Adventures in San Jose

San Jose --April 16, 2010

2010-04-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

Hello from San Jose-

Although we now have easier access to the internet, we are sending large groups on our daily away trips and then forgetting to Blog. It is hot and only one day with rain for about 20 minutes. Clinic sees about 30-60 patients per day. The Well Child Visits are seeing 60, 100 and 120 children in the first 3 visits that were made. The group went to Pescadero today and may see as many as 150.

Everyone in our group is healthy and working well together. We all miss our friends and families. See you next weekend.

Diane Balliet RN BSN

Well-child clinic

2009-03-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, a group went to Pescadero, which was about an hour's drive by truck, to do another well-child clinic. In total, we saw nearly 200 children and perhaps 30-40 adults. We arrived around nine am and set up the clinic in a small church. After opening the windows and rearranging the pews, we set out the supplies for registration, height/weight/nutritional status, hemoglobin, vitamins and anti-parasitics, vision charts, fluoride treatments, physical exam, acute concerns, and pharmacy. And then it began: families of three, four, five, six children under the age of ten, without regular access to any health care. These children were smaller and sicker than those we've seen in other villages, but they came and waited patiently for several hours to be seen by our team, to receive vitamins, antiparasitics, and a dental treatment. I stuck nearly 200 little fingers to check their hemoglobin; there were several stoic little two- and three-year-olds who came and sat down next to me, stuck out a finger without being asked, and had looks of sheer determination that melted into grins when I said, "Que valor! Eres muy fuerte!"

Anne Lincoln, MS-3

Child Health Initiative

2009-03-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a team went to 2 different villages and began our new child health initiative. They saw 100 children and youth. It was a success. Today is Father's Day in Honduras and there was a parade. Folks are now attending a festival in town.

Diane Balliet

March 19, 2009

Rainy Days in San Jose

2008-10-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the confusion about the blog. The site has changed a bit and we did several blogs and they did not send to the web, even though we thought that they did. It is Wednesday and the rain began yesterday afternoon. Looks to continue until next week. Our plans for the weekend will probably change. No need to go to the beach now. We are all well and the new clinic will be beautiful.

We had an MD come for a visit yesterday. He is interested in working here for the next 14 months. He will work with Tanya and Carmen and then the health committee will make a decision, based on their recommendations.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support. It sustains us all.

Diane RN

2008-10-15T09:23:00.001-07:00

It has been very rainy here in San Jose and we have been very busy. Sorry that we have not written since early in the week. Things are going well and we have accomplished alot. The work crew has been busy fixing up the new house next door and doing maintenance on the clinic building. JZ is working toward the goal of electricity here from a water source. We have a new stove in our new house, thanks to the folks from PESA.
The 3rd yr students did their exams today. Good luck to them.
We hope to go to El Negrito tomorrow for a festival.
A group of about 12 people will go to Ocote Paulina on Mon-Wed for a separate brigade to check for a possible new site.
Diane

2008-10-15T09:22:00.001-07:00

The second group arrived yesterday afternoon--just before the rain started. The finishing work on the new clinic is in full swing despite the rain--the tiling on the floors is absolutely beautiful, and it is amazing to see new progress each time you walk by.

JZ has outfitted the showers with lighting, and is constructing new clotheslines. He has also installed a new and quiet generator.

Yesterday a group went out to homes in San Jose to evaluate the effectiveness of the water filters--good results have been seen with correct use and cleaning of the filters! Another group has gone up to Santa Lucia today to do some water testing there.

Jen

2008-10-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

We are finishing up our first week down here in San Jose and I have to say, as a first time volunteer at Shoulder to Shoulder, I have really enjoyed my experience thus far. The way of life here and the people we are helping are so grateful for our assistance. It truly is refreshing. I also have to add that the children of this village are the most adorable kids I have ever seen! The line at the dental clinic is long as ever, which manages to keep my father very busy. He states, however, that despite the lack of regular dental care down here, that his patients' teeth are relatively healthy and strong. I myself, along with the other students and residents at the clinic, have managed to treat and see everything from common headaches and muscle pains to some cases of Dengue, bot flies, and CHF in a young boy. All in all, this has been a very rewarding experience and I'm sure only more great times await us next week.

