Receiving the DCP
Down here in the Dominican Republic
Where nothing seems the same
Where nothing’s fixed or finished
No job has a time frame
We bring extensive medical skills
And do the best we can
To make Dominicans feel better
To help our fellow man
But something happened this time
And it began with our tongues
The wheels came off our yellow bus
When the dinner bell was rung
The smell of rice and beans did not
Smell very good at all
Our food did not go down too well
And stayed there in a ball
You found an old thermometer
And put it under your tongue
Then realized it’s a rectal
Your problems have begun
You get to feeling queasy
Like something’s not quite right
You know you’re getting sicker
Your head starts feeling light
You go into the bathroom
Where paper is not flushed
You kneel before the porcelain throne
And heave until your bushed
You feel a little better
And go back to your bed
And struggle to the top bunk
And wish that you were dead
As soon as you are comfortable
The cycle starts anew
You think you need a doctor
Then realize that it’s you!
You feel a little sweaty
And Susan hears you moan
It is comforting to know
You will not die alone
It’s like someone took a hammer
And beat you on the brain
Then took out all your fluids
And poured them down the drain
The only parts that do not hurt
Are eyebrows, teeth, and hair
The rest of you needs TLC
No matter who or where
They give you lots of medicines
To make your gut calm down
But no more trips for ice cream
No more trips to town
Cipro and Immodium
To mention just a few
Phenergen and Zofran
Will make you feel like new
You cannot go to work that day
Or ever will you think
At least your taking nourishment
Not barfing in a sink
And now you’re almost well again
You’ve now regained your pep
You’ve now received the DCP
The Dominican Colonoscopy Prep
Expertly written by Steve Trembly “The Funny Farmer”
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Trip Journal 2009
Monte Plata, DR – MMI Project 2009
Saturday Jan-24th – It seemed like Sheri was going until the last minute since she had been involved all along. Several people didn't realize until we got to Dallas that she wasn’t going.
I didn't have everyone’s' itineraries so I had a hard time keeping up with everyone. Everyone used
Sheri to keep us updated as we traveled. Sheri told me about J not being able to make a connection in Atlanta. She was the only one who chose to fly through Atlanta. She missed the Miami connection with all of us so is scheduled to arrive at 11:30pm, instead of 9pm with us. Everyone will wait for her to arrive, it means 34 people mulling around to keep track of and Mandie is not bring Edwin to the airport since it is so late. She will come tomorrow afternoon.
L didn’t see S or T since his connection in Chicago was close, but all made it. S’s connection in Miami was close also, lots of stress for me.
I still don’t know if J is coming later this week, next week or at all. We have been planning up until yesterday for 4 PCP’s with the clinic and ordered medications for that. I may change L to clinic as the 4th provider. We’ll see. I have spent the last 2 flights playing with job descriptions/roles of the participants.
Sunday – Jan. 25, 2009
Well we didn’t wait for J but came into Monte Plata by the yellow bus “Guagua Amarillo”. They have constructed a new road to Samana that makes the travel to Monte Plata much easier. Mandie still didn’t come; probably because they didn’t tell her that Noel was staying for J, but it does allow her to stay and go to her church one more time…hopefully (Tuesday is the day for the visa appointment at the Consulate).
The staff is Alex, Milton, Santiago and Richard at the hospital. In the clinic will be William, Delores, Francia, and Abigail.
Up early this AM (5:45 DR time; 3:45 Wichita time) to be surprised by a hot shower. Don’t know how it works, but I was thankful. Slept well. Francia had put sheets on all the beds and set up mosquito nets for the whole camp before we arrived.
PM – Mandie called to say that Edwin had been sick through the night with a cold, runny nose and fever. She was concerned about bringing him to the camp. Colds and illness run through camps and groups like wildfire. I agreed reluctantly so she probably won’t come until Tues. pm at the earliest. I’m trying not to think about it much.
After lunch today, I had orientation. Apparently it went well, since Teo asked if I would fly down to give orientation to all groups in the DR. Don’t think I can swing that.
Then I gave assignments to jobs and we opened tubs and sorted supplies. Within an hour we were ready to go to the hospital and set up. The medical team was having their orientation with Frida.
We spent 2 ½ hours setting up and getting ready. It involved the usual time of standing around for sometime as the Dominicans haggled with the hospital administration about rooms, places and spaces for us to use. It has threatened to rain all day and it did last night, so it was very muggy.
Monday – Jan. 26, 2009
The first day is always exciting as people get up in anticipation of the unknown. Up early this AM, I guess the warm shower was a fluke yesterday. The water is pumped to a collecting reservoir on the roof. If it is not all used it is heated during the day. If all the water is used up only cold water is left.
You could tell the new people were a little anxious today at breakfast, but that eased as we got there and began. Surgery did well and was up and ready for our 1st case at 10:30. The clinic was slowed by the new requirement for demographics that were required this year. We now ask for cell numbers to be able to check on “no shows” and to call for post op phone visits. I was amazed how few patients didn’t have a cell phone…2 or 3 out of the 44. We finished early as did the medical clinic but that’s OK since it is better to start slow and develop good processes. Also today was Duarte Day which is kind of like President’s day in the US. We still saw 44 and did 13 procedures. We were able to get home early and regroup before dinner.
The group seems to be gelling and enjoys each other’s company. Everyone seems to have had a great day, both clinic and surgery. Not too busy, but busy enough to assist in setting up processes that will last for the whole project. We don’t have many late nighters as everyone has been turning in by 9, but not too many early morning people either.
Tuesday, January 27th
I slept fitfully but awoke refreshed. I don’t seem to have the stuffy nose that I have in the US, maybe allergens at home. Today is the 1st full day with people knowing what to do. Delores has asked that we appoint a gatekeeper. She is the DIC (Dominican in Charge) at the clinic but speaks no English.
We don’t seem to have any real problem people this year. All seem to get along and are flexible. We awoke to gentle rain this AM. I never heard it with earplugs in place. It makes me appreciate how much having the surgery in the same town as the camp. Most projects drive 30 – 45 minutes to OR, like the clinic does.
Noon – I heard from Mandie that they denied her application for Edwin for a travel visa to the US. She called around 9:30, so it didn’t take long to be told no. She and Edwin are coming to Monte Plata this afternoon to stay with me to visit. I don’t understand.
Today has gone faster in the clinic with the change in obtaining demographics. I saw 28 this am and scheduled a bunch of them. The local gynecologist told us at 9:30 that he has a lady in labor and if she doesn’t deliver in 2 hours he will need to do a c-section on her. That obviously kills our schedule. S’s two hysterectomies today have taken about 2 hours each. The baby boy was delivered vaginally and the schedule was saved. Since I knew a C-section was possible I quit adding new cases. So now the day may be short.
Alex told me at 1 that the local gynecologist has a c-section and hysterectomy for him in the morning. I didn’t budget for that. It will drastically change our schedule.
Mandie, Edwin and Betty arrived after dinner along with Teo, Frida and Teo’s dad. Teo was giving a presentation on MMI but had laryngitis. Frida was happy to answer questions for him.
Edwin’s temp had come back up on the trip so he didn’t feel good and was fussy. Our room got pretty small when they unloaded. Mandie still takes a hernia bag (huge suitcase) wherever she goes & Edwin’s stuff doesn’t help. I had forgotten about sleeping with a light on and music all night plus a slopey bed and intermittent coughs from a little one.
This has been a different group in that everyone, except the Dominican’s turn in at 9 but few wake early. D & G are the only ones up when I get up at 5. It allows a little more quiet time.
L began to have vomiting and diarrhea yesterday. He took Cipro/Immodium but still had trouble through the night so he won’t go out of camp to clinic today. He has really shined as a doc and his Spanish has been good. He has done well with the flex from surgery to clinic.
Friday pm
Well the reason for the gap in the days journal is that there is a gap in my presence. Thursday was lost. Wednesday was a good day and we worked hard in surgery and clinic. L was feeling better by evening but just ate soup.
The evening activity was a walk into town for phone call and ice cream. The phone stores were closed so we settled for ice cream. Edwin got to ride the motorcycle and pony at the ice cream store. Much to mom’s chagrin since before this no one had put pesos in the rides for him before. All to bed about 9:30ish. At midnight it hit. It was a terrible epidemic of GI symptoms. I got to be 1st with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea 3 times by 3 AM. The team was quick to mobilize and an IV was placed. Over the next 2 days only 5 were spared. Largely due to quick responses it didn’t seem to last too long. Most were better within 24 to 36 hours. The worse thing that can happen to a group of clinicians is for something like this that can’t be rationally or logically explained. It wasn’t the food or the location but probably a virus that we passed around among ourselves.
In any regards, Thursday at the hospital only allowed 1 surgery with the “left over” participants. Everything was postponed and rescheduled.
After being AWOL (asleep without leave) I woke on Friday AM feeling weak but OK. Both medical clinic and surgery still had people down but by evening most all were either well or on the mend.
Surgery was too busy for us to be able to do so we postponed some until Tuesday and Wednesday so the schedule is finalized. The downside is that it still will require Saturday for partial schedule.
Saturday
We only had 2 new cases of the GI bug, two of our anesthesia people. One stayed behind at the camp and the other one worked so we could run 2 rooms by overlapping cases. We didn’t want either anesthesia to be out on a limb with no back up. Today also 5 left at 4:15 AM for the airport and to return home. The sharing and fellowship time was good last night. Most of the medical team either came to help or walked by today. The schedule went by fairly fast.
Some of the team is going to the river for the afternoon. Some will walk to the orphanage to see the kids and facilities.
Into the first case the generator stopped today so we lost all power. We had to wait for someone to get on his moped and go to the house where the key to the generator shed is kept. Once he returned with the key they got in and restarted the generator. No generator means no lights except for the windows in the OR but more importantly no electrical cautery. The anesthesia monitors and machines operate on battery backup.
Yesterday, while doing a gall bladder, the generator sputtered and died. Sure enough it ran out of gas. Same guy, same moped to the gas station to buy diesel and returned to fire it up. No problem. When the generator stops it also stops autoclave/sterilizer so new instruments can’t be run so downstream problems then occur.
PM – we were able to finish the schedule today without too many problems. I have never had to deal with this variable a schedule of people available to work so it changed almost daily.
I still don’t feel great but good enough to work. No n/v or d but still anorexic. Should be good for the diet. The evening was restful and quiet with a lot of time to visit.
Tuesday –
Sunday was a good day with most of us continuing to get better. The “schedule” seems to change more than stay the same. Instead of our own worship in the morning and Dominican Church in the evening. We found out they do have church in the morning so we walked to church at 9 AM for a 2 hour service filled with familiar tunes. Instead of a leisurely walk in the country and visit to the orphanage, Alex suggested a “road trip” to Samana. The “50” minute bus ride took 2 hours but took us through rainforest and fields of rice to the northern coast.
For $12 US we were able to take a boat to an island that had a hotel on one end and a public beach on the other. After an hour, we were back on the bus and headed home not to arrive until almost 8 PM. So no worship or orphanage. I think all enjoyed it however.
Monday we were at full strength and had a good day at work. Saw a few new consults but were running out of spaces. Even at that we still finished early. It was nice to walk home and be able to rest for a while. Pastor Prenza came to talk about the camp, their orphanage and Kids Alive. It was very enjoyable. Several of the group have been supporting kids and several others are going to support a child that stays at the orphanage. It represents a unique opportunity to be able to see and know who is helping the children.
Saturday we had to put cases on from those that we postponed from Thursday. They were only able to do one case on Thursday before more had gotten sick. Friday we had enough to do one room so more cases were postponed. That almost completed the schedule for the next week. It made for a very disjointed schedule with me out for a day and ½. I have never seen this kind of sickness.
Tuesday the schedule was very full until we got there and found that 4 of 10 majors didn’t show up or were cancelled. So we finished around 3 with all the cases. Hard to figure why. Maybe God thought we needed more recoup time after so many were ill. There were about 25 that ultimately got the problem, with 20 getting IV’s and meds. The early intervention probably shortened the course of the illness but we were running three teams…medical, surgery and infirmary complete with specialists in all (IV Ninja Nurses was a new special area.)
Tuesday night was enjoyable and slow. Steve presented the year’s official poem entitled DCP. DCP stands for the “Dominican Colonoscopy Prep.” Those of us old enough to have had a C-Scope can understand immediately the implications of the illness. Edwin has had a good time with all the activity but hasn’t seemed to be a bother to anyone.
Wednesday
The day starts early as usual with breakfast. I was able to finish G’s paperwork (she was getting credit for her work here.) Today the clinic stays at the school to work with the kids and parents. Our schedule was interrupted by the local GYN adding a tubal and C-section that canceled and was replaced with a breast biopsy.
I started with hernia surgery on a 6 month old girl. We found a large hernia. After surgery the baby’s father told me I operated on a sibling 2 years ago and on him 5 years ago. They were very appreciative, that feels good.
The day went very fast with the surgery and then the breakdown and loading time. We were done by 2:30 and back to camp. It gave us all a chance to take the yellow bus without packing the clinic to the orphanage. This group has been a little different in that we have all done things together more than most prior groups. Don’t seem to have those who separate off. The orphanage is still growing and improving.
After dinner we presented our gifts then had our sharing time. Not much tearful stuff, but genuine appreciation for each other.
Thursday
We were up for breakfast at 7 AM, then to break camp and travel to Santo Domingo for market. A little different schedule, then to resort to check in for lunch. The ride was short with the new highway and we barely go to the marked and Sobeida’s dad who owns a cab arrived for Mandie, Edwin and I. Then we went to get her car along with a few other things. We then went to buy a new tire, got gas, bought two birthday cakes and visited Claudina’s aunt for a package and picked up a package for Deyra. Then to the resort a short time before the team arrived. The weather at the resort was coolish and intermittent sun. We had our final dinner together in a garden room setting and had the birthday cake for A.
There is so much medical and surgical equipment, beds, large cook stove and kitchen supplies that the Dominican staff had to go to Dajabon twice to transport all of it there. Once on Thursday and another trip Friday then to take the next team on Sunday, it is going to be a long weekend for them.
Saturday
Friday Mandie, Edwin, P, M and I stayed at the resort. Edwin was still not feeling better with his cough. We had a nice slow day to refresh and revive. A couple of meals later we were all standing around visiting and enjoying each others company.
Not much sleep with Edwin coughing 4-5 times every 5-10 minutes. Finally got to sleep from 3-4 and got up to finish packing for the airport. Final ride in the “Guagua Amarillo”
Finally can go off duty with no more people to manage, statistics to keep or people to care for until next year. Read “Outlier’s” by Malcolm Gladwell from Miami to DFW. Back home before you know it.
Saturday Jan-24th – It seemed like Sheri was going until the last minute since she had been involved all along. Several people didn't realize until we got to Dallas that she wasn’t going.
I didn't have everyone’s' itineraries so I had a hard time keeping up with everyone. Everyone used
Sheri to keep us updated as we traveled. Sheri told me about J not being able to make a connection in Atlanta. She was the only one who chose to fly through Atlanta. She missed the Miami connection with all of us so is scheduled to arrive at 11:30pm, instead of 9pm with us. Everyone will wait for her to arrive, it means 34 people mulling around to keep track of and Mandie is not bring Edwin to the airport since it is so late. She will come tomorrow afternoon.
L didn’t see S or T since his connection in Chicago was close, but all made it. S’s connection in Miami was close also, lots of stress for me.
I still don’t know if J is coming later this week, next week or at all. We have been planning up until yesterday for 4 PCP’s with the clinic and ordered medications for that. I may change L to clinic as the 4th provider. We’ll see. I have spent the last 2 flights playing with job descriptions/roles of the participants.
Sunday – Jan. 25, 2009
Well we didn’t wait for J but came into Monte Plata by the yellow bus “Guagua Amarillo”. They have constructed a new road to Samana that makes the travel to Monte Plata much easier. Mandie still didn’t come; probably because they didn’t tell her that Noel was staying for J, but it does allow her to stay and go to her church one more time…hopefully (Tuesday is the day for the visa appointment at the Consulate).
The staff is Alex, Milton, Santiago and Richard at the hospital. In the clinic will be William, Delores, Francia, and Abigail.
Up early this AM (5:45 DR time; 3:45 Wichita time) to be surprised by a hot shower. Don’t know how it works, but I was thankful. Slept well. Francia had put sheets on all the beds and set up mosquito nets for the whole camp before we arrived.
PM – Mandie called to say that Edwin had been sick through the night with a cold, runny nose and fever. She was concerned about bringing him to the camp. Colds and illness run through camps and groups like wildfire. I agreed reluctantly so she probably won’t come until Tues. pm at the earliest. I’m trying not to think about it much.
After lunch today, I had orientation. Apparently it went well, since Teo asked if I would fly down to give orientation to all groups in the DR. Don’t think I can swing that.
Then I gave assignments to jobs and we opened tubs and sorted supplies. Within an hour we were ready to go to the hospital and set up. The medical team was having their orientation with Frida.
We spent 2 ½ hours setting up and getting ready. It involved the usual time of standing around for sometime as the Dominicans haggled with the hospital administration about rooms, places and spaces for us to use. It has threatened to rain all day and it did last night, so it was very muggy.
Monday – Jan. 26, 2009
The first day is always exciting as people get up in anticipation of the unknown. Up early this AM, I guess the warm shower was a fluke yesterday. The water is pumped to a collecting reservoir on the roof. If it is not all used it is heated during the day. If all the water is used up only cold water is left.
You could tell the new people were a little anxious today at breakfast, but that eased as we got there and began. Surgery did well and was up and ready for our 1st case at 10:30. The clinic was slowed by the new requirement for demographics that were required this year. We now ask for cell numbers to be able to check on “no shows” and to call for post op phone visits. I was amazed how few patients didn’t have a cell phone…2 or 3 out of the 44. We finished early as did the medical clinic but that’s OK since it is better to start slow and develop good processes. Also today was Duarte Day which is kind of like President’s day in the US. We still saw 44 and did 13 procedures. We were able to get home early and regroup before dinner.
The group seems to be gelling and enjoys each other’s company. Everyone seems to have had a great day, both clinic and surgery. Not too busy, but busy enough to assist in setting up processes that will last for the whole project. We don’t have many late nighters as everyone has been turning in by 9, but not too many early morning people either.
Tuesday, January 27th
I slept fitfully but awoke refreshed. I don’t seem to have the stuffy nose that I have in the US, maybe allergens at home. Today is the 1st full day with people knowing what to do. Delores has asked that we appoint a gatekeeper. She is the DIC (Dominican in Charge) at the clinic but speaks no English.
We don’t seem to have any real problem people this year. All seem to get along and are flexible. We awoke to gentle rain this AM. I never heard it with earplugs in place. It makes me appreciate how much having the surgery in the same town as the camp. Most projects drive 30 – 45 minutes to OR, like the clinic does.
Noon – I heard from Mandie that they denied her application for Edwin for a travel visa to the US. She called around 9:30, so it didn’t take long to be told no. She and Edwin are coming to Monte Plata this afternoon to stay with me to visit. I don’t understand.
Today has gone faster in the clinic with the change in obtaining demographics. I saw 28 this