Today is Wednesday and our time is going so fast! The last 2 days have been filled with seeing patients in the clinic and then also working with the PT techs here so they get ready for the test next week on anatomy. We tend to wake up early, have breakfast of what ever we dig out of our suitcases. If we are lucky there is hot water and coffee. We then get to our clinic by 8:00 am and have a brief team meeting with all the PT staff. We then join hands in the center of a circle and do our "Go Rehab!" cheer! We are then open for service with long lines of people waiting to be seen. They arrive early in the morning and will wait all day if needed to be seen.
I treat patients who have had tramuatic injuries, low back pain, SI joint pain, strokes, amputation, crush injuries, wounds, kids & even babies. The list goes on and on. I have been given the title of peds specialist, low back specialist, and amputee specialist! Anyway we all really do it all! I have really been impressed on how important it is to splint an injured hand correctly as I have never seen such thumb adductor contractures. Nevertheless, folks did what they could in the early days after the quake.
Today in clinic 3 of my patients from Jimani came all the way from the refugee camp in Fond Parisian's Love-A-Child refugee camp to be seen. They were so excited to see me and show me how well they are now doing. I get a big hug from each one and they tell everyone we are the Jimani family! They tell me they will always remember Sue PT who first taught them to walk and gave them hope. They say I have shown them the way to a new life. It is extremely humbling.
Last night a friend - Al Ingersoll- who works with Healing Hands for Haiti and a couple of reporters from Canada (Toronto Star) picked me up and we headed up to the HHH coupound guesthouse. We drove through down town Port Au Prince. We visited a woman (former ballet dancer) who is now an amputee after the quake. The immense destruction to the infrastructure thorughout Port Au Prince was indescribable - still. There are many tent cities everywhere. The National Palace is definitely a strange thing to see in person as is the damaged national cathedral.
Once up at HHH guest house, we had dinner, and visited with another friend - Naoki Yao- a prosthetist from Japan. We chatted about the challenges and rewards of working here in Haiti. Al's wife - Deb- came home from a late meeting and it was wonderful to see her and learn about her work with ARC! We were all exhaused and went to bed by 10:00-ish! Such party animals! There was a huge storm that came up and it rained so HARD! The next morning it was evident that the storm had its impact on traffic as there were some mud slides in parts of the city slowing traffic even more.
Last night I slept under my mosquito net to the sound of what I though was a babbling brook outside my window. It was really city water/sewage according to Al! I guess it is sometimes better not to know! There is a Haitian proverb that says, "It is the shoe that knows if the sock has a hole!" Se soulye ki konnensi choset gen twou.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday was "Haitian- American Family Day!"
Today was our first "regular schedule" where we had PTs working in the outpatient clinic and the inpatient hospital. People come by early in the morning to get a number and wait all day if necessary if needed to see a PT, MD, or Wound Care Nurse. Some spend the night sleeping on the ground at the entrance to our clinic. It was not so bad actually. We were very well staffed. The regular PT techs were also here to help us. Our job is to teach them as well as see patients. It works well.
One of the PT techs is Wilfrid - one of my former patients who now works here at Medishare! He came strolling in and just stood in front of me smiling! It was a lovely reunion! How wonderful to see Wilfrid standing before me on two good legs! We exchanged several big hugs and just laughed with pleasure at how wonderful it was to meet again! Wilfrid has become quite famous with the public and reporter Sanjay Gupta of CNN! I tell him he is a famous movie star now! He laughs! Later Wilfrid announced to me that Emmanuelle - another former patient of mine is coming today for a visit! Suddenly Emmanuelle showed up with a big smile on her face! She had been locked up in a traffic jam so that is why she arrived so late. She strutted in and walked across the room for me to see her walk! What a beautiful sight! They told every one they were my "Haitian children" and I am their "American mom!" It was a very fun morning! I even did some work (eventually)! Another former patient from Jimani will also try to stop by another day! Good thing as I am supposed to be here to work! Building relationships is also important!
