Day #3

This morning, I wander around the hospital smiling and saying "Buenos dios" to all of the nurses, until I finally come across Dr. Camel. He is doing a dressing change on a gentleman we admitted yesterday for cellulitis. The clinic/ER is pretty slow today, so he lets me see a couple patients on my own and fill out the prescriptions/lab orders. However, there are a couple instances where I ask the patient "Como puedo ayudarle?" and they rattle on in Spanish, as though someone pressed fast forward on an old tape recorder. Dr. Camel smiles and asks me if I caught all that, and I'm like, "something about a head ache, a child, papaya, and mucho MUCHO dolor!" Everything here is MUCHO dolor. 

We see one case of probable dengue fever. Dr. Camel says it is very common in Belize as is chikungunya, both of which are transmitted via mosquitos. He says he has never seen a case of malaria, which is ironic, because as tourists, it's what we are most concerned with (probably because it's more deadly!). But apparently, I'm much more at risk for coming down with dengue fever or chikungunya! The good news is, you can only get dengue fever 4 times in your lifetime, due to the fact that there are only four serotypes. Normally, treatment is symptomatic with pain management and hydration. However, the major risk occurs if a person previously infected with dengue fever, becomes infected with another serotype--this may lead to bleeding and endothelial leakage, known as dengue hemorrhagic fever. If left untreated, the mortality rate is as high as 50%. Dad, don't panic....I have yet to have a single mosquito bite! (*def knocking on wood)

After clinic, I hang out in the OR with Dr. Camel and the orthopedic surgeon to observe a patellar tendon repair. I am actually impressed by the efficiency of the small OR. They make do with what they have and are able to maintain a relatively sterile field!

Dinner consists of rice and beans, fried plantains and eggplant, mashed potatoes, cabbage salad, fresh papaya/pinapple, and homade bread pudding. I'm definitely not going to shrivel away and I could eat those fried plantains for the rest of my life, EVERY SINGLE DAY! I wander outside the main lobby  to let my food digest and to mooch off of the WiFi; just as soon as I sit down on the cement bench, I hear what sounds like sports announcers on a television. My ears perk up as a realize it is a soccer game....excuse me, futbol game! I run inside and see 5 Belizian men huddled around a small, 12-inch screen TV. I hover over them to see the score, and then realize, oh it's just a men's match ...not the Woman's World Cup! I sit down regardless, and one of the gentleman says, "You were hoping it was the woman's game, eh?" We start talking about futbol and I assure him that its okay, I don't need to see the game....even though I'm DYING inside! As we're talking, the final whistle blows and the other men start to leave; my new friend hands me the remote and wishes me well at finding my game. I spend the next 45 minutes watching the most exciting half of the USA vs Germany game, along side several other locals that join me. One gentleman even invites me to play tomorrow evening in the field across the street. I'm pretty sure the last time I played futbol was in Peru, and I got schooled by a bunch of 8 year-old boys.haha But I am up for the exercise and providing the locals entertainment as I slide across the grass in my treadless shoes!

Another perk to lingering around the hospital, is seeing what comes through the doors after hours. Just as the game is finishing, an elderly woman walks through the lobby with her calf wrapped in a bloody towel. I walk back to the emergency room to see what is going on; apparently, a glass Coke bottle exploded, creating a deep, 7cm gash in her calf. The orthopedic doctor (I'm terrible with names!) is suturing her leg, and he begins to ask me all sorts of questions about American news...."What is going on with the Kardashian's?", "What do you think about Donald Trump running for president?", "What about the new law for marriage?". I smile and tell him he probably knows more about it all than I do....he says he only watches CNN, Fox, and ABC. Um, that's 3 more sources than me! 

Well, I must confess. My isolation from technology is no longer so dismal. As I arrive to my apartment this evening, Dr Camel's wife (Reyjana) knocks on my door. She says her husband told her how I usually hang out at the hospital to use the WiFi and she offers to let me use their WiFi for 6 Belizian dollars a week ($3 US!). It has def been a nice luxury and I've been able to start researching adventures to go on during my weekends off! So many choices! Zip-lining through the jungle, cave-tubing at Jaguar Paw, exploring Actun Tunichil Muknal (world-renowned underground cave), and visiting the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich, just to name a few. Good thing I have 5 weekends to squeeze it all in! Can't wait to share those stories with you :-D

Day #2

That rain. It was so peaceful until I decided to try to get some sleep. There were times were I literally thought the ceiling was going to cave in or that the lightening was going to strike my metal mattress springs, and I would shrivel to my death! Just as soon as I would doze off, what sounded like another typhoon would strike. Needless to say, I am not feeling very refreshed!

