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| Waiting for clinic PC: HIS students |
One of the big projects that was focused on for OE 2017 was medical and dental clinics. Paige and I were asked to accompany HIS as nurses, both for our students well being as well as to help run clinics for the local people. I've been a part of "bush" or village clinics before in Africa and here in Papua alongside other Indonesian nurses. But this was my first real exposure to independent diagnosing, prescribing, and TRUE holistic care. Sure I've prayed with patients in hospital settings in the States, or learned that emotional/spiritual needs can manifest themselves as physical ailments. Yet, to learn something or go through the motions is completely different than living it and believing it! Every single patient that walked through our door was prayed for and over, and of this several people were lead to Christ. Dr. Di is one of the best doctors I've ever had the privilege of working with. God has blessed her with knowledge and patience. I've learned more practical nursing from her than I ever did in nursing school. And to be honest the entire medical staff here has a passion for teaching which makes them all a complete joy to work with! (ok commercial break over)
For the first few days of OE our clinic was packed. In a space slightly smaller than a Southern (SAU) dorm room we easily crammed 15-20 people.There were 3 examination areas; one for Dr. Di, Paige, and myself. Every small group of HIS students had a rotation through the clinic. It was awesome having the students participating and I thoroughly enjoyed teaching them random medical assessments or explaining a medication;however, it did add to the chaos of the crowded space. I also had to work through 2 translators! I would ask my questions in English, then one of the students would translate into Indonesian, and then another translator would speak the local language. The entire time I was praying that important details wouldn't get lost through all the translations!
By Thursday, Feb. 9, 4 of the small groups were going to hike further interior. Paige was asked to join 1 of those groups (Check out her blog!! writtenpaigesite.wordpress.com/2017/02/28/pushing-the-limits/). So our clinic became less crowded and somewhat less chaotic with half of the high school gone, only 2 examination areas, and the hype of free medical care dying down. Or perhaps I simply became more adjusted to the craziness and didn't notice it quite as much.
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| Dr. Miguel's dental clinic PC: HIS students |
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| PC: HIS students |
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| Megan's first tooth! |
For most of the students and staff this was their first experience with dentistry. Some were excited, while others were thoroughly grossed out! One evening Dr. Miguel came up to Megan Orrin and I asking if we wanted to pull a chief's teeth (It doesn't matter what time of day it is. If the chief asks you do). Of course we were all over it! Megan and CJ (a student) were able to pull and I designated myself as camera woman.
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| CJ's pull |
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| PC: HIS students |
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| Prayer with patients happened even outside the clinic walls PC: HIS |
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| PC: HIS students |
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| Paige doing awesome assessments PC: HIS students |
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| Working through 2 translators and 3 languages! PC: HIS students |
We saw a lot of the "expected" cases. Painful joints, back aches, worms, scabies, respiratory issues, colds and flu, all lifestyle type illnesses. But there was the occasional oddities. Like walking pneumonia, plural friction rubs, ear infections, neuralgia, fatty tumors, a man with a severely burned hand, and a lady with a tooth pick shoved through her eardrum! All in all I loved being in the clinic, and I enjoyed the autonomy and especially the critical thinking! Perhaps I will pursue nurse practitioner someday ;) ...
On Friday of the first week, Dr. Di had to return to Sentani and we were not getting another doctor until Monday. So with Dr. Di gone, and Paige with the groups that went interior, I was the only medical personnel for a few days. Talk about a lot of nervous prayer. Thankfully though, no one was seriously injured or in need of a medi-evac through out the entire 12 days!
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| PC: HIS students |
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| PC: HIS students |
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| Always teaching, always practicing... PC: HIS students |
On Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, the small groups (who had hiked interior) returned! Everyone greeted the tired and muddy groups with big hugs and smiles as they came dragging in. We who had stayed behind were eager to hear the stories of the first group's adventures, and they were very excited to share. Paige and some others came up to me and told me there was a man who desperately needed medical attention for his badly burned hand! Paige's small group had seen him in their village but with no medical supplies worthy of his wounds they asked him to hike the 6 hours back to base camp with them. I had no idea what to expect but when I finally saw Wes's hand I was blown away. I knew instantly that he was most likely going to lose most of his fingers and palm if not the entire hand.
I took him to the clinic (with quite an audience in toe) and working through a student translator we found out his story. Last November (2016), he became very sick. He passed out one night and his hand fell into the fire. We couldn't quite figure out how long he remained in the fire but at this late in the game it wasn't something that I pushed for. For 4 months Wes had zero medical treatment for his burn. Thus, infection had set in. How he was not gone septic is a miracle from the Lord! His right hand was double in size, and it was obvious that his index finger was nothing but bone and necrotic skin. At the time, I was fighting a head cold and thankfully couldn't smell a thing, but all the students vouched that it reeked. Flies were all over Wes's hand and I had to make a student be my full time fly-shooer as I worked. On the plus side, he still had a radial pulse. It was weak, but it was there.
Over and over I and the translator told him he had get to a hospital that same day. We pushed that he would lose his life if he did not go. Wes agreed with us and swore he was going down to Wamena. I cleaned the wound and debrided as much as I felt comfortable. He never flinched or grimaced as I cleaned, which made me think he had lost almost most nerve sensations in the hand (which deep burns can cause). But then again the people here have such an amazingly high pain tolerance! I coated the fleshy wound bed with antibiotic cream with Doxycycline, and the other burned areas I generously applied Silver Sulfadiazine (burn cream). Lastly, we prayed over Wes. And I still pray because after I wrapped his hand up he left. I didn't see him again so I desperately hope he went down to Wamena like he said he would, but non-patient compliance is a constant battle here.
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| PC: Paige Cosgrove |
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