getting back on the bus to go to the professional soccer game).
Inside the cathedral
Parishioners walking on their knees to the front
Birds of Paradise
The soccer game was a lot of fun. The local team (Azul) was not very good, but they were playing La Liga, which apparently is the 2nd best team in Costa Rica (Saprissa being the best).
Our team at the soccer game
La Liga is the red team, Azul is the white and blue team
The game was a good game, but half time was hilarious... this guy who was there representing a chicken chain restaurant got into this horse outfit and ran around the field while the girls tossed out tee-shirts. There was also a random group of 4 girls (non-matching outfits, but all the same colors) dancing to music we couldn't hear, but they weren't choreographed... it was just them, dancing.
The crazy guy on the horse
After the game we ran back to the cathedral, where we saw it all lit up beautifully and also got to see the end of the mass. It was such a cool experience.... when we got there we heard beautiful singing (which helped make up for the fact that we couldn't get to church since we were working on a Sunday).
The cathedral lit up at night
Day 5 (Monday)
Monday morning was a little confusing, to say the least. I usually woke up first to get a shower, but that morning when I woke up my mom starting telling me something.... seeing as Natanya spoke Spanish and I spoke none, I had no idea what was going on.
Our homestay mom then woke Natanya up and told her that we didn't have clinic that morning and that we weren't meeting up with everyone until noon. So, we went back to bed. :) W
hen we woke up we took our time getting ready and having breakfast. We then got a phone call saying that we were meeting at 10 instead, so that we could go to the pool. Luckily, we were ready and just had to grab our suits.
At the bus stop the doctors told us they were giving us the day off, because we needed it (we did... we hadn't had a real break yet). We then got on the bus and made our way to a "Artist Village", which turned out to be a tourist trap (think the Giant Clam or Mystery Spot on the way up to Mackinaw, for those of you familiar with Northern Michigan). But, we had fun looking at some of the things they had for sale... I ended up getting a butterfly box for my homestay sister (who is obsessed with butterflies) and a little something for my mom (sorry mom, you'll have to wait to find out).
We then got back on the bus and headed to the "pool", which went from being a pool to a watering hole to a bath house.... all the time I insisted that Dr. Dorset said that it was a POOL. Well, it was a pool, but it was also a WATERFALL!!!! We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the waterfall and laying out in the glorious Costa Rican sun.
Waterfall and pool from the road above
Waterfall with two of our crazies already in it
Playing in the waterfall
Some of the girls getting some sun
Did I mention the waterslide?
Day 6 (Tuesday)
Tuesday was our last full day in the San Jose area... we spent it at an outdoor clinic in a economically depressed area (not La Carpio). We drove about 15 minutes and found ourselves in a mountain side community, with houses on top of each other and a bridge spanning a river.
We set up the clinic on a covered basketball court next to a little first-start type school. While setting up some of the students went through the community to let them know that we were there.
Waiting for clinic to pick up
Still waiting
The morning was really slow for awhile, but it eventually started to pick up. It was a crazy clinic though, because for the first time all 24 of us were in the same location.
Setting up the pharmacy
Erin and Michael in the clinic
Patients of the Day: Murph and I were sitting at our table when Gail came up with a group of kids. She then asked us if we could do some general health education for the kids and show them that going to the doctor was ok. Well, we weren't really prepared for this... so we grabbed the family bags and showed them how to use the toothbrush and floss. And told them a little about vitamins and being active. Then I showed them my stethescope and had them listen to their own hearts. It was a lot of fun and made me so happy... I love pediatrics....
We spent the rest of the day in San Jose proper.... we did some shopping at a little market and talked around a beautiful old museum. And then ended the day by getting coffee at a local coffee shop.
Sunday morning found ourselves back in La Carpio, only this time my team was staying at the main clinic for the day and working with Dr. Dorset. The main clinic actually had two different clinics, the makeshift one (upstairs, also where we had orientation) and the actual, everyday clinic (located on the ground floor). Four of us went down to the actual clinic with Dr. Dorset, while the rest of the team stayed upstairs with Craig (a 4th year student who was helping out our trip).
The main difference between this day and all the others thus far was the fact that we were in groups of two... this made communication a lot harder. I was working with my friend Jamie, who spoke some Spanish... but there were still a lot of times that we had to pull Gail into the room to help figure out what the patient was trying to tell us.
