Roatan - Day 10

J and I FINALLY made it to the beach this morning!  And when I say beach, I mean a dock extending 50 yards or so out into the ocean.  A perfect respite from the sand fleas and mosquitos.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  Just the way I like it.  While J studiously read about obstetrics, I gluttoned (yes, I made up that word) myself on the sun rays, enjoying the warmth and cool gentle breeze.  After 2 hours of dedicated sunscreen application, we headed back to the apt. to get ready for work.  I thought I had it bad by not having showered in over 48 hours, but J wins!  AT LEAST 60 hours since she last showered.  No wonder there weren’t any fish in the water around us.  Ha, I kid.  We’ll do anything to avoid taking a cold shower.  I will anyway.  But after pushing J up a steep hill and making sure she didn’t go too fast down another steep hill, I welcomed the freezing downpour in the shower with open arms.

Our 5 hour shift at the clinic today turned into 6.5 hours.  I know, we have it rough.  It IS rough when you make dinner plans with L after her invitation and you have to turn them down because you are behind schedule.  By the way, can I just say I love L?  She is the greatest and super sweet.  She’s a Canadian, probably in her early 40’s who took all of her vacation time for the next 2 years to come down here to work in the laboratory at the clinic.  We’ll just have to do dinner with her tomorrow.

J and I worked with 2 third year ER residents today (their first day at the clinic).  She worked with one and I worked with the other (we’ll call them ER #1 and ER #2).  By default, ER #1 becomes #1 since I met him first.  Because ER #1 speaks Spanish and J doesn’t, they worked together.  I worked with ER #2 because he didn’t speak Spanish (very little).  It was a great set up – I got to see my own patients and present to ER #2 AND translate for him while he saw his patients.  I really like those guys.  They are great teachers and they actually have a personality – fun to work with.  J and I are really looking forward to tomorrow. 

My highlight of the day was translating for ER #2 (who speaks very little Spanish) who was seeing a 9 month old and his mom.  He correctly asked her twice in a row (in Spanish) if her 9 month old had any allergies to any medications.  After she stared blankly at him, I stepped in and we solved the issue.  Then she started laughing uncontrollably… then it was our turn (for ER #2 and me) to both look at each other with blank stares.  We had no idea why she was laughing… she told me that she would have no idea what ER #2 was saying if I wasn’t there to help.  It made ER #2 feel quite sheepish about his Spanish, especially since he was conversing with her earlier without me in the room.  On the other hand, it was my moment of triumph :)  I even helped ER #1 (who does speak Spanish) a time or too.  Booyah!

The lowlight of the day (I guess you could call it that, due to the probable outcome) was a patient I saw presenting with 4 day vaginal bleeding (11 years post-menopausal), 40 pound weight loss over the last 8 months, and lower back pain.  It could be something benign, but it could also be a cancer.  As far as what we are able to do on the island to manage her care isn’t much.  The resources just aren’t there.  She’ll come back in a few days to follow up with the OB/GYN doc, but will most likely need to go to the mainland for imaging and a biopsy.  She was the cutest and sweetest little lady, but spoke faster than Speedy Gonzalez himself.  I had to ask my questions at least 2 or 3 times to clarify.  She gave me a hug at the end and said she was very glad to meet me.  I can only hope for the best for her…

Perfect ending to the day: surprise knock on the front door from our upstairs neighbor (she works at the clinic) with a plateful of grilled meat, corn tortillas, and pico de gallo.  Buen provecho!