Cholera Prevention & Holistic Care

Cholera Prevention Plan & Holistic Care

I am back at work today and thankfully am much better. We have only three patients left at L’Escale and are trying to figure out how to get our patients on the bus back to Port Au Prince tomorrow so they can avoid the epidemic. There will be a big meeting today at 11:30 am to determine what will happen. Our greatest challenge is the fact that many patients are streaming into the hospital after waiting a bit too long after having symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. Nevertheless, patients receive IV fluids and encouragement to drink. Unfortunately, it is difficult to know what body fluids are sweet and which feces as the diarrhea produced is so clear. (So sorry about the graphic details.)

Holistic treatment is important. We are doing a great deal of education with our patients that the well at L’Escale is not fed by the river and that it is good water. We teach about the river water having the cholera bug in it which makes the water unsafe. We also teach that if family members are caring for someone who is ill, they must wash their hands or they could also catch cholera if they touch their face or mouth after touching contaminated materials. Wearing gloves is crucial. We are also encouraging the patients to use the filters in the houses in L’Escale. We teach about boiling, filtering, or treating the water. This morning as Clair and I walked to the clinic, our gardeners asked us how we like the Artibonite Valley. We told them we liked it very much. They then immediately warned us not to drink the water from the river. They are very sweet to take care of us!

It was great to be back at work today even though we have only 3 patients. There is some talk of a possible quarantine of this region of the country with no one getting in or out for a while. I will find out more information later today. Could be that my trip to Haiti could be extended . . . maybe until Nov. 14th.

Our patients finished their gait tasks which included obstacle courses at the tennis courts. One young man who had a hip disarticulation even walked the 2 foot high rock wall around the courts and then proceeded to navigate behind the backboard on a small 2 inch ledge! Talk about function and it is incredible to think of the energy cost of walking! He is brilliant! Our goal today was to get as many patients send home to Port Au Prince as possible. We also connected they up with the Israeli team at General Hospital for follow up in a month. Virtuous Reciprocity in action! One last patient remains here and we will finish things up with him on Monday. We will then have a limited supply of patients due to a possible quarantine so we plan to run a week long education program for the prosthetic/PT technicians and translators.
No more bon bons as well. We don’t know what water is being used to cook with so our Bon Bon Lady is finding very little business prospects today.

Vern (our head prosthetist) thinks going to the beach may not happen this weekend as we must go through St. Marc which is apparently the epicenter of the cholera outbreak. He says that it would be quite possible that people may commandeer the tap tap we will be riding. The beach itself is fine. The problem is that we must go through St. Marc to reach the beach. One never knows what can happen if people feel trapped and become desperate. Haiti is beautifully difficult.