Some of the team in the pharmacy (upstairs of main clinic)
Patient of the Day: While presenting our HPIs, Gail came in to tell Dr. Dorset that there was a special patient coming in that she wanted her to see. This led us to the opportunity to see a child with Maple Syrup Urine Disease. This is a disease in which the body cannot break down specific amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) and leads to neurological damage and excretion of proteins in the urine. Currently the child is on specialized formulas coming from the states that have a high sugar content.
After we were done with clinic we all piled into the bus and made our way to a nearby city to visit a church and see a soccer game. The church was of the patron saint of Costa Rica.
As the story goes there was a little girl who found a doll in the river, she picked it up and took it home. The next morning it was gone, but she found it again in the river. This happened for a few days and then she talked to a priest. He said that it was a sign that she should make a church at that location... and thus we have the story of the virgin patron saint of Costa Rica (sorry if the story is confusing/ incomplete, but that's all I really understood of what was going on).
Cathedral of the Virgin Saint of Costa Rica
Inside the cathedral
Parishioners walking on their knees to the front
Birds of ParadiseThe soccer game was a lot of fun. The local team (Azul) was not very good, but they were playing La Liga, which apparently is the 2nd best team in Costa Rica (Saprissa being the best).
Our team at the soccer game
La Liga is the red team, Azul is the white and blue team
The crazy guy on the horse
The cathedral lit up at night
Monday morning was a little confusing, to say the least. I usually woke up first to get a shower, but that morning when I woke up my mom starting telling me something.... seeing as Natanya spoke Spanish and I spoke none, I had no idea what was going on.
Our homestay mom then woke Natanya up and told her that we didn't have clinic that morning and that we weren't meeting up with everyone until noon. So, we went back to bed. :) W
hen we woke up we took our time getting ready and having breakfast. We then got a phone call saying that we were meeting at 10 instead, so that we could go to the pool. Luckily, we were ready and just had to grab our suits.
At the bus stop the doctors told us they were giving us the day off, because we needed it (we did... we hadn't had a real break yet). We then got on the bus and made our way to a "Artist Village", which turned out to be a tourist trap (think the Giant Clam or Mystery Spot on the way up to Mackinaw, for those of you familiar with Northern Michigan). But, we had fun looking at some of the things they had for sale... I ended up getting a butterfly box for my homestay sister (who is obsessed with butterflies) and a little something for my mom (sorry mom, you'll have to wait to find out).
We then got back on the bus and headed to the "pool", which went from being a pool to a watering hole to a bath house.... all the time I insisted that Dr. Dorset said that it was a POOL. Well, it was a pool, but it was also a WATERFALL!!!! We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the waterfall and laying out in the glorious Costa Rican sun.
Waterfall and pool from the road above
Waterfall with two of our crazies already in it
Playing in the waterfall
Some of the girls getting some sun
Did I mention the waterslide?Day 6 (Tuesday)
Tuesday was our last full day in the San Jose area... we spent it at an outdoor clinic in a economically depressed area (not La Carpio). We drove about 15 minutes and found ourselves in a mountain side community, with houses on top of each other and a bridge spanning a river.
We set up the clinic on a covered basketball court next to a little first-start type school. While setting up some of the students went through the community to let them know that we were there.
The kiddies watching us set up clinic
Waiting for clinic to pick up
Still waiting
Setting up the pharmacy
Erin and Michael in the clinic
We spent the rest of the day in San Jose proper.... we did some shopping at a little market and talked around a beautiful old museum. And then ended the day by getting coffee at a local coffee shop.
The Museum
Costa Rican Coffee Maker
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Costa Rica part 1
*** apologies for the length, I'm trying to cut it down by putting it up as 4 parts, but even then... I tend to be wordy.
Day 1 (Thursday)
Thursday never actually started... that might seem weird, but let me explain: I didn't sleep at all on Wednesday night. Wednesday was our last physiology exam, and there was so much to do and not enough time that I just kept going until I got home at 4 am (at which point I realized I actually had to pack... stuff was on my bed but no where near in my suitcase, a problem, seeing as my ride was coming at 5 am to take me to the airport).
We all got to the airport by 5:30 for our 7:30 flight. What was really nice was that the Ecuadorian team was on the same flight to Miami with our teams, which meant lots of friends (including my roommate) to hang out with and keep us all awake.
