It was a really hot day today, but one that was of the utmost pleasure and fun. I first want to wish a warm Happy 25th Birthday to Ashleigh Woodfield, who has touched my life posthumously in a plethora of positivity. In memory of her birthday, and since they don't sell Sour Patch in Gambia, I bought the local kids an orange soccer ball to play with. They have been begging us for soccer balls ever since we arrived, and usually play with mangoes or rocks. I thought it would be a nice reward for them to enjoy some fun and laughter on Ashleigh's birthday, and I think she would have enjoyed the sound of children laughing and enjoying a simple but rare game of soccer with a real soccer ball.
Work at the clinic today was extremely interesting. I worked in outpatient services with a nurse by the name of Therese for about an hour, after which time we moved to wound dressing due to the absence of the normal nurse in that area. I watched her clean and dress about ten wounds of varying complexity. This usually involved washing the wound with a saline solution and cotton swab, applying hand sanitizer or hydrogen peroxide to the wound (the former was quite a shock to me), putting some form of antibacterial ointment on the wound, and dressing the wound with a bandage, usually a gauze wrap. Therese began to get hungry (as they take breakfast around 10:00am), and so Michelle and I volunteered to take over for her in the interim. Of course, the first patient we saw was by far the worst of the day. He had massive open sores on his left hand, which was immensely swollen and severely infected. He said that these wounds were not the result of an injury, that they had more or less spontaneously formed a few days earlier. I'm not sure what could have possibly caused these injuries (one could clearly see the bone on his ring finger, and could nearly see through the hand in other parts). One thought of mine was that he had an infected form of Leishmaniasis, but of course this diagnosis is given without real medical knowledge. Michelle and I treated the wound as per the protocol of the medical center, and I think we did a pretty good job. Using scissors and forceps, I removed the infected portions of skin (which essentially fell off) with as close to surgical precision as is possible for and untrained twenty-one year old. The man writhed in pain throughout the cleaning and dressing (as all of you know who have ever been administered hydrogen peroxide), but insisted that we continue. He was very pleased with the dressing at the end, and was given some oral antibiotics to hopefully stop the infection. We treated about four more wounds of far lesser magnitude in the same manner, and stopped when there were no more patients to be seen. It may be strange to say, but this was the most fun part of the trip so far. I felt as if I was actually making a difference, a big difference, by performing a medical service. I hope days like this are many in the future.
It looks like it is about to thunderstorm here, so I must cut the blog short and hustle home before I get stuck in the mud. Best wishes to Michaela as she flies off to Europe today. Also very excited to hear of the great advances in Uncle Rob's health! I can't wait to see everyone when I get home, and eat a few McDonald's McDoubles with you all. Unfortunately I have no pictures today, as I didn't bring my camera to the internet cafe, but expect more in future posts.
Love,
Jon
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