Day Fifteen: Flying Solo

So, it's Monday, and Ana and I are the only med students in the house. Adam is still stuck somewhere in Samana with his friend, and Linda is working at the Pequeno Pasitos clinic this week. Plus, we learned that the attending physician who was supposed to be with us this week is not coming down at all. Apparently he learned that his passport was expired ...just as he was about to take off from JFK International Airport. So we are truly the orphan med students...

Today we went back to the hospital and tried to make the day seem as normal as possible. We attended morning conference, saw a couple of interesting patients with the team, and spent some time in the consult clinic. It was so hot inside the consult room that I nearly passed out!

But the patients were definitely interesting. I saw my first case of dengue hemorrhagic fever today, as well as another patient with newly-diagnosed AIDS and possible PCP Pneumonia. It was interesting to observe how the Dominican doctor handles confidentiality, however. Even though the patient purportedly did not know his diagnosis, the doctor seemed to have no problems talking about his virus load right in front of the patient and other family members. Part of me wonders if this is something cultural, or if it was just this particular doctor...

Then, in the consult room, we saw a thin, tired-appearing 19-year old girl who had multi-drug resistant TB. She had had recurrent activations of her infection ever since she was a teenager. This time, she came to clinic because she was having severe flank pain when standing up. The attending physician seemed concerned about the disease spreading to her kidneys and immediately sent her for some tests. Ana and I were both shocked to see this disease progress so rapidly in someone so young.

When we got back to the apartment following the afternoon conference, we found Adam waiting for us. Apparently he had gotten stranded during his travels, but thankfully he arrived back safe and sound. We talked for a long time about his time in Jimani, and it sounded like he was able to initiate a lot of projects. Talking to him made me even more eager to go there...

Adam also mentioned that he probably hadn't had a home-cooked meal since he left for Jimani last week. So here's what I made:



Our menu included fried rice with a stir-fry made with eggplant, tomatoes, onions, and eggs. It tasted pretty good, if I may say so myself. And Ana made a lovely salad with avocados and red peppers. Here's some more "food porn":



As they say here...buen provecho!