-Traci Kazmerski
MS-III

Machete Surgery in San Jose!

2008-04-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well, we are almost done with our time in San Jose this brigade and it has been an exciting trip. We have seen many patients and learned a lot from the communities surrounding us. To top off our medical experience, Suzanne and I had a memorable afternoon yesterday. During our second to last medical session we had a 15 year old boy who walked 5 hours to see us. He was walking through a field and a snake landed on his arm so he used his machete to kill it--unfortunately he also lacerated his left hand. When he arrived at our clinic he was unable to extend his 3-5th fingers at all! After some investigation on our part we found 3 severed tendons and after much lidocaine and searching we found the other half of 2 of the tendons. We sutured it together and when the pt was leaving he was able to extend all his fingers slightly! We are hoping that he will follow-up with Carmen (the nurse here in San Jose) and eventually have full use of his left hand again.
The sun is now wishing us a good trip to Tela and hopefully the highway strike will not impede our departure!
-Meg

Last day of clinic in San Jose

2008-04-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday, and we are wrapping up the last morning of clinic prior to packing up and heading down the mountain to Tela. It's a mixed sentiment. The patients are still coming in steadily to clinic, and I, for one, am sad to have to roll up all of the eyeglasses supplies. Haven't had to turn anyone away from an eye exam, but still hoping that the one myopic (nearsighted) patient will come back into clinic so that we could fit her into glasses. The eye clinic has been very interesting the past couple of days. There is nothing more precious that putting a pair of glasses on a patient who couldn't see and afterwards could read the tiniest of numbers on the near card. There were other instances where the glasses couldn't really help much. Many patients came yesterday with maturing cataracts that could only be helped by surgery. Hopefully they can all make their way down to the ophthalmology clinic in El Progreso (and that the letters describing their eye exams will help).

I think everyone of us is looking forward to Tela. A change of pace from the hectic clinic and a chance to spend time catching up with members of the health committee... and obviously just plain enjoy the beach! Let's hope for sunshine, since the last couple of days the skies were quite weepy around here (see previous post).
This morning the weather is seemingly holding out. The clouds have lifted and sun is beaming down once again, drying up all the puddles. If it stays like this, it could be a very nice ride down the mountain to Imapro and then Tela.
See you all soon!

Cloud Trek to Pescadero

2008-04-16T09:40:00.001-07:00

15th April 2008, team C loaded up 3 horses, 1 for supplies, 2 for riding, and set off in the driving rain to Pescadero. 2 hours uphill, we set off as a rag-tag brigade of travellers delivering medical care to an outlying community. A ways into the trek, we realize the horses are having trouble with the mud, and few people will make the walk to see us. We have people following up with us though, so Don Fidel decides we should press on. One uphill is followed by another, and as we crest one hill, a view opens up to our left of palm trees awash in fog. Here the wind picks up, adding a touch of chill to the rain. We are walking among the clouds, and visibility musn't be more than 30 yards on either side of us. Mid-morning we arrive at Pescadero. A child unlocks the school-house for us, and we set up clinic before devouring PBJ sandwiches. About 15 patients show up, most with important complaints, many who have not had their meds refilled in months, including necessary blood pressure controls. By two pm, we have seen everyone, and so set off on the long downhill climb back to San Jose. Randy and Suzanne ride. Randy's horse is stubborn, but with his experience he is able to control it. The walk is hard on our knees, but we make it back in about 1 h 40 min. At night, after discussing interesting cases, including seizures in a teenage girl, the team descends into several games of mafia... -Zeb

Rainy day in Pescadaro

2008-04-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the dearth of postings. I am having trouble getting the group login to work, and computer time is severely limited by the generator needing to be on.[

Yesterday a group of about 8 of us hiked several hours through Honduran rain along muddy slippery roads and trails to reach a distant village named Pescadaro.

