Adventures with Dr. E

The Spring Break group from Tulane is here this week, but I managed to slip away this morning to go shadow at the hospital. When I arrived at the nursing station this morning, there wasn't much to do, so I was sent to the Emergency Room to help out. On my way there, I ran into Dr. Escobar (a doctor who is a prominant figure in the hospital and the community of Sangolqui). We all met Dr. Escobar back last fall, and he is a friend of Manna. He greeted me and asked why I wouldn't be working with the nurses this morning. After explaining that there weren't many vaccinations to give this morning, he suggested I follow him around for the morning. I gladly accepted his offer and accompanied him to his office. Dr. Escobar specializes in internal medicine, tuberculosis patients, and diabetes/hypertension patients.

As Dr. E's nurse this morning, I got to record each of the visits in a patient log (I learned to do this in the rural clinic in Jatumpungo) and I took a LOT of blood pressure measurements. I had the privaledge of seeing several cases that made me happy to have a strong stomach. This includes, but is not limited to, a perirectal abscess, a case of vaginosis, a recovering case of TB, and a woman with vomiting reaction to a new medicine. YUM!

The "perirectal abscess" was on an 18-year-old boy whose mother works at the hospital. Along with the pain, the poor boy was suffering from embarassment. It was all I could do to keep from telling him about when I had to sit on a doctor's table butt-up last year. That probably wouldn't have been professional, but my empathy and general inclination to care for people and make them as comfortable as possible leads me to believe that I'm fit to be a nurse one day.

Also, we treated several hypertension patients. This was especially interesting, since many of the women in our communities or involved in the Women's Exercise program struggle with hypertension. It was yet another great morning of shadowing.