In the outpatient clinic today we saw patients with all kinds of diagnoses from those s/p stroke to people with amputations to sports medicine issues even! I worked with a caregiver of a 7 month baby whose mother died in the earth quake protecting the little one from the collapsed building. That treatment was all about teaching the caregiver about lifts and carries, postitioning, and heel cord stretching. I spent time teaching about head control, moving from more hands on to less as baby gets stonger. We talked about not spending time in symmetrical positions and how to challenge baby to gain control of his environment! The caregiver says it is time he is able to look around and see his country - Haiti - so it is important for her to learn how to best help him! He may even be president some day she says!
When not in the outpatient clinic, I get to go to the peds unit where I work with the kids and their care givers. There are several babies with extreme hydrocephalus. Yesterday I taught one caregiver how to assist the little one in gaining head control. All he had been doing was lying in bed unable to turn his head much. His body was a prisoner to his head size. After a bit of work, he was today up in a wheelchair looking around and playing with his caregiver. Pretty fast learner!
We are also doing a great deal of wound care and pin care on those folks with external fixators in place. One young man came in and was not quite ready to have the fixator removed. He will have to wait 3 more weeks according to the x-ray. We were able to move to gait without crutches and educated him on daily pin care! Often we get called to the ER for crutch training. There was even a prisoner who was brought in for wound care today.
Last night we were able to go to the UN cafeteria for dinner. It was lovely to get off campus and have a hamburger & fries! Of course we also had to sample a "Prestige" or the 2000 prize winning beer of Haiti! It was a good night with the full moon shining on Haiti!
Tomorrow will bring much of the same work where we have to be adaptable and think very creatively with some of the limited supplies and yet we seem to have just what we need at the time. The Haitians say, "Degaje" which means "Make due or manage." We seem to do just that!
Be Well!
One of the PT techs is Wilfrid - one of my former patients who now works here at Medishare! He came strolling in and just stood in front of me smiling! It was a lovely reunion! How wonderful to see Wilfrid standing before me on two good legs! We exchanged several big hugs and just laughed with pleasure at how wonderful it was to meet again! Wilfrid has become quite famous with the public and reporter Sanjay Gupta of CNN! I tell him he is a famous movie star now! He laughs! Later Wilfrid announced to me that Emmanuelle - another former patient of mine is coming today for a visit! Suddenly Emmanuelle showed up with a big smile on her face! She had been locked up in a traffic jam so that is why she arrived so late. She strutted in and walked across the room for me to see her walk! What a beautiful sight! They told every one they were my "Haitian children" and I am their "American mom!" It was a very fun morning! I even did some work (eventually)! Another former patient from Jimani will also try to stop by another day! Good thing as I am supposed to be here to work! Building relationships is also important!
In the outpatient clinic today we saw patients with all kinds of diagnoses from those s/p stroke to people with amputations to sports medicine issues even! I worked with a caregiver of a 7 month baby whose mother died in the earth quake protecting the little one from the collapsed building. That treatment was all about teaching the caregiver about lifts and carries, postitioning, and heel cord stretching. I spent time teaching about head control, moving from more hands on to less as baby gets stonger. We talked about not spending time in symmetrical positions and how to challenge baby to gain control of his environment! The caregiver says it is time he is able to look around and see his country - Haiti - so it is important for her to learn how to best help him! He may even be president some day she says!
When not in the outpatient clinic, I get to go to the peds unit where I work with the kids and their care givers. There are several babies with extreme hydrocephalus. Yesterday I taught one caregiver how to assist the little one in gaining head control. All he had been doing was lying in bed unable to turn his head much. His body was a prisoner to his head size. After a bit of work, he was today up in a wheelchair looking around and playing with his caregiver. Pretty fast learner!
We are also doing a great deal of wound care and pin care on those folks with external fixators in place. One young man came in and was not quite ready to have the fixator removed. He will have to wait 3 more weeks according to the x-ray. We were able to move to gait without crutches and educated him on daily pin care! Often we get called to the ER for crutch training. There was even a prisoner who was brought in for wound care today.
Last night we were able to go to the UN cafeteria for dinner. It was lovely to get off campus and have a hamburger & fries! Of course we also had to sample a "Prestige" or the 2000 prize winning beer of Haiti! It was a good night with the full moon shining on Haiti!