We arrived totally drenched, with a mule, 2 horses, 3 backpacs of medications and supplies, and 8 chilly americans and 2 local guides.

We set up the "away clinic" in a school house on the edge of a muddy cliff...in just 18 months since I was there last, the edge of the schoolyard has fallen away into the red chasm below, and now a chain link and barbed wire fence blocks off the foot path the ends abruptly just beyond.

Because of the rain, we saw only about 10 patients, then trecked back the 5 miles or so in continued downpouring rain.

If anyone is able to look at a satellite map for the area for yesterday, please let us know how it looks from above!

Better get off they computer as there is a long line waiting.

We will be home this Saturday night, hopefully more updates before then.

Spring in San Jose

2008-04-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, we have all arrived safely in San Jose, and are doing Saturday morning clinic.

I arrived yesterday after spending a week at a new location in Ocote Paulino, only a few miles away as the crow flies, but requiring an hour and a half car ride down the mountain, around to the other side and back up to get to San Jose.

It's great to see everyone here and the wonderful clinic that we've build. The Ocote Paulino project is in it's infancy and will be many years before something similar to what we have here is built.

I never thought i would be referring patients to the clinic in San Jose, but last week I realized how much we've done here.

Expect for more entries from everyone else now that I've got the blog runnign again.

-Suzanne A., MD

October Brigade in San Jose

2007-10-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
We arrived safely yesterday. It was overcast and not too hot. Today we are seeing patients and getting organized. Thanks for staying in touch.
Diane Balliet RN

New Adventures

2007-04-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hello All,
We had a productive meeting with the San Jose health committee last night. We are making plans to visit another village (about 1.5 hrs from here) in hopes that WVU might be able to partner with them. Our goal is to ? build another building here in San Jose and then donate the metal Clinica Medica to the new site.
We continue to make plans to meet with reps from the Mama Project, regarding the nutrition status in San Jose.
We are also going to look at the property nextdoor that is for sale. If purchased, it would provide space for an updated kitchen/dining area for upcoming brigades and would serve as a place for the "feeding program's cookies" to be made.
We have had a few minor electrical problems--have not always been able to have the computer working when the dental group is drilling.
Know that we are all well and miss you all. Thanks for your support.

I have encouraged the students, etc to write, but time has been limited.

Diane RN for everyone

We made it.

2007-04-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well can't write much, turning down the generator - we need the power for the clinic, especially the dentists.

My blog is at www.stansgnosticus.net via my home page link.

-Steve

Wednesday, April 11,2007

2007-04-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hi there, We are all safe and having a great time in San Jose. It is hot and muggy, but beautiful.
We delivered a baby today and others are out in the community doing surveys.
Hope that this works.
Diane

Heat & Hydration

2006-10-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

Today was hot. Well, everyday is hot, but for some reason, today it really hit me. I think that I was verging on heat exhaustion. Acclimitizing to heat involves the expansion of blood plasma and extracellular fluid & increased rate of sweating, all in order to keep the body's core temperature cooler. An acclimatized person will require more fluids than someone who is non-acclimatized.

I have been drinking about 4 liters of water per day and still feelnig thirsty. I don't know what the tempurature outside is, but inside teh clinic, the galvanized corrugated steel roof radiates heat back down on us like a broiler oven. John says the roof is at least 130 degrees, and during this trip, insuluting reflective sheets were installed on most of the clinic building. The sheets were donated by a company that has a distributer here in Honduras in San Pedro Sula.

This morning, we ran out of water. We have been using the large 5 gallon "water cooler" jugs and have gone through at least a dozen of them. I began to conserve the water I had left, and by noon, had had less than a liter. I felt hot. The air was sticky and not moving at all. I started to get sleepy, I couldn't concentrate, I had to go somewhere else for a break.

