Today's memories of our bike ride; sweat, groaning, sweet pineapples for 5,000 kip, The Pineapple Shrine, stunning views, chats with mates, and the reward of Sunday lunch at the new French restaurant back in town
Friday, 10 July 2015
relaxing weekends
Nothing better than spending time at Wat Pasaviet and Wat Na luang with the novices, they are places of calm and I love listening to stories of their weeks, what they've learned and experienced. And I love just being in Luang Prabang watching life and stopping to capture moments on camera.
Gordon Bennett, accidents happen
Cycling around Luang Prabang is hazardous, the rules of the road are the biggest car wins and cycling can be both scary and entertaining. Today I spotted a truck approaching along the narrow road so I moved to the edge and breathed in. Then I noticed it had a shipping container which didn't fit, the back end of the container was precariously sticking in the air. As we passed I heard a commotion and realised the container had caught the overhead electricity cables which were crashing down. I held my breath expecting to be electrocuted, my hair was standing on end, instead if speeding up I took my feet of the pedals. It all went slow motion but surprisingly no wires contacted me and I cycled over them unscathed. Will keep wearing my helmet and praying to the Buddha
a typical day at the hospital
Things come in 3s and some day all the children have coughs and the next they're all complex or very ill, some days are more lighthearted. We've seen some interesting and some very sad cases this week. 3 children with severe malnutrition, one family were feeding her condensed milk only as they thought that was better than food, one child had a severe congenital heart disorder and her health was decling with little hope for cardiac surgery and one child had a 16 year old mum who was devastated ever since her husband had left for thailand. We saw a 3 year old with hydrocephalus, she had a tiny body and a grossly enlarged head with severe brain damage, her parents had had no more children as they wanted to care for her, they were desperate for help but sadly there is no treatment available and now most of her brain does not function. Tears rolled down my cheeks. A family drove 3 hours with their child who was struggling to breath, he had a severe pneumonia and I wanted to admit him for intravenous antibiotics but the family refused as they needed to get home to their other children so they all set off on their motorbike, I hope he's alright. I wish I could I speak Laos, then I would feel more comfortable that I'd done everything I could to explain the situations and options. As elsewhere in the world we need to educate, one family brought their 3 year old as he became aggressive after his 3rd cup of Nescafé coffee! And some families have western type medical problems, one mum brought her 2 year old because his scrotum wasn't symmetrical and we were the 3rd doctor she'd consulted, it's full spectrum here and I love working with the Laotian doctors and nurses.
infection control
I think most of our staff have finally stopped spitting in the bins, sinks and floor. It's estimated up to 10% of the population have TB so when I hear staff hoicking I run and yell NNNOOOOOOO. I've explained time after time that spitting spreads infection and it's better to swallow.
Now I'm turning my attention to the patients. This week one boy was merrily peeing in a bin, one boy was merrily eating lychees during his consultation then spitting the pips on the floor and the final straw a family pulled a young boys pants down, he squatted and peed and pooed on the clinic floor. Dad then walked in it so I had a rant in English which he didn't understand, the staff thought I was crazy when I asked them to explain infection control to him, instead they told me our cultures are different!
Saturday, 20 June 2015
dilemmas
We saw a 6 year old boy with abdominal pain, I thought he had a bowel obstruction so he needed to be admitted to hospital for observation. We have an out patient clinic only at the moment so we transferred him to the provincial hospital where he had surgery to remove part of his bowel. He had to stay in hospital for a week to recover and have intravenous medication so we went to review him every day. Just before discharge his wound opened exposing his bowel so he needed a second operation. the family had run out of money and wanted to take his son home, it was essential he stayed so I paid for his medicines, the family was very grateful. I thought it was the right thing to do and then some more families arrived at our clinic and asked for money to pay for medical bills as treatment is not free in Laos. The team pointed out I was being noble but creating an unsustanable expectation. I'm glad I could help this family but you can't help everyone so may make a different decision next time. It's so difficult, I find it annoying that there is so much inequality in the world. We are so lucky in the UK to have free health care provided by the world's top rated health service, despite the Conservative party trying to destroy the NHS.
Sunday, 7 June 2015
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