Tomorrow will bring much of the same work where we have to be adaptable and think very creatively with some of the limited supplies and yet we seem to have just what we need at the time. The Haitians say, "Degaje" which means "Make due or manage." We seem to do just that!
Be Well!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Busy like Bees in Haiti
Today is Sunday and we are finding our groove here at the Medishare hospital. This hospital was actually next door to the airport for some time until it was moved a short distance to the hospital run by the Bitar Brothers - Bernard Mevs in Port Au Prince.
Yesterday, we arrived around noonish and were hearded to the waiting vans at the airport. Before getting to the vans however, we made our way into a large building where we waited for our suitcases to delivered (tossed into a pile). Luckily, my suitcase was easy to spot - black & while poca dots with a red ribbon! It was a bit hectic getting through customs and the baggage claim but we did it! It was even more crazy getting out of the parking lot. Luckily we had Big Dave with us to get us through the chaos! No one messes with Big Dave!
We drove through PAP and saw many tent cities and some of the destruction. Then we pulled into the Bernard Mevs Hopsital - Medishare's partner and current home away from home. It looked strangely familiar and then I realized we had toured this exact hospital in Nov 2007 with Physicians for Peace! A lot has changed! It has come a long way and has two functioning operating rooms, an ED, medical surgical units A (spinal cord unit) & B (ER, ICU, and shorter term patients), peds, and a NICU/PICU. It has the only functioning ICU in all of Haiti.
We had a welcome meeting with the Bitar Brothers and staff. Then we divided into our departments, toured, and then were assigned to a room. We have 8 folks in our room with our PT team all sleeping on cots which nearly touch. We also share the room with 2 EMTs. We were able to sleep quite well last night!
We have an interesting crew with Alice who is a PT from Ireland, Hanna who is an OT from CA, Parisa also from the US. Allyson is the PT in charge. She works with Medishare as the permanent employee. Jason, another PT with Medishare will come tomorrow. The newbies include Sandy - a PTA , Becky, and myself! We seem to be a good crew!
Yesterday and today we spent time working with patients after getting settled. We focused on the patients in Med Surg A which holds the patients with spinal cord injuries. (There was a neuro surgeon here last week - hence the large number of patients with spinal cord injuries being seen for therapy this week!) We also worked in peds where there are a number of kids with s/p trauma injuries, hydrocephalus and other maladies. I even did a nasogastric feeding of a preemie in the PICU who barely weighed 2 pounds! She is a little angel and quite a little fighter!
The rest of the week I am scheduled to work the outpatient clinic with Sandy. Becky is working wound care, and the others are doing inpatient care. In the afternoons we will assist with what ever needs to be done. We also do a great deal of teaching the Haitian PT techs.
Today, my translator from last Feburary's trip to Jimani at the Haitian-DR border MASH hospital stopped by to visit! How great to see Vangine again! We are not allowed to go outside the gates and luckily Vangine was able to convince the guards that he knew Sue PT who was his friend inside! They let him in for a short visit. It would have been fun to have Vangine work with me again - but there are official interpretors here and we must honor the system that is in place. It was great to see Vangine nevertheless! Several other patients from Jimani may be stopping by. We will see what happens. Tomorrow Wilfrid - a former patient of mine from Jimani is now a PT tech here and he will be working with me in the outpatient clinic tomorrow so it will be pretty exciting!
All is well and we are taking it one step at a time!
Piti piti swazo fe nich! Little by little the bird builds it nest!
Yesterday, we arrived around noonish and were hearded to the waiting vans at the airport. Before getting to the vans however, we made our way into a large building where we waited for our suitcases to delivered (tossed into a pile). Luckily, my suitcase was easy to spot - black & while poca dots with a red ribbon! It was a bit hectic getting through customs and the baggage claim but we did it! It was even more crazy getting out of the parking lot. Luckily we had Big Dave with us to get us through the chaos! No one messes with Big Dave!
We drove through PAP and saw many tent cities and some of the destruction. Then we pulled into the Bernard Mevs Hopsital - Medishare's partner and current home away from home. It looked strangely familiar and then I realized we had toured this exact hospital in Nov 2007 with Physicians for Peace! A lot has changed! It has come a long way and has two functioning operating rooms, an ED, medical surgical units A (spinal cord unit) & B (ER, ICU, and shorter term patients), peds, and a NICU/PICU. It has the only functioning ICU in all of Haiti.