I found myself sitting in a chair in front of the open door to the men's sleeping area. A hot breeze cooled my skin and made it tingle all over. In front of me was a small concrete porch, cinder block latrines to the right, the satellite dish to the left, and the red dirt just beyond the concrete porch. Beyond was a brand new chain link fence the men are building and just beyond that, the neighbors "yard" with a single coffee tree that had many ripe berries. Three chickens grazed among the grasses growing there. As I cooled off a little, another three chickens came walking by right in front of me from behind the latrines. I got up from my chair and chased them back and forth two or three times in a comical fashion until they had all squeaked underneath the new fence.

I had cooled off a bit, went back to clinic, finished my water. About an hour later, we were treated to a long thunder & lightening storm. Clinic finished early, and I got out a soccer ball for our first game with the kids. It poured down rain and we slipped and slid all over the muddy red field in front of the clinic. We got so muddy that we just showered with our clothes on.

-Suzanne Atkinson

Home Visit

2006-10-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Two days ago, my team was out on home visits and among many others, we met Paula M. Her house was a great place to stop because there was a wonderful breeze and so we stopped and gave our diarrhea survey. She seemed pretty sophisticated in her understanding of infectious disease and medicine. However, like everyone else, she believed that "mal de ojo" does cause diarrhea. I decided to visit her again for my home visit and learn about her and her family. My second visit with her was better than the first. She is such a generous and lovely woman. She has 9 children and 1 grandchild. Her family looks very happy and well taken care of. Although we needed a translator to communicate, I tried some of my bad Spanish on her and she was so patient with me. She was so generous with her time and her life stories. I had such a wonderful time talking to her. We talked about her family, her childhood, the history of the community, and her involvement in the community. The next day I saw her in clinic because she was accompanying her daughter and grandchild. We talked for a while and she found out that I loved coffee. The next day, she sent her daughter to bring me a bag of coffee. I was just so touched. I will definitely never forget her.

-Wiktoria

Exploring Yoro

2006-10-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Exploring Yoro
The B team, Nicole, Wiktoria, Shauna and I explored the municipality of Morazan today as a possible site for future work of Shoulder to Shoulder. The FAO (Food and Agriculture organization) kindly gave us a ride and we rode high into the mountains there to the small village of Candalaria. The terrain was different with many pine trees. They did not grow coffee there at least not as much, but grew more vegetables. It was dry and they used rain water in cisterns and surface wells. We visited one surrounding community (Los Angeles) and found it to be quite poor. There is no health post and the nearest one is about 4 km away in Palino. Clearly there is a need but there is still much ground work to be done before they will be ready for a brigade. It is exciting to think of some expansion of the work though, as there are many communities just like San Jose with little or no services.
Bill Markle

2006-10-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

I can't decide what I enjoy the most about being here - the quiet; the lack of TV, radio, cell phones, electricity and the hurry-up pace of home or the people that live here and have already discovered how to enjoy the lack of TV, radio, cell phones and electricity.

I equally enjoy the people that have volunteered to be here to participate in the Brigade. What a great group of people full of positive engery. I wish I could work with these guys everyday.

I have seen and learned more in 1 1/2 weeks here than I have in 1 1/2 years in the ICU. I cant wait to come back. - Gotta run, Diane wants to shut down the generator, but I just wanted to give my two cents worth.
Josie, RN

Cerro Prieto Trip

2006-10-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

Today was a very busy day. The A team plus a few others (Suzanne, Gabe, Natalie, Jamie, Amy, Emily, Sharon, Shannon), the translator Medardo and health comittee members Don Fidel & Naomi all drove up to a village about 6 miles up the mountain with a casefull of medicines, vitamins, scabicides and lots and lots of energy. we had 3 spanish speakers which was the limiting factor. On the way up, we revisited a man with pneumonia who had been given antibiotics and tylenol last week. He was using the tylenol, but not the antibiotics, and not surprisingly, not feeling much better. He looked sick. we gave him a shot of rocephin to get things started and stressed the importance of the antibiotics.

Next we set up a clinic in the high school. About 10 students held class outside under the tree while we unpacked everything. Gabe and Amy gave an impromptu "sex ed" talk, since that was one of their current subjects. They asked if you could get pregnant by sitting on a toilet seat, and how to avoid getting leukemia. (there were others, but those were the only two that I heard).