Today is just like any other first day at clinic…awkward!  I was told to go to the “main” hospital at 8am and that the nurses would tell me what to do from there. Well, all of the lights are off and not a single soul can be found. I walk around for a bit until I hear voices behind a curtained door; I peak my head inside and introduce myself….blank stares! No one seems to be expecting me! I continue on my journey and eventually find the lead nurse, Veda—she has a very friendly smile and informs me that Dr. Camel is the only physician working today. She leads me to his office and introduces us; they begin discoursing in Spanish and I can hear him asking her something along the lines of “Why is she here?” I start to laugh and they look at me like “Oh, you know Spanish?” Veda clarifies that he is just surprised that I am the only student. Apparently, NO ONE comes to La Loma Luz alone; everyone seems so sad for me!

I spend all afternoon working with Dr. Camel. The workload does not feel overwhelming but the language barrier is! Most of the patients speak Spanish; and if they speak English, it’s with a very thick Belizean Creole accent. I catch myself making lots of weird faces as I try to translate every 8^th word or so. Occasionally Dr. Camel pauses to translate the patients concerns; but I’m pretty sure he thinks I know more Spanish than I really do! Thus far, the common medical issues seem to be gastroenteritis, H. Pylori gastritis, cellulitis, and diabetes management. We saw a total of 24 patients in the ER/clinic today. There is only one young man in the inpatient ward, due to DKA.

Its 7:45 and I’m already tired and ready for bed! There is limited WiFi in the hospital so I have to walk to the lobby to upload any blog material and send iMessages/emails. I already took a shower, so I’m debating if I want to coat myself in bug repellant for the short jaunt down the grassy path….these are the tough decisions I have to make in Belize!

And so it begins....

As I exit the plane, I begin to think “What if my ride doesn’t come?”, “what if immigration thinks I’m suspicious?”, “what if my BAG doesn’t make it?”. Geez, why do I always have to be such a worrier!

Mr Sosa, the program director, pulls up in an old rickety, Chevrolet truck; he recommends I put my bag in the back seat since the sky is looking a little gray. I hop into the front seat and put my seat belt on…a few minutes later I realize why he doesn't wear his. It’s pretty much pointless! The seat itself doesn’t lock, so every time we drive over a speed bump, the entire bench seat shifts forward and then slams backwards. And those speed bumps, they’re everywhere! Mr. Sosa explains that there aren’t really “highway patrol” to make sure people adhere to the speed limit, so they just put speed bumps throughout the towns. I look over at the dashboard and notice that the speedometer doesn’t even work….but people are still passing us, so we must not be  speeding.  We spend a solid 2 hours in the pick-up truck, listening to what sounds like a mix between country, mariachi, and Phil Collins, as I  just take in the diverse landscape and begin to soak it all in.

After passing numerous small towns lined with brightly painted shacks, fruit stands, and “chicken fry” shops, we arrive to La Loma Luz Hospital. It’s a long, narrow light blue building sitting on top of a hillside surrounded by bright GREEN foliage. I’m definitely not in Cali anymore! 

Further up on the hillside is a modest-sized house with big screen windows and security bars going across them; this is what I will call “home” for the next 6 weeks! As I open the door, I can’t help but cringe as my feet crunch on dead beetles and crickets. I notice that the main living space consists of a broken bed that maybe serves as a couch; the refrigerator has a half eaten dried out coconut and some rotten fruit. I immediately go into clean freak mode, opening each cabinet, noting the cobwebs and miscellaneous dead bugs. I wishfully think to myself, “Well this is the main space, surely the bedrooms will be nice and clean!” I open the first door and see a bed with some crumpled up linens; the floor has tiny little bugs crawling around and cobwebs in every corner. But I see a fan!!!! I check out the other two rooms, which are much larger than the first and have many more windows. One even has a private bath…but there is no shower curtain and the toilet is missing.

At this moment, I begin to panic thinking “What am I doing here?!!!” I’m not nearly as rough and tough as I think I am.  I almost start to cry but try to convince myself that tomorrow will be better. It is 6pm. The sun is starting to disappear behind the mountains and I decide there is only one thing I can do to make this situation better. CLEAN! I scramble around and find an industrial sized-roll of paper towels and a bottle of what smells like bleach. I spot an old pair of used gloves on a dusty shelf and decide that they’re probably cleaner than the floors I’m about to scrub. I fill up the sink with water, dump in a hefty amount of bleach and begin scrubbing the floors, window sills, night stand….every surface I can find. I would scrub the ceiling if I could reach!