We arrived in Miami, where we said goodbye to our friends going to Ecuador, and headed to our connecting flight to San Jose. At this point everyone was still rather quiet (we hadn't gotten use to the whole group dynamic yet, although that would come very soon).
Three hours later we were in Costa Rica! We met up with Gail, our contact and head of the humanitarian foundation we were working with. We climbed in the bus as we saw all our suitcases being loaded into the back of a truck (all hoping that nothing would fall off) and made our way to the main clinic we would be affiliated with while in country.
A view of San Jose right before landing
Paige and Me, so excited to be in Costa Rica
When we arrived at the clinic Gail gave us some introductory information about La Carpio, where we'd be for the next 3-4 days. It is an area where the Nicaraguans were squatting land. The location of the main clinic was were the first wave of immigrants started living, this meant that it was more developed than some of the other areas. The other main area we would be working in was called La Libertad, this is where the third wave of immigrants were living, and was the poorest of the three areas in La Carpio.
Some of the girls at the main clinic getting ready to learn about La Carpio
After some more general information, we made our way to Santa Ana, where we would be staying in homestays. When we got there we were introduced to our moms and started walking to our houses. What seemed like a long trip (which Natanya and I soon realized was not at all) led us to a small blue gate. Inside there was a common party area, pool, basketball court and futbol (soccer) field, all this was shared by the few houses on the property.
Once we got to the house we started getting to know our family a little better. Our mom, Nena was a sweet lady who made clothes in her own sewing room (off to the side of the house) and our sister, Gloriana, was a senior in high school about to finish her accounting certification. The dad (we would later find out) worked as a maintenance man at one of the hotels in San Jose.
Day 2 (Friday)
Friday morning we woke up early (7 am) and had rice and beans for breakfast (the first of many, but it was good). Our mom gave us our lunches and we walked our bus stop (aka Broadway Beauty, which had a nice large parking lot that we all met up at). We got on the bus and headed back to La Carpio.
Roommates on our first day of clinic
Waiting for the bus... or rather, waiting to get on the bus.
My team was sent down to La Libertad for the first day, while the other team sorted drugs and ran the main clinic. We walked the 15 minutes down to the clinic and got ready to see patients. What was really nice was that since it was a small clinic we got to work in groups of 3-4 (meaning each group could easily either get a translator or had someone who spoke good Spanish). The only problem that first day was that we didn't have drugs for the awhile, and even when we did, we didn't have what we really needed. Other than that, everything went smoothly.
Walking down to the clinic, through La Libertad
Where we held our makeshift clinic in La Libertad
Berger and Murph taking some HPIs
(aka history of present illness for you non-medical folk)
Patient of the Day: We saw was a women complaining of headaches lower and back pain. Normally I would have just assumed general muscle pain, but Dr. Rainer (who is a PMR... aka, physical and medical rehabilitation doctor) specializes in this stuff and showed us all otherwise.
We went back to the examining room and ran a few tests. In one you put your hands on the top of the pelvis and your thumbs at the sacro-iliac joint. He then had her lift her legs, you could feel the sacro-iliac joint moving, which is not a good thing. Diagnosis: mobile SI joint. This is what was causing the lower back pain. Treatment: Muscle relaxants and building up her ab muscles. We also managed to diagnose migraines, so we gave her some more hard core meds than acetaminophen for her headaches.
That afternoon we all got on the bus and headed to Juan Sanchez's house. Mr. Sanchez is a traditional healer. He talked to us about the importance of western medicine healing diseases while he helped to heal the spiritual problems. He also mentioned how people called into medicine are called by God and have a special purpose in their lives.
Inside the main hut
(Juan's the guy in the yellow shirt on the right)
The Powerful Bones
We finished the trip off by Mr. Sanchez showing us how they extract sweet water from sugar cane, and then let us all try... We also sucked on the bark a little bit and then got a little cup of the sugar can juice.
Pressing the Sugar Cane
Enjoying our Sugarcane Juice
The Whole Team
That night we all (minus Natanya, who was sick) went our to the bar to hang out and relax. There was a really funny show on called Fist of Zen... the premise is pretty much the same as Jackass only it was a group of friends in a church, which meant they couldn't make any noise. While there two of the guys got drinks called La Cucaracha, which was tequila that they set up fire... they had to drink it up through a straw. Overall it was lots of fun.