We had a welcome meeting with the Bitar Brothers and staff. Then we divided into our departments, toured, and then were assigned to a room. We have 8 folks in our room with our PT team all sleeping on cots which nearly touch. We also share the room with 2 EMTs. We were able to sleep quite well last night!
We have an interesting crew with Alice who is a PT from Ireland, Hanna who is an OT from CA, Parisa also from the US. Allyson is the PT in charge. She works with Medishare as the permanent employee. Jason, another PT with Medishare will come tomorrow. The newbies include Sandy - a PTA , Becky, and myself! We seem to be a good crew!
Yesterday and today we spent time working with patients after getting settled. We focused on the patients in Med Surg A which holds the patients with spinal cord injuries. (There was a neuro surgeon here last week - hence the large number of patients with spinal cord injuries being seen for therapy this week!) We also worked in peds where there are a number of kids with s/p trauma injuries, hydrocephalus and other maladies. I even did a nasogastric feeding of a preemie in the PICU who barely weighed 2 pounds! She is a little angel and quite a little fighter!
The rest of the week I am scheduled to work the outpatient clinic with Sandy. Becky is working wound care, and the others are doing inpatient care. In the afternoons we will assist with what ever needs to be done. We also do a great deal of teaching the Haitian PT techs.
Today, my translator from last Feburary's trip to Jimani at the Haitian-DR border MASH hospital stopped by to visit! How great to see Vangine again! We are not allowed to go outside the gates and luckily Vangine was able to convince the guards that he knew Sue PT who was his friend inside! They let him in for a short visit. It would have been fun to have Vangine work with me again - but there are official interpretors here and we must honor the system that is in place. It was great to see Vangine nevertheless! Several other patients from Jimani may be stopping by. We will see what happens. Tomorrow Wilfrid - a former patient of mine from Jimani is now a PT tech here and he will be working with me in the outpatient clinic tomorrow so it will be pretty exciting!
All is well and we are taking it one step at a time!
Piti piti swazo fe nich! Little by little the bird builds it nest!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Full Moon Over Miami
Sak pase? (What's happening?) - Answer: Nam boule! Just practicing my Creole!
Becky and I both made it to Miami today. We think our shuttle ride from the airport almost took longer than our flight to Miami. For me it was about 1.5 hours of waiting with the dispatcher saying, "The driver is on their way" multiple times. I had nothing but time so I enjoyed the steamy warm weather with the sun just starting to poke out from behind the clouds. Suddenly, what appeared to be a young high school student driving the hotel van pulled up and motioned for me to get in! We then trolled around the airport before making it to the hotel just in time for check-in!
It had been raining all morning and several of our team members have been delayed in VA or GA. Becky and I feel fortunate we both made it to Miami!
Our hotel is right next to a Wendy's and a strip mall of resturants from all over Latin America and one Chinese resturant! We had our choice of Mexican, Peruvian, Argentinian, and Cuban cuisine to choose from for dinner. We settled on the Cuban resturant called "El Rinconcito Latino" (the little Latin resturant on the corner - literally) which was excellent! We enjoyed a lovely salad, bread, steamed vegetables, tostones (fried plantains), grilled chicken, some sangria, and a bit of flan de cocoa. We splurged a bit! We even enjoyed live Cuban music! There was the most beautiful baby that was dancing to the songs - so she was brought up front and was serenaded while everyone clapped!
When we left El Rinconcito, a light breeze complimented the warm steamy evening making it quite lovely - even for a northern gal! Definitely not too hot! Becky and I did notice that there was a bright big full moon up in the sky - a lovely sight! We then remembered how wacky patient care can get when working during the "full moon" season. Nevertheless, we are excited about what this trip will bring and how lovely the full moon over Miami looked.
Tomorrow we will rise bright and early before dawn and catch our shuttle to the American Airlines Concourse E which handles the flights to Port Au Prince.