I took a fwe hours for word to get out that we were at teh school, and soon there were plenty of patients to see. Several of the teenagers took a liking to Gabe. Most of our patients were children with complaints of fever, cough, runny nose, asthma, and concern for dengue fever. Many of the children, 9 years old and younger, came to the clinic on their own, without parents or other supervision. A group of 4 siblings and cousins aged 3,5,6 and 7 was brought in by the oldest sister who was 9.

Our group finished & packed and had a giddy ride back to the clinic in teh back of the truck. When we arrived, clinic was still full, so we jumped right in and helped see the last of the patients, finishing clinic 2 hours past closing time.

it's been so busy that we havn't had time for teh usual games with the kids, coloring or playing soccer. :(

Time for dinner!

-Suzanne A, MD. -Team Leader of the A team! (the best team ever!)

bugs and babies

2006-10-16T10:58:00.001-07:00

We have been in San Jose for over a week and during this time I have encountered what i fear the most (bugs) and what I love the most (children). The children here are so beautiful. Many of the children we encounter are malnourished, without shoes or adequate clothing and present with many different illnesses. The most extreme example of malnutrition was at a feeding center in El Negrito. El Negrito is one of the larger cities in Honduras. A feeding center is a place where severly malnourished or undernourished infants and children live for a few months to one year to obtain proper nourishment. We met a beautiful and playful 6 year old girl who physically and developmentally looked like a 3 year old. She was developmentally delayed and her growth was terribly stunted. Even after living at the feeding center for months she continues to be thin with a large protuberant belly. We learned that considering her deficits, she may never achieve her full growth or developmental potential. There were many other children like this little girl who physically looked 2 or 3 years younger than their actual age. However, many of these children would most likely have died if they were not brought to the center. Even in the clinic in San Jose we meet adolescents and teenagers who look like children. Luckily we have enough children's vitamins to supply every child that presents with vitamins for at least one month. Obviously this is not a solution but we hope this is the begining.

Now to what i fear and hate the most, THE BUGS! I honestly have never in my life seen such insects. The roaches, the spiders, the scorpians, the moths, beetles everything here is 2 to 3x the size of bugs in the states. And they seem to all come out at the same time. Any given night we see multiples of the above stated bugs in the bathroom, in our bedroom, in our BEDS, at dinner, in the clinic anywhere! Needless to say i am in a constant state of fear. Everyday i learn about new bugs that carry various diseases and even bugs that attack your eyes!
Well besides the bugs, Honduras is a beautiful place full of really wonderful people
-Nicole

Status post 1 week.

2006-10-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

We've been here for a week now and it seems like time has stopped. For a good 2 days I had no idea what day it was and nicely enought, it didn't seem to matter. Our days in the clinic are long, but I never get that frustrated feeling that I get from working long hours as I do at home. It must be the great people that I'm here with and for that I'm very grateful. Sometimes I think I've already learned so much in school that I can't possibly fit anymore inside my head, but then I end up in Honduras and all of a sudden there is an explosion of information that I pick up. Very cool. So getting on to the story of the blog... yesterday was Festival Day el Negrito and it was quite festive. We got all kinds of great food: Tomale's, Corn on the cob w/ salt and lime (so good), fried bannana's w/ salsa, some abnormally large sweet potatoe that was also very good, and a steady supply of ice cream from the local town store. In the midst of all this food I found myself invited to a game of soccer w/ the local girls of the town. First let it be known that it was 11am and HOT, and we were playing w/ a plastic-y ball on a basketball court which made the game quite challenging to say the least. That being said, it was an absolute blast! and I was running all over the place chasing the ball. I wanted to keep playing but even in shorts and a t-shirt I was overheating very quickly so I sadly retired to the sidelines. I'm highly impressed at the girls who were able to keep playing in jeans! Well, I feel like my blog entries are always pretty long, so I'll end it here, but there is much more to write about... so I'll be back! ~em

