Some scrapes and complicated labor...

This young man was walking down the mountainside and stepped on a loose rock-

The resulting fall and injuries merited 3 stitches and multiple bandages!

He seemed grateful enough for the medical aid :)

Some lacerations on his leg.

As the young man was getting patched back up a lady came on a stretcher.

At first they could not figure out what was wrong with her, 

except that she was expecting her first child and was going into labor.

As they examined her more thoroughly they realized the baby probably had some serious defects.

They rushed her to the hospital in Ti Guave where she was transported to Leogane.

We have yet to hear how things went there...

Be careful when "picking" your fellow workers...

Yes, you guessed it- another incident with a pick!

This time two brothers were working in their family garden. The older of the two was working with a pick and the younger was working the ground with his hands. In the process of time, the older lost control of his pick, sending it sailing through the air and right into the hand of his younger brother!

They came to the clinic in the afternoon with their story and the younger one's bleeding hand. Their mother was notified of the incident and rushed back from wherever she was working.

Seems like during this season (with so many gardens being worked) there are a lot more incidents such as this!

Caught him right between the fingers!

Michael needed to open up the puncture wound in order to stop bleeding and clean it out.

The surgical kit providing several instruments he used.

The actual opening of the puncture wound wasn't all that big-

but it was deep and packed with dirt.

After making a larger incision, he pulled the skin back...

Cleaning it out was tedious work.

After removing the larger pieces of debris, water was used to flush it all out.

After all was said and done, the bleeding stopped and Michael was able to stitch him back up!

Such is life at the Aleg Medical Clinic!

A rule of thumb...

This phrase has it's origins in old tradition, going as far back as ancient Persian culture (though in Persian, literally translated, it was "finger's tip rule") and is found in old English writings dating back to 1685... yet it still holds much meaning in our modern-day speech.

It's typically used to describe a principle- one that has wide application that's easy to understand and learn. 

In our case today, you could say that "Prevention is the best kind of cure" would have been the "rule of thumb" for our little patient...

The boy had come in the other week with an infection in his thumb.

It was treated and he was told to return in a few days.

Unfortunately he didn't return for a followup appointment...

So today, when he DID come back, his thumb had become swollen and the infection was spreading to the rest of his hand.

Michael found it necessary to cut away the dead and dying tissue surrounding the infection...

When he did, the whole thumbnail just pulled right out; it was not the prettiest sight!!

And there it is. 

Now that the dead tissue is gone it should heal up.

Hopefully next time he'll come in when he's supposed to! 

"Prevention is the best kind of cure"

Update on the "Major Infection!"

The man with the infected leg has been faithfully coming to the clinic, every day, 

taking his medicine and cleaning the wound. His consistency is paying off, along with the faithfulness of our nurses taking care of him each afternoon. 

Compare his leg in this image to the others here!

The difference is quite amazing!! We know now (for sure) that he won't need it amputated, as we feared at first. It's fascinating to see the human body repairing itself like this; praise the Lord for the marvel of His creation!

A cut knee and the sniffles...

First up today is a lady with a split knee. She was going to market today, but since it has been raining a lot the last while there were a bunch of loose rocks on the road. She slipped on one and fell straight down on her front- her kivèt (that she had been carrying on her head, full of merchandise) fell down behind her, landing squarely on her back! When she got up she realized she had a large gash on her knee and a very sore spine!

Michael did the stitching. 

6 stitches, nicely done!

***

Next, there's been a lot of sniffling going on around here- runny noses, coughs, fevers- it seems like half the community has been coming into the clinic with this really bad cold. It's a relief not having really serious cases going through, but at the same time this cold is ferocious!

Cough syrup, fever reducers, etc., have been going out of the pharmacy at a good pace. The cold lasts for up to a week and a half, and really drags the victim down. Some of us here at the mission have come down with it too, so we know how it feels! :)

Some latecomers at the clinic, waiting for Virginia to get them some meds for their sniffles.

Another baby...

Yesterday there was another baby born!

Thankfully it was born around 3:30 in the afternoon instead of the middle of the night!

It was a baby girl, weighed a mere 5.5lbs and entered into the world without any complications!

Here she is!

The proud father!

The proud Grandmother!

And the happy nurses!

Unfortunately, the mother wasn't available for a picture at the time.

A busy day...

The large number of patients coming into the clinic continues;

Within the last week the nurses saw over 400 people!

People sitting outside, some waiting to be seen, some waiting for medicine, 

others crowding around the pharmacy window.

***

The nurses sterilize the medical instruments each month.

Here are some shots of the tools they use on a daily basis:

An accident with a pick...

This man, unfortunately, had an accident- an accident with a pick, that is. Yes, he was working in a garden crew and someone hit him with their pick and split his nose wide open! 

(Please, no jokes about picking noses... :)

He came into the clinic Friday afternoon and Michael got right to work on it.

Nice split, eh?

Stitching was very tedious, using fine to extra-fine thread on the outside AND the inside of his nose!

After a good while all 9 stitches were in place and he was ready to go!

He doesn't look all that thrilled, does he?

I wouldn't be feeling too good either, if I had the same condition!

Now, today, he came back to have some of the stitches taken out.

The task wasn't too easy, seeing how small the stitch was Michael was searching for!

Ah, there it is!

Wow. That's very small!

He should be back in a few more days to have the rest removed!

The boy with the spliced ear...

Often we have patients come in with rock-related injuries; a rock fell on them, they fell onto a rock, some rocks gave way in their garden and they fell down the hillside... But none are more interesting than the stories which accompany the cases caused by thrown rocks: there is always some excuse, some reason, for them having the rock thrown at them. And they are, more often than nought, innocent, of course. How much of each individual story you would like to believe is entirely up to you, but sometimes the circumstances surrounding the injury are just a little too fishy to support the entirety of the individual's innocency...

Such was the case with this young man yesterday. At the beginning of the operation his story went that he was just passing by a fight, minding his own business, and someone threw a random stone at him; but as the evening wore on, he eventually confessed to have entered into the brawl and thus acquired this pretty souvenir...

Looks pretty bad...

The rock smashed his ear up against his head, splicing and slicing it in at least two places!

The instruments were prepared...

And Michael began the operation...

After sterilizing the area, a clean and sterile pad is placed around his ear to keep the operation area clean.

One, two, three...

Four, five, six, seven stitches!

Feeling much better!

He was fearing for his ear at the first, because his buddies outside the 

gate were telling him we'd probably have to amputate it! :)

Michael made sure to let him know that this was not the case :)