Baby Theodore

Baby Theodore got admitted to the hospital almost two weeks ago.  He was so severely dehydrated and malnourished when he first showed up that we weren't even sure that he would survive.  Almost eight months old, he was the size of a newborn.  Sadly, Teddy was also abandoned by his family.  But he got plenty of loving and TLC from all the volunteers.  Over the last week Teddy came to life.  He still can hardly drink anything from a bottle and gets all his nutrition through a feeding tube, but he started smiling and yesterday I got him to laugh!  Moments like that are the best part of being in Haiti.  He was doing so well that he was discharged from our hospital yesterday and transferred to a malnourishment center for long term care and he has an adoptive family waiting for him!

Teddy early on in his hospitalization

Baby Teddy, all smiles!

Teaching Teddy farm animal sounds with the iPhone :)

I went to get a coke and came back with a baby...

Yesterday morning I was heading to the gate to get one of the guards to buy me a coke.  When I got to the courtyard there was a lot of commotion going on in the street, just outside the gates of the hospital.  One of the Haitian EMTs checked on the situation and said that there was a lady about to give birth in the street.  Since, we aren't allowed to leave the hospital property it took some convincing to get the guards to open the gates for us.  But one of them escorted us across the street where the baby was delivered on the road.  Great luck that Joanna, an OBGYN, was working in triage that morning!  Joanna and Mitch stayed to take care of the mom and passed me the baby.  I ran her back to the triage tent to examine her.  Mom and baby both did great and went home that afternoon.  I told everybody, "I was just going to get a coke and I came back with a baby." :) Just a typical Saturday morning in Haiti!

Mitch, Me, Joanna, and Sanja with our special delivery

Healthy baby girl

Jim, one of the Haitian EMTs.  It was his first time holding a baby!

Back in Haiti

I've been back in Haiti for the past week.  I was so ready to get back down here.  As soon as I arrived I felt like I was back home.  There have been several new challenges as a result of funding changes and the loss of a major grant that was previously supporting the hospital.  Despite the difficulties and challenges there are also plenty of moments that bring a smile to my face and remind me why I'm here.  I'm looking forward to celebrating Christmas in Port Au Prince this year!

Bump in the road...

Well, things haven't worked out quite as I had planned.  Unfortunately after being in Haiti for a few weeks, I got pretty sick.  I had a wonderful crew of doctors, nurses, and medics looking after me; and I'm so grateful for all of them.  But after being sick for more than a week and ending up back on IV fluids for the third time, we decided it was probably best for me to come back to the States to get better.  I've been home since Sunday night recuperating.  I definitely didn't expect to be back in Florida so soon.  I've had quite a bit of labwork done, which hasn't really revealed much, aside from being a bit neutropenic.  I was so heavily pretreated with broad spectrum antibiotics that it's pretty unlikely that anything will show up in my cultures at this point.  So I'm not really sure what it was that made me so sick.  All that matters is I'm feeling better!  I'm trying to decide what my plans are next.  I'm hoping to return to Haiti sometime in December.  I'm eager to get back to my patients and friends at Hospital Bernard Mevs!  I'll keep you posted on what's next...

Day 17: You Know You're In Haiti When...

Stolen from Sammie...

You know you are a long term volunteer in Haiti when:

1.) You ask if breakfast is the ketchup sandwich again
2.) Security guards are also your Coke supplier
3.) You think mosquito spray smells like cologne, and compliment men on it
4.) The lights go out when you are in the shower and your roommates illuminate the bathroom with headlamps till you are safe.
5.) GI issues are openly discussed and Typhoid is always the diagnosis.

6.) The roof is the cool hangout/laundry area/bathing area/bar/hideout ect.
7.) You are curious about unknown white people in the hospital compound
8.) 7:30pm is UN bus time....or 7:45....or 8:00...or whenever the driver shows up
9.) The only Creole you know is "Prestige"
10.) Saturday is grocery day/volunteer departure day.
11.) Picking out your scrubs for the day involves the 'sniff test' and the ultimate decision to use Febreeze
12.) Carbs, sodium and snack food are your breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
13.) You wake up to Geckos on the wall...next to you.
And finally, the main reason you know you are a long term volunteer in Haiti is...
14.) You wake up everyday, with all your new friends, ready to work, look like crap and and help the most grateful people on the planet.

Day 16: Pizza and Glowsticks

On Friday night we had a glowstick and pizza party in the Peds ward.  The kids, staff, and volunteers all had a blast!  I have a feeling that these will become some of the most memorable moments of the trip.  These kids are awesome!

 

With two of the awesome Haitian Peds nurses, Severe and Winnie

Samantha enjoying her pizza

The Peds crew for the week with a few of our favorite little patients

Day 14: Never a Boring Day

Sunday was an eventful day.  I was working in Triage that morning and things had been pretty slow.  Then, around 10:00, a truck raced up with a badly injured 13-year-old American boy.  He had been in an ATV accident and obviously had major head trauma.  When I got to the truck he was minimally responsive with blood coming out of both of his ears.  His mother, a pediatrician, was down in Haiti for the week volunteering at a clinic.  The staff at the clinic knew that Medishare is the only facility with a CT scanner, so they rushed him here. We got him into our ED and began to assess and stabilize him.  He clearly needed a head CT, but since it was the weekend, our CT scanner wasn't up and running.  But a technician was able to be called in, and after the power initially went out, the generators starting working and the scan was able to be completed.  The CT revealed multiple skull fractures.  But since, the patient was stable and he didn't require any immediate neurosurgical intervention, the staff at Medishare was able to get him med evaced back to a hospital in Fort Lauderdale.  Sammie and I transported the boy on the ambulance ride from the hospital to the airport.  It was kind of cool getting to ride right onto the runway. The pilots and medics that were transporting the patient back to the States were fabulous.  They even brought us some special treats.  We definitely enjoyed our Dunkin Donuts flown in from America :)  Overall, I was very impressed with how well everybody worked together to provide this boy with such exceptional care in less than ideal circumstances.  The fact that he made it to the hospital, was stabilized, got scanned, and was already on a plane back home in less than eight hours from the time of his initial injury is amazing.  Project Medishare did an awesome job!