I decide to put my stuff in the smallest room since there is less surface area to clean and only one window; I figure fewer mosquitos will get in through the imperfections in the screen and I’ll be less likely to contract malaria. :-P I walk into the other rooms and find a set of curtains and hang them up over my window. Thankfully I brought clean sheets, however I made the rooky mistake of not bringing my pillow. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER, all to save a little space in my bag. The pillows feel like they have old pieces of rope stuffed inside of them, extremely lumpy! I take my neck pillow and stuff my flannel shirt inside the center and hope that I can get a decent amount of sleep without getting a major neck cramp!

Mosquitos frequently interrupt my cleaning endeavors; thanks to my dad who is the biggest mosquito freak ever, I too, am also obsessed with tracking those suckers down before they find me. I put on my headlamp so that they fly towards the light and I begin frantically smacking the air; I probably get 10 within a of couple minutes!

It’s now 730 pm. I’m no longer as terrified of my bedroom, it actually cleaned up quite nicely. I drag an old table in from the hallway and find a plastic orange chair; this will be my desk! I’ll have lots of time to ponder at this desk over the next few weeks. I then move onto the bathroom. There are dead spiders and black hairballs strewn about the shower but after a lot of sweat and TLC, the bathroom is also looking usable. I look at the massive hallway and decide I’m too tired to take on such a feat! I grab another handful of paper towels and clean a trail to my bedroom; at least now I won’t be tracking dead bugs and dirt onto my semi-clean floors.

As I sit on my bed, writing my thoughts, the rain is pouring outside. I feel like I’m in some sort of jungle! It’s very peaceful. I’m trying to be grateful. I wanted a semi-rural experience, well, I got one! I just didn’t really have time to process what my life will be like for the next 6-weeks until I got here. I’m already missing the luxuries of home…..WiFi in my room, Netflix, texting, seeing those I love. But I’m going to learn how to LIVE and appreciate the quiet moments; I’m going to form new friendships; I’m going to force myself to speak Spanish at every opportunity, regardless of awful I sound. I’m going to be a hard-working student and I’m going to have an unforgettable experience!!! Here is to the next 38 days!

I'm on a plane!!!

Today marks day 1 of my 38 day adventure to Belize! During this time, I will be working at La Loma Luz Hospital in Santa Elena as a physician assistant student. I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to be doing, but when the opportunity arose to spend one of my clinical rotations at an international site, I couldn’t resist. Well, kinda. I actually turned in my form an hour before the deadline and then almost backed out.haha But here I am! On a plane to Belize :-D

I’ll be spending most days working at the 20-bed semi-rural hospital, which specializes in OB, pediatrics, surgery and emergency medicine….they see up to 40 outpatients a day. I’m not sure what my role will be as a PA student, but I’m keeping an open mind and hoping for some good, hands-on experience. I’m ready to poke, prod, cut, sew, and catch babies…whatever comes my way! I’m just extremely curious, nervous and excited!!! I’ve had fairly limited communication with the site, but they seem friendly and were able to answer the important questions—I’ll have a ride from the airport, there is sketchy WiFi at the hospital, I’ll have a fan in my room, and I can wear scrubs! All great perks! It definitely made packing a little bit easier, although still a HUGE challenge to fit 6 weeks into one 45 lb bag….no way was I gonna pay $225 for an oversized bag! And considering the weather is in the 90s with intermittent rain throughout the day and about 60-80% humidty, less is best :-D

Yesterday was pure chaos! I don’t recommend leaving yourself one day to pack for an international trip! I made two trips to the store for “last minute items” and packed/re-packed my bag at least 5 times, trying to eliminate the less essential items. I also realized that the pharmacy skimped on my anti-malarial pills and only gave me ¼ of the prescribed dosage….good thing I didn’t want to take those things anyhow! At least I have plenty of Tums, ib profen, and Pepto Bismol to get me through any rough moments. :-D I think I have all of the necessities and even threw in my yoga mat so that I don’t go stir crazy in the evenings. I found a yoga studio a mile away in San Ignacio, which is supposed to be more of a hopping town. I’m excited to check it out! I’ll be hot and sweaty….why not get a little zen while I’m at it! I can’t wait to start exploring and work too ;-)