This morning was quiet; there were few patients to see and I
had the feeling that this was the beginning of the end – we leave tomorrow
afternoon. Dr. Clement chatted with us between patients. Of note, a man with a
severely gangrenous foot was brought in by his family around tea time. You
could smell it from Dr. Clement’s office across the hall from Casualty. The
foot itself was totally eaten away; it was disfigured, some of the toes were
black, and flies would not leave the festering wounds alone. The poor man had
been brought in by his family some months ago, but the infection got worse and
he is now confined to a wheelchair and overall does not look healthy for his
age. Dr. Clement reminded us that the amputation must occur at the level of
healthy tissue and bone, which often means removing more than you might expect.
It continues to amaze me the injury that people will accept before they come or
are brought to the hospital.
Around 2pm, we finished with Dr. Clement and had to leave
for our second medical camp. This was much more successful than the first, as
school is back in session as of June 1, so we were able to screen all of the
children in town. After setting up, we saw patients straight from 3-6pm, first
the school children and then the rest of the town, around 150 patients! We got
some good practice taking blood pressure in a fast-paced and loud environment.
Vickie was helping the pharmacy with drug hand out, Therese with taking body
weight, Claudia directing operations, and the rest of us blood pressure and
patient flow around the doctors. Dr. Muralidar arrived a little later, which
had the effects of both speeding up the clinic and frustrating a lot of people
who only wanted to see him. Dr. M has been in the area for more than 20 years
and everyone knows him; however Dr. Clement has only been at Anaikatty for a
few years.
When we got home, we were surprised to hear that the doctors
were taking us out to dinner in Coimbatore. Dr. Muralidar’s favorite restaurant
is a Chinese place where we had more rice and noodles and chicken than we could
finish. It was delicious. Finally, after what turned out to be a long and
exhausting day, we got home at midnight. Tomorrow we will visit the school over
the border in Kerala that the Tribal Welfare Trust manages before we start the
long journey home.
-Alex
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