We have decided to move our adult clinic day to Wednesday so our translators can have every other weekend off...much to their delight I might add, the patients because adults were seen twice this week and the translators because they are some of our hardest working staff. I think it is great to have a M-F schedule as well which hopefully will allow for more sight seeing/fun and educational trips around now that we have a car. Yes, we HAVE A CAR!!! My world has opened up exponentially and I am beyond excited to have this amazing machine in my life. We can also transport patients, in particular pregnant women to the hospital which we have already done in the week or so that the car has been here. We are so happy to have it available for our use, for patient car and for Jason our poor guard who used to have to fill 5 gallon water bottles one at a time carrying them on the back of a motorcycle. Did I mention we fill about 18 twice a week?
Today was a great clinic day, in part because the power was on all day and I was able to keep the fan going which prevents sweating all over my patients...everyone involved is happier when this does not happen. I learned a few important lessons today regarding patient care. One is that you should never assume what the patient says is exactly what is happening to them and two, never underestimate the power of good medicine.
A 42 year old woman comes in with new onset frontal headaches, nausea and low back pain. She keeps referring to an "infection" that she has in her vagina which is causing these symptoms, including increased dryness and itching. She states she is drinking minimal amounts of water, eating a few times per day and having regular bowel movements. Another concern is that her menses ceased a month ago but given her age and her lack of sexual intercourse from her history I am thinking she is probably early perimenopausal and having some of the symptoms associated with this time period. I go to do a UA and figure, what the heck, I might as well run an hCG (pregnancy test) while I have the urine in front of me. I did the hCG twice to be sure, but staring at me were two dark lines indicating this woman was pregnant. I don't know if I will ever be comfortable telling a woman who just told me there was "no way" she could be pregnant that she is but I have done it many times while being here. Luckily we are an amazing birth center with great prenatal care as well so I told her to come back next week for care. She was not the least bit excited which I can imagine has to do with the difficulty in feeding her three kids already. This is one instance that I wished this woman had been able to get the proper education and proper family planning (given she WANTED it) as I could tell from her disposition that she was not prepared or overjoyed by this news.
A 30 year old man came in with weakness of the left side of his body, darkened urine and yellowing of the eyes. I was immediately concerned with hepatitis or other liver damage. I explained my concerns to him and asked if he could get some lab work done. In the meantime he casually says he has some pain with urination and swelling in his genitals. Ok, I go to do an exam and he reveals a swollen testicle the size of my fist...poker face...poker face...antibiotics.
Another patient of mine is a 60 something man who has concerns of pain in his leg where it is "draining". Not understanding what he is talking about I ask to see the leg and am met with a 9 inch scar that looks like Frankenstein's forehead on the later side of his thigh. The draining is actually a hole the size of the tip of a pencil that is open and draining clear liquid. This is a remnant of a surgery he had to place a metal rod in his leg years ago and has been draining ever since. Seeing no medical reason for this hole I figure, let's try and close it. We have bags of 'collagen' in tubes that is to be used on burns and wounds to help to close skin so I thought why not give it a shot. I gave him a few weeks worth of collagen, gauze and bandages along with some vitamin C, vitamin A and zinc. He came back to see me and I asked how his leg was doing, he said it was causing him less pain but still bothering him, I took a look and saw some translucent looking material on the side of the wound which initially thought was a new infection, damn, Upon further inspection I found that it was actually new skin growth around the wound which was now the shape of a crescent instead of a full circle. WOW! Medicine is amazing!!
1 comment:
Ha! I'll bet you did have trouble keeping a straight face!
I love your stories, Zeenia. Keep 'em coming.
BTW, my grandson that I told you about (with allergies and asthma) has been going to Jessica Black in McMinnville, who is associated with MBH, we found out after he saw her. He has been doing so much better, we are thrilled and hope for even more progress.
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