Paige and Jamie enjoying huge frozen margaritas
Buggia drinking down his flaming tequila
(I promise it was actually on fire)
Day 3 (Saturday)
Saturday we found ourselves back at La Libertad, only this time we had all the drugs we needed. I spent most of the morning setting up and running the pharmacy, which was crazy busy and involved way more math than I was planning on doing. But it went well and we figured everything out (mostly to the thanks of Dr. Rainer).
La Libertad
The pharmacy, and the group taking a lunch break
Patient of the Day: After finally turning over the pharmacy to another student, the first patient I got to see was an elderly women complaining of knee pain. She said that she had been taking acetaminophen, but it wasn't really helping the pain at that much. We noticed some swelling in her knee as well. When we presented to Dr. Rainer - Diagnosis: Pes Anserinus Bursitis, Treatment: Steroid Injection. Dr. Rainer then asked whether the patient would be okay with getting an injection, she said yes. His next question: Who wants to do it? My answer: Yes!!
A few minutes later I had cleaned the area of the knee overlying the pes anserinus and got ready to do the injection with the instructions of: go in until you hit bone and then pull out a few millimeters. Nervous?! Uh.. YEAH!
And then I did my first injection.
The procedure was a success!!!
Right after Joel, Dr. Rainer and I got to do a home visit. There was a lady who was having a reaction to an influenza vaccine the day before. We walked through La Libertad to her house and got to see first hand the conditions that these people live in... it was a very sombering experience. But the lady was super cute, she didn't know how old she was and was partially blind... she was also been struggling with allergies since she arrived in Costa Rica two years ago. We gave her instructions to put a hot rag on top of the injection site, gave her a whole bunch of allergy meds, and also some acetaminophen for general pain that she was also having.
That night we all went out and did a little dancing, but instead of hitting up two bars (with the rest of the group) Natanya and I headed back to get some much needed sleep.
Day 1 (Thursday)
Thursday never actually started... that might seem weird, but let me explain: I didn't sleep at all on Wednesday night. Wednesday was our last physiology exam, and there was so much to do and not enough time that I just kept going until I got home at 4 am (at which point I realized I actually had to pack... stuff was on my bed but no where near in my suitcase, a problem, seeing as my ride was coming at 5 am to take me to the airport).
We all got to the airport by 5:30 for our 7:30 flight. What was really nice was that the Ecuadorian team was on the same flight to Miami with our teams, which meant lots of friends (including my roommate) to hang out with and keep us all awake.
We arrived in Miami, where we said goodbye to our friends going to Ecuador, and headed to our connecting flight to San Jose. At this point everyone was still rather quiet (we hadn't gotten use to the whole group dynamic yet, although that would come very soon).
Three hours later we were in Costa Rica! We met up with Gail, our contact and head of the humanitarian foundation we were working with. We climbed in the bus as we saw all our suitcases being loaded into the back of a truck (all hoping that nothing would fall off) and made our way to the main clinic we would be affiliated with while in country.
A view of San Jose right before landing
Paige and Me, so excited to be in Costa Rica
When we arrived at the clinic Gail gave us some introductory information about La Carpio, where we'd be for the next 3-4 days. It is an area where the Nicaraguans were squatting land. The location of the main clinic was were the first wave of immigrants started living, this meant that it was more developed than some of the other areas. The other main area we would be working in was called La Libertad, this is where the third wave of immigrants were living, and was the poorest of the three areas in La Carpio.
Some of the girls at the main clinic getting ready to learn about La Carpio
After some more general information, we made our way to Santa Ana, where we would be staying in homestays. When we got there we were introduced to our moms and started walking to our houses. What seemed like a long trip (which Natanya and I soon realized was not at all) led us to a small blue gate. Inside there was a common party area, pool, basketball court and futbol (soccer) field, all this was shared by the few houses on the property.
Once we got to the house we started getting to know our family a little better. Our mom, Nena was a sweet lady who made clothes in her own sewing room (off to the side of the house) and our sister, Gloriana, was a senior in high school about to finish her accounting certification. The dad (we would later find out) worked as a maintenance man at one of the hotels in San Jose.
Day 2 (Friday)
Friday morning we woke up early (7 am) and had rice and beans for breakfast (the first of many, but it was good). Our mom gave us our lunches and we walked our bus stop (aka Broadway Beauty, which had a nice large parking lot that we all met up at). We got on the bus and headed back to La Carpio.
