Nicaragua 2013

I had an opportunity to go to Nicaragua, which is located in Central America to do a medical service mission. I was able to work in small villages and work with the people. These people rarely have medical help or doctors who come to the villages to see them, and they cannot afford to get to the large cities. I loved every minute of this trip and came home with memories that will last a life time. I missed my 3 boys more then words can even describe, but I only had one minor.....okay maybe major breakdown after face-timing them. I never had cell service, but sometimes the hotels would have wifi and I could talk to my family.  I am so grateful to Tyler for letting me go & to our families who helped with our boys.

 

   

Journal Entries

{Nicaragua 03.11.13 AM}

        It is 4:30 and I am already showered because I can't sleep. There is a rooster that sounds like it is beyond the window in our room, & I feel like there are bugs all over me but I am pretty sure I am just loosing it. Our hotel is "nice" for this town, but I had to gulp when we walked in. This is definitely not what I'm use to. But we have doors and windows, AC and a fan. As we went walking through town I have seen that we have way more then the people do!

      Yesterday we were in Managua and we were introduced to the GMT team, who seem amazing. They taught us about the culture, common things we will see, he treatments and taught vital signs. After the training we loaded up in buses (one for our luggage, one for us all) and drive 6 hours SE to a little city. This morning we will load on a boat and go down river 2 hours to a village. So far, so good. I'm excited to get my scrubs and stethoscope on. That is why I am here.

       Our group is awesome. I'm not sure it could get any better. They are all pre dental or med. The dental kids will work on teeth this week. But everyone has been quite fun and entertaining. I'm just the mom of the group, even though there are some older then me. I'm the only one with kiddos, and I keep showing everyone picture of Tuck and Tate. I kinda miss them. :) 

{El Castillo 03.11.13 PM}

        Today we woke up early and loaded on a boat at 6am. We were told by one person that the boat ride would be 1 hour and 15 minutes and told it would be 45min and it took us 3 hours! But it was beautiful, so it really wasn't that bad! We pulled up to a village off the river. We hiked all of the clinic supplies to the clinic which looked like an elementary school. It as like 2-3 separate. buildings each one comparable to a small single wide trailer. The dental students were in the one building and the medical and pharmacy in the other. It was such a good experience to be thrown into the culture. They have nothing. They are placed on Tylenol or tums for 5-7 days, when in America we give prescriptions for months. For the villagers to travel to the city on boat is equivlient to 8$, but they can't afford to do that. I heard someone say the average monthly income is $90 per month for a family. It was a great day. Excited for tomorrow!

A house next to our hotel

Hotel
 

Pulling up to the village dock

Hiking all the equiptment in

On the Boat

 

Our awesome pharmacy

{Los Chilies 03.12.13}

      This morning we woke up and ate an loaded up on the bus. We travelled 2 hours on horrible, bumpy, windy roads to Los Chilies. I got so sick and flushed driving up. It seemed like the bus driver was either on the gas pedal or slamming on the breaks. He would slam on the breaks every time there was a dip or bump in the road!....which was a lot. We finally got to the town. We had gotten lost earlier, so by the time we got there, the doctors and team had gotten the clinic set up. We had people waiting outside and we got started seeing patients. We had a good day. It wa so hot and humid. Lots of sweat. The little children are so cute. They come in with parasites or asthma or "rashes". We prescribe what we can. If someone is having arthritic pain we can only give them IBU for a few weeks, even though the pain will continue. The people are so nice, but poor hygiene! The dental students pulled lots of teeth and did fillings. It seemed like we had lots of crying kids today. We try and get lots of pictures! Tahlia is doing good! I think that hardest part is the language barrier. We have to write all prescriptions in Spanish, and use the translator to communicate.

       In the clinic we see lots of families. Some things are so minimal or even not existent. It seems they are pretending there is something wrong just for the experiences. We just give them a multivitamin for a month! :)

      The food is pretty good. We eat at local restaurants. It's hard to know what to order, but if you don't like it the guys on the trip won't let it go to waste! Tomorrow should be a long interesting day. Starting early and ending late!

