Baoher and Thongher are both from the Hmong ethnic group, names ending in Her are Hmong names so that makes Dr Maher the 3rd Hmong doctor. Hmong people have a reputation of being hardworking and Baoher and Thongher are great examples of that work ethic.
We are busier than anticipated so have already outgrown our out-patient clinic. We are recruiting 2 more Laotian doctors and thinking of ways to adapt the hospital's room plan.
We see lots of common conditions and we've also see some rare and very complex cases, the challenge is we don't have many investigations to help make a diagnosis, also we only simple treatment options so unfortunately we can treat every child as we'd like. Patients seem to be leaving very happy, it's obvious we are trying our best.
The clinic is full of life and very noisy, some children are completely terrified and scream loudly and are unconsolable. I ask why, my laotian colleagues have suggested maybe because they've never been to hospital before, that children are expecting a 'shot' as this is a common practice, or they're not used to foreign doctors, especially tall, pale ones with a big nose.
What's really affecting me are the children with malnutrition and thalassaemia. I was examining an 8 year old malnourished boy and tears started to run down my cheek, it's heartbreaking. In Laos 50% of children are malnourished and 40% have stunting, while in the UK we more used to the problems associated with obesity. There is so much inequality in the world. To add to my frustration we cannot find a supplier of nutritional supplements.
And there's always some funny moments, one of the town's expatriates is 70 years old, they arrived and asked to be seen. The nurses advised we see children until their 15th birthday, but they were determined so Nurse Somchit arrived at my office with our oldest patient!
It's hard work but rewarding. I've been having to use my brain heaps and look things up. Despite the occasional tear, I'm happy and feel very privileged to be helping Laotian children and working with such a great bunch of people.
We are busier than anticipated so have already outgrown our out-patient clinic. We are recruiting 2 more Laotian doctors and thinking of ways to adapt the hospital's room plan.
We see lots of common conditions and we've also see some rare and very complex cases, the challenge is we don't have many investigations to help make a diagnosis, also we only simple treatment options so unfortunately we can treat every child as we'd like. Patients seem to be leaving very happy, it's obvious we are trying our best.
The clinic is full of life and very noisy, some children are completely terrified and scream loudly and are unconsolable. I ask why, my laotian colleagues have suggested maybe because they've never been to hospital before, that children are expecting a 'shot' as this is a common practice, or they're not used to foreign doctors, especially tall, pale ones with a big nose.
What's really affecting me are the children with malnutrition and thalassaemia. I was examining an 8 year old malnourished boy and tears started to run down my cheek, it's heartbreaking. In Laos 50% of children are malnourished and 40% have stunting, while in the UK we more used to the problems associated with obesity. There is so much inequality in the world. To add to my frustration we cannot find a supplier of nutritional supplements.
The children with thalassaemia arrive pale and have huge splenomegaly, their haemaglobin levels usually are 2-3, rather than a healthy 12. In the UK we would transfusing at 7-8. Here we need to balance under-treating and risk fatigue, infections and poor growth etc with over-treating which overloads the children with iron as we don't have the chelation agent which is routinely used in the West. It's very upsetting seeing these sick children, their needs are huge and treatment is limited, I'm comforted observing how precious these children are to their families.
And there's always some funny moments, one of the town's expatriates is 70 years old, they arrived and asked to be seen. The nurses advised we see children until their 15th birthday, but they were determined so Nurse Somchit arrived at my office with our oldest patient!
It's hard work but rewarding. I've been having to use my brain heaps and look things up. Despite the occasional tear, I'm happy and feel very privileged to be helping Laotian children and working with such a great bunch of people.