The power of pills and good patience

2006-10-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

We certainly do seem to believe in the power of good pharmaceuticals down here in San Jose. And I think we have good reason for that belief. We see, on a regular basis, albuterol nebulizers make asthmatics go from labored wheezing to easy breathing. Ciprofloxacin does wonders to cure those of us Gringos afflicted by "la diarrea"--just two doses later, several of us are back to normal. Which is a great thing, because diarrhea is not so fun when you have to put your toilet paper in a bag beside the toilet... My patient the other night with unstable angina was remarkably cured (her chest pain stopped and her EKG normalized) after just 2 tabs of nitroglycerin, an aspirin, and metoprolol. For the lady who came in with malaria today--diagnosed by Giemsa stain of a blood smear--we feel confident that chloroquine will cure her ailment. And you'd be amazed at the power of a little tylenol to cure almost any "dolor" (pain) that a patient has.

But, for all the good that dispensing meds to our patients does, I think a lot of them benefit the most from just having someone listen to them. For many of the tired, worn out mothers of 7 kids here, I doubt that there are many people who do sit down and listen to what is on their minds hearts. We have a chance to be that person, and this matters perhaps almost as much as the medicines we are able to dispense. And yet, sometimes we get frustrated because patients here are not "well-trained" to give us answers in the way that we have been trained to expect. They have a "laundry list" of complaints that seems overwhelming to the clinicians here. They have not been taught the "language" of the physician-patient relationship here in San Jose, you see. But perhaps we are the ones who need to learn something... how to listen better, how to sort through a laundry list of seemingly unrelated complaints, how to discern what it is that bothers them the most. How to have patience with our patients and the humility to be willing to adjust the way that we approach people to fit their particular culture and needs. Perhaps the verbal language barrier can even be a gift to us in this process; since some say that 90% of listening involves interpreting non-verbal cues, let's hope that all of us are able to use this time as an opportunity to really hone our skills of non-verbal communication. Despite the long-winded and confusing patient stories we hear, I think there is something beautiful about the interaction. It stretches us, and maybe we'll be more able to truly listen to our patients while learning how to effectively and efficiently communicate once we return to the states.

-Krista (Cristia)

Another Busy Day in San Jose

2006-10-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

Thursday 10/12
Today we will see at least 95 patients, maybe more until the day is done. Late yesterday we had a cardiac patient with chest pain. She had EKG changes and we treated her and wanted to transport her to the hospital in El Progresso, but it was already dark and the roads are bad. Her EKG improved and we had her sleep in the clinic and her family took her to the hospital this morning.
No rain today--very hot.
The guys are working on electrical outlets, rewiring the breaker box, tapping into the existing water line (did not go well) and building shelves for the clinic. Several of the children from San Jose have been on the roof of the Clinica Medica scraping off the old rust-to prepare it for a new coat of paint.
Diane Balliet RN

Team Cool's Santa Lucia Trek

2006-10-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,
Today Team Cool AKA Team C (Crista, Amy, Binney, Bernie) as well as Josie, Bill, Eric and myself (Emily) set foot outside the clinic to explore the countryside. Our destination: Santa Lucia, a small village about a half hour drive (3mi) from our clinic. Our guide graciously offered us a ride in the back of his truck which quickly aquired not only the brigaders but also 2 kids from the village that came along for the ride. If you do the math thats 9 people to the back of the truck which has the makings for a very fun albeit bumpy ride. As we wound our way around the mountainside we were blessed with a fatastic view of the valley sprawling out below us with clouds and sun bursting through above. When we arrived at Santa Lucia we took a 15min hike on a very muddy path to a family of 9 who had been recieving medications from the clinic. We took blood pressures, gave some medicine out, asked many questions for the various surveys we are taking. The family was very nice and we were able to save them a long trip to the clinic. After a quick stop back at the village to pick up a woman, we headed farther up the mountain to visit her parents, whom we heard were ill. This time we faced a much more treacherous path to the house we intended to visit... more on the path later. We climbed a very slipery slope, literally, and finally arrived at the house where we set to work examining her mother and father. Unfortunatey the woman's father was quite ill and we had very limited medicines with us. Luckily we were able to give him some of Amy's Cipro but we really need to come back with better medicines. At this point it was too late to visit any more families in the area, though we heard many people were too sick to come to the clinic. So we headed back to the truck with a resolution to be more prepared for ill patients (anitbiotics, pain meds, etc). Binney took a nice slide down the muddy hill but that was the only casualty of the day, and so we all packed back into the truck and headed back home. - Emily Dornblaser (the pharmacy student)