Be Well,
Sue
Becky and I both made it to Miami today. We think our shuttle ride from the airport almost took longer than our flight to Miami. For me it was about 1.5 hours of waiting with the dispatcher saying, "The driver is on their way" multiple times. I had nothing but time so I enjoyed the steamy warm weather with the sun just starting to poke out from behind the clouds. Suddenly, what appeared to be a young high school student driving the hotel van pulled up and motioned for me to get in! We then trolled around the airport before making it to the hotel just in time for check-in!
It had been raining all morning and several of our team members have been delayed in VA or GA. Becky and I feel fortunate we both made it to Miami!
Our hotel is right next to a Wendy's and a strip mall of resturants from all over Latin America and one Chinese resturant! We had our choice of Mexican, Peruvian, Argentinian, and Cuban cuisine to choose from for dinner. We settled on the Cuban resturant called "El Rinconcito Latino" (the little Latin resturant on the corner - literally) which was excellent! We enjoyed a lovely salad, bread, steamed vegetables, tostones (fried plantains), grilled chicken, some sangria, and a bit of flan de cocoa. We splurged a bit! We even enjoyed live Cuban music! There was the most beautiful baby that was dancing to the songs - so she was brought up front and was serenaded while everyone clapped!
When we left El Rinconcito, a light breeze complimented the warm steamy evening making it quite lovely - even for a northern gal! Definitely not too hot! Becky and I did notice that there was a bright big full moon up in the sky - a lovely sight! We then remembered how wacky patient care can get when working during the "full moon" season. Nevertheless, we are excited about what this trip will bring and how lovely the full moon over Miami looked.
Tomorrow we will rise bright and early before dawn and catch our shuttle to the American Airlines Concourse E which handles the flights to Port Au Prince.
Be Well,
Sue
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Returning to Haiti
Greetings All!
Friday I will begin my journey back to Haiti with the University of Miami Global Institute Project Medishare program where I will be serving as a PT for a week. The name of this blog refers to the Haitian proverb, "Se piti piti swazo fe nich" which means "Little by little the bird builds it nest". This proverb was most helpful when I served patients at the International Medical Alliance hospital in Jimani last Feb as it helped me connect with my Haitian patients. It also helped my patients connect with the rehab process of accomplishing things little by little or one step at a time.
I hope to use this blog to share a bit about the PT relief work at Medishare. Tomorrow is about packing and making sure all of my documents are in order. I will meet up with a friend Becky Crocker in Miami on Friday night and then it will be off to Haiti early Saturday morning.
I am not entirely sure of how the daily routine will be or even if there is a typical day! The orientation documents from Medishare have been excellent. I am open to serve and ready for just about anything. This time we will be in a different phase of the disaster relief work and will see what will be involved. I also hope to be able to connect with former patients, translators, and other friends involved in the relief work in Haiti. Of course there will be the PT work to do as well!
My fears include wondering if I will be able to deal with the heat. I look forward to the hard work and the connections to be made with patients and staff.
Be well,
Sue Klappa
Friday I will begin my journey back to Haiti with the University of Miami Global Institute Project Medishare program where I will be serving as a PT for a week. The name of this blog refers to the Haitian proverb, "Se piti piti swazo fe nich" which means "Little by little the bird builds it nest". This proverb was most helpful when I served patients at the International Medical Alliance hospital in Jimani last Feb as it helped me connect with my Haitian patients. It also helped my patients connect with the rehab process of accomplishing things little by little or one step at a time.
I hope to use this blog to share a bit about the PT relief work at Medishare. Tomorrow is about packing and making sure all of my documents are in order. I will meet up with a friend Becky Crocker in Miami on Friday night and then it will be off to Haiti early Saturday morning.
I am not entirely sure of how the daily routine will be or even if there is a typical day! The orientation documents from Medishare have been excellent. I am open to serve and ready for just about anything. This time we will be in a different phase of the disaster relief work and will see what will be involved. I also hope to be able to connect with former patients, translators, and other friends involved in the relief work in Haiti. Of course there will be the PT work to do as well!
My fears include wondering if I will be able to deal with the heat. I look forward to the hard work and the connections to be made with patients and staff.
Be well,
Sue Klappa
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