Skip to main content

Medical work

"Auntie, can you give me medicine for the flu?"
"The flu? Well, tell me more about what you are feeling..."
Blank stare. Sister comes to the rescue.
"Auntie, she needs medicine for the flu."
After much poking and prodding, it sounded like every day she had a congested nose, especially at night. No fevers, no cough.
My diagnosis: allergies (the air is thick with mango pollen and smoke from burning fields and trash).

Not a day goes by that I do not use my medical skills. There is so much GERD (acid reflux) - interpreted as chest pains - so I treat GERD A LOT! This season there are also a lot of allergies - interpreted as "the flu" - so I'm treating allergies too. Mostly, my "patients" are people who come into my home. I haven't put out a shingle; I don't want a general patient population. I'm here to work with children with disabilities once I have learned the language and culture. That is my passion, my heart's desire, and even my training!

But it does keep my mind in the game to have new symptoms posed to me in new ways, in a new culture, in a new language! I found a pharmacy that I trust and can communicate with, so that is very helpful as I am still exploring what medications are available here.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Check out this progress!

A year ago, my friend Rachel http://josiecomehome.blogspot.com/ emailed a photo of her beautiful son standing on his own... I've since dreamed of having a photo to post of Gracie doing the same thing. It was always one of those wild-don't-think-it'll-ever-happen kind of dreams, a romantic, fairy tale type of dream. But this week, Gracie made another leap in development and muscle tone. It started when I leaned her up against the wall and planted her feet a shoulder-width apart. For the first time, she didn't lunge for the safety of my arms or hands, but rather, she allowed herself to stand steadily on her own two feet and she kept her center of gravity centered over her feet instead of wildly in front of her or to one side or the other. She even quickly figured out that she couldn't lurch around in excitement while standing on her own two feet with no support but a wall behind her back, but rather had to express her excitement over this new development with a gentl...

Family of Three!

We are in Liberia - the electricity goes in and out because the generator is having trouble keeping up these days! So hopefully it will stay on long enough to post and the internet connection will allow me this luxury! We were united with precious Gracie on Thanksgiving day - I will write more about this later. But, oh! is Gracie a joy! She is so beautiful, so joyfilled, and a bit mischievious. Her physical limitations do not permit her to accomplish much mischief, but we can tell that she is trying to push some limits already. If we were not in love with her already, she is irresitable and such a treasure and blessing from God. In our two days together, she has not cried once. She spends most of her days smiling, she loves to snuggle (good match for us!), and has the most contagious laugh! Life takes more effort for her - her cerebral palsy is moderate and every activity is a challenge and is clearly tiring for her. Meal times (which she loves) take a long time and much patience and d...

Ana Gail Rattin

Ana Gail Rattin (pronounced Ah-nah) Born December 5th, 2007 at 5:35pm at 42 weeks weighing 7lb 8oz, 21 3/4 inches long Some adventures at birth, but everyone's doing great now! Read Luke 2:36-38!