Nursing in Honduras

2006-10-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

Using all my skills and more. This is every bit as challenging as critical care. The children that I have seen are so sick and look very forlorn. Many with asthma, poor nutrition, parasites and a variety of skin rashes. The moms seem very worn out and often depressed. Of course we can only help with the immediate problems but it is hard not to just want to fix everything. I am prone to wonder: do they have girlfriends? Do they have support form anywhere? Do they have any fun in their lives? Well I am hooked on Hombre a Hombre. I 'll be back!
Mainly doing nurse stuff, helping the docs and students and offering as much compassion as I can w/o speaking the language. Hope a smile or touch helps! Sharon Clark, RN, Reading, PA

Home visits

2006-10-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

This morning Suzanne, Natalee, Jamie, Josie and I made home visits in San Jose. Senora Melinda led us to four different homes nearby; our plan was to see patients that were unable to make the trek.
At the first stop we visited Jose, a 33 year old man who was recovering from a motorcycle accident 2 weeks prior. He was resting in bed when Melinda introduced us. Jose described his accident and explained that he suffered several fractured ribs, a fractured left humerus, a head injury and various cuts and bruises. We counseled him on how to manage his injuries with various exercises and how to control his pain with ibuprofen. Jose was grateful that we could answer his questions and monitor his recovery.
The next house we found a woman who had fractured her foot months prior and could not leave her home. Her foot hurt and we could see that it was quite immobile and that her left leg muscles had atrophied. Again we provided pain medication and instructed on exercises to help strengthen the foot and increase mobility.
Melinda then led us down a steep trail to a small home nesteled along a hill. We met a woman who had a large lesion over her lower leg for several years. Suzanne had seen her on previous brigades and was dismayed to find that her condition had worsened since the last visit. She complained that the pain was quite severe and the she was not sleeping well. We cleaned the wound, applied a fresh dressing and gave more pain medicine. We planned to return the following day to change the bandage for her.
The last house we visited was for an elderly woman with arthritis in her knees, elbows and shoulders. The joint pain was causing difficulty with her daily activities such as dressing, cooking and cleaning. She reported that previous medicine she had received worked very well for her and so we gave her more aspirin. Her husband then arrived, sweating profusely from work in the morning. He sat exhausted, and reported an episode of chest pain, shortness of breath and collapse. Interpreting was particularly difficult as he had a tendency to mumble, speak softly and trail off. Fortunately his cardiac exam and blood pressure was normal so we gave him aspirin with the hope of preventing future cardiac events.
We eventually made our way back to the clinic with a busy day ahead of us, but happy to be able to explore the area and meet people in their own homes.

October 2006 Bridage Arrives

2006-10-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hello from San Jose! The October 2006 brigade safely arrived yesterday, and we are running a full clinic today along with some construction projects. We've seen about 100 patients today and had about 12 inches of rain.

We hope to have up to 2 updates daily from the clinic crew and the community service crew, so keep checking.

Congratulations!

2005-04-14T00:38:00.000-07:00

Hi, San Jose Brigade!
Congratulations on the great news of the satellite and e-mail possibilities! After all the years I had spent not being able to communicate with the outside world, I think this news is wonderful!
Hope all is going well. My best for a great brigade. Ginny

2005-04-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Entrada
Posted by Hello

Welcome to the San Jose Blog

2005-04-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

Hi there. I've created this blog so that friends and family can keep up to date on what is going on down in San Jose. THere is now a computer installed with a satellite internet connection, enableing internet use, email, and even tele consulting! Keep an eye out here for daily updates from the students, nurses, doctors and maybe even villagers of San Jose!