Tracking Ed Monroe as he travels to Haiti and other exotic(?) places

Friday, July 13, 2007

Friday the Thirteenth

Friday the 13th

It is a little after 5 AM, and it is nice a quiet and the sun is beginning to light the sky. Last night was Hamburger night and I recalled how that was Chip Moodie’s favorite meal. They got started late cooking them and I don’t know why because no one left for the beach or Son-Son’s. The burgers were well done but tasty anyhow. Our normal bakery is closed so we actually ordered buns in town and they were made for us. I understand that this bakery will only make buns by special order as only the blancs eat the buns. We had over night guests. Now that has happened before when a very sick blanc was brought to the clinic. This time it was a Haitian lady and her friend. Her asthma was so bad when she came in early yesterday. She came in at a time when our generator was down due to a broken belt and we had no power. You may recall that we have power from EDH via the lines from 2PM till 6 AM and then we use a Cat generator for the power. Thankfully, I could hook up her nebulizer to the large tank of Oxygen, and thankfully I remembered to bring along the regulator this time. She stayed here all day with her friend and some team members got up over night to give her treatments, Yes, she did eat with us. I forgot to mention that we had another of my favorite Haitian foods, the beet potato salad. I do not remember it as having the kick of a hit of hot peppers but it did. I also found out that it has quite a bit of garlic. But it is tasty…
As I recall, I was to tell you about the visit from the police. Early in the morning two Haitian police arrived at the clinic as patients. It caused a small stir, as I understand, and they were rushed through the system and the pharmacy line. I was handed their dossiers and got them filled and brought them out to my interpreters. The man with the family smiled, shook my hand, and thanked me in English. So, see, there was no police problem but I may have gotten the attention of team members families who may be reading this.
Our team meeting started after the hamburger feast. There is a pharmacy issue but Dr Bill and I put it off due to the lateness of the meeting and the need to keep checking on our patient. David Coleman was assigned to be the enforcer of the provider benches and that worked out well until he moved out of sight and then the Haitians rushed to the provider benches. It has to be hot for them and there is very little shade in the staging area outside the compound and not a lot more where the providers are sitting. I think we will continue to use an enforcer in that area. One of my interpreters took an extended lunch hour yesterday. Pharmacy was already backed up from a heavy morning load and that put us further behind. I did a quick run outside and could not spot him so this morning will be a lecture time. My pill packing girls have, for the most part, kept us up. I did not need to use team members to package last night. Hooray!
Another tidbit that came out of the team meeting was a comment about our Haitian physician. It seems that two young Haitian women came to triage to be seen. They did not present with any discernable symptoms (chief complaints in our terminology). They, both, insisted that they must see Dr Nelson and no one else. It turns out they wanted to have “a relationship” with the young doctor. When asked about the incident, the doctor told us that he was still learning.
The pill counting machine is officially dead. I asked Dan Hoehne to look at it and the circuits are fried and corroded. So the pharmacy committee will have to address that issue at some point or seek a donation of another machine. Last night, at the team meeting, we were discussing how our patients consistently seem to have elevated blood sugar levels and blood pressure levels due to the fact that they had not taken their medications. They claim that they ran out. Our suspicion remains that they feel that if they come in with the levels regulated by the medicine that they will not be seen nor be given more medications. I am going to suggest to the pharmacy committee that we, somehow, ask them to bring n their medication containers, both the empty ones and the partial ones. That would give us some indication of how the medications are standing up in our packaging and also if they are taking the meds at all. I just do not expect that this will be easy for us.
I’ve had no inquires about the squeeze issue, the lips issue or the rash issue yet so the auction remains open. Today, being Friday the thirteenth, some of the team is going to the voodoo ceremony that the Haitians will put on this evening. I think I’ll pass on that, sit here on the back porch with my Prestige beer, and think about home. Speaking of home, what is the Ray reaction to the cigars?? Let me know, please.
One last joke on myself, not only did I fail to bring along the correct file on my flash drive, and that I have been waiting for my son to go to my home and email it to me, but there is more. Last night, I was looking through some old files on this laptop and came across the file where I had calculated out the dosages for the Chloroquine liquid for children. It is aggravating that I have spent a lot of time, and frustration, calculating each child’s dose when I could have posted the chart and supervised the dispensing. As Dr. Nelson said, ”I am still learning”. Sun’s up, EDH is on, and so is breakfast. Love from Haiti!!!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll bite, tell us about the squeeze, lip, and rash. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I'll bite, tell us about the squeeze, lip, and rash. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ed,
Sorry I hadn't read your blog earlier. I have been busy keeping up with CJ's blog along with everything here at home. A slight change in plans for picking CJ up. Will fill you in more after I talk to Donna. As for the cigars we had a regular smoke fest--even mom along with a cup of Haitian coffee. Will write more later.
Nancy

Jody M said...

hello

Jody M said...

Hi Ed
I was so sad to hear people were going to a voodoo ceremony. Its a practice that keeps Haitians in bondage. Remember the boy with meningitis that Bill treated whose mother didn't bring him back b/c the voodoo priest told her not to?. Christians have access to the greatest gift ever given to humankind- a gift that offers hope, freedom and eternal life. How can we condone a counterfeit practice? The team does a wonderful job of providing great medical care for the Haitian people. Should we do any less for their spiritual wellbeing? Thanks Ed for letting me share my views and take care. Sounds like you all are getting a workout.
Jody M

Anonymous said...

Hi Ed-
I was laughing as I read your comments about Dr. Nelson- as he, like most Haitian men (especially the ones that work) think that they are God's gift to women. I know that he mad the comment to me, more than once, that the women chace him all the time (and that he likes it). Ha Ha- just a little insight. Also about the voodoo ceramony, when the group went in April, it really helped to give us some insight as to what happens, and made us better providers in response to what was seen, as we could react to some of the traditions. We love you much for everything that you do! Enjoy this weekend, and get emotionally strong for next week!!!!
Always,
Katie K