Clinic

 

 

 

{Penon 03.13.2013}

      This village was by far the most poverty that we have seen. We pulled off the highway today to 2 little buildings. One had a cross on it and the other just a little house. The medical group was in the small building with the cross. The floors were dirt and the walls just wood panels, the ceiling wood, sheet metal and palm tree leaves. The people walked to the clinic or came on horse back. We went with Dr. Marillo on a couple "home visits" of locals who lived close but couldn't get to the clinic. We saw a 65 year old women who had lots of leg edema. We also treated her for a UTI and a vaginal infection. I saw a family at the clinic "Dengue fever", which is from a Mosquito. It is a virus so there really isn't anything to do other then help manage pain and fever. We can't prescribe ibuprofen because the risk with Dengue is internal bleeding. It is common for the people to die from this. The mother was holding a little girl, about 7, and she was lethargic.

      Most of the people don't know what year they were born in and some don't even know how old they are. The clinic was so hot today, and the bathroom was a wood building with a hole in the ground and a tarp for a door.. I was just praying that I didn't need to go to the bathroom for the 10 hours clinic day.

      Our doctors are so amazing. We have Dr Elisabeth & Dr Omar Murillo. I'm starting to learn what they prefer to prescribe. We have to write all prescriptions in Spanish so we are getting good. For example

Ibuprofono 200mg

1 tableta cada 8 horas

Por dolor

#15 tabletas

      The dental clinic was the same condition as the medical. They had to kick chickens and iguanas out of the building so they could set up and work. They don't have a translator but one of the dental students speaks spanish. Luckily 2 of our guys served Spanish speaking missions. They translate food menus, signs and help us talk to locals in town.

 

{Aguas Agrias 03.15.13}

      We took a bus an hour and a half up dirt road. I thought I was going to puke! We pulled up to a 2 room school house. Dental took one room and medical/pharmacy in the other room. It was really windy and the school doesn't have windows, just metal bars. We saw over all lots of patients. I think everyone was try into work hard so we could see everyone. We were told it would just be a half day, but we obviously wouldn't leave until everyone was seen. I have lots of parasite treatment to lots of people, especially children. & it seemed like lots more little kids. Someone else in my group had a little girl (4-5yrs) would walked on a fire bare footed and had 3rd degree burns and necrosis. It was so said, Tahlia gave her 2 pairs of shoes that she had. We saw the cutest little babies today, I wanted to bring 1 home!

     We had some interesting patients. We had a little 5 mo baby who had a rash and bumps on his legs r/t bed bugs, but the mom did not know what was wrong. We also had a little girl who gets swelling in her abdomen, face and legs in the morning. The doctor thought it was because she doesn't drink enough. Most of the people we asked only drink 3-6 cups a day at best, which is definitely not enough! It is so hot and they labor outside so much. Lots of the women have urinary infections or vaginal/yeast infections.

      After the clinic we loaded in a bus and headed back to Mesaya to eat with all of GMT. I got a little sick on the bus. I remember thinking " I do not want to freaking get on another bus again". We finally got there in one piece. It was so good to eat normal American food! We had Papa Johns pizza. The staff gave us certificates for the program and they said their good byes. One of the Doctors pulled me aside and complimented me. She was so sweet. It completed my trip. She told me that I was an "excellent nurse" & to never forget it.....and that I will do great things. She told me she enjoyed working with me. I loved her and I was so gracious for her compliments.

     I can't believe the trip is over. In hind sight it went by so fast. I experienced and grew so much in 9 days. I am so grateful for this experience. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to work with the Nicaragua people. The staff that we had from Nicaragua are amazing. The people we served in the village were so sweet. The conditions that they live in and experience everyday is more than humbling. Working with my sister in a medical setting was priceless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Dr, Elizabeth

 

 Dr. Omar Murillo

 

tTt