Roommates on our first day of clinic
Waiting for the bus... or rather, waiting to get on the bus.My team was sent down to La Libertad for the first day, while the other team sorted drugs and ran the main clinic. We walked the 15 minutes down to the clinic and got ready to see patients. What was really nice was that since it was a small clinic we got to work in groups of 3-4 (meaning each group could easily either get a translator or had someone who spoke good Spanish). The only problem that first day was that we didn't have drugs for the awhile, and even when we did, we didn't have what we really needed. Other than that, everything went smoothly.
Walking down to the clinic, through La Libertad
Where we held our makeshift clinic in La Libertad
Berger and Murph taking some HPIs(aka history of present illness for you non-medical folk)
Patient of the Day: We saw was a women complaining of headaches lower and back pain. Normally I would have just assumed general muscle pain, but Dr. Rainer (who is a PMR... aka, physical and medical rehabilitation doctor) specializes in this stuff and showed us all otherwise.
We went back to the examining room and ran a few tests. In one you put your hands on the top of the pelvis and your thumbs at the sacro-iliac joint. He then had her lift her legs, you could feel the sacro-iliac joint moving, which is not a good thing. Diagnosis: mobile SI joint. This is what was causing the lower back pain. Treatment: Muscle relaxants and building up her ab muscles. We also managed to diagnose migraines, so we gave her some more hard core meds than acetaminophen for her headaches.
That afternoon we all got on the bus and headed to Juan Sanchez's house. Mr. Sanchez is a traditional healer. He talked to us about the importance of western medicine healing diseases while he helped to heal the spiritual problems. He also mentioned how people called into medicine are called by God and have a special purpose in their lives.
Inside the main hut
(Juan's the guy in the yellow shirt on the right)
He then walked us around his grounds. We got to see the "isolation" tepees, where sick people go to get better, the burial grounds, and this wood structure that had "holy bones" on it. He also showed us a little museum he had of artifacts, some dating thousands of years... it was really interesting to hear about the history of some of the pieces. It was a very interesting afternoon, but I really enjoyed it.
The Traditional Burial Grounds
(Costa Rica has just re-allowed for traditional burial to be reinstated)
The Traditional Burial Grounds
(Costa Rica has just re-allowed for traditional burial to be reinstated)
The Powerful BonesWe finished the trip off by Mr. Sanchez showing us how they extract sweet water from sugar cane, and then let us all try... We also sucked on the bark a little bit and then got a little cup of the sugar can juice.
Pressing the Sugar Cane
Enjoying our Sugarcane Juice
The Whole TeamThat night we all (minus Natanya, who was sick) went our to the bar to hang out and relax. There was a really funny show on called Fist of Zen... the premise is pretty much the same as Jackass only it was a group of friends in a church, which meant they couldn't make any noise. While there two of the guys got drinks called La Cucaracha, which was tequila that they set up fire... they had to drink it up through a straw. Overall it was lots of fun.
Paige and Jamie enjoying huge frozen margaritas
Buggia drinking down his flaming tequila(I promise it was actually on fire)
Day 3 (Saturday)
Saturday we found ourselves back at La Libertad, only this time we had all the drugs we needed. I spent most of the morning setting up and running the pharmacy, which was crazy busy and involved way more math than I was planning on doing. But it went well and we figured everything out (mostly to the thanks of Dr. Rainer).
La Libertad
The pharmacy, and the group taking a lunch breakA few minutes later I had cleaned the area of the knee overlying the pes anserinus and got ready to do the injection with the instructions of: go in until you hit bone and then pull out a few millimeters. Nervous?! Uh.. YEAH!
And then I did my first injection.
The procedure was a success!!!
Right after Joel, Dr. Rainer and I got to do a home visit. There was a lady who was having a reaction to an influenza vaccine the day before. We walked through La Libertad to her house and got to see first hand the conditions that these people live in... it was a very sombering experience. But the lady was super cute, she didn't know how old she was and was partially blind... she was also been struggling with allergies since she arrived in Costa Rica two years ago. We gave her instructions to put a hot rag on top of the injection site, gave her a whole bunch of allergy meds, and also some acetaminophen for general pain that she was also having.
That night we all went out and did a little dancing, but instead of hitting up two bars (with the rest of the group) Natanya and I headed back to get some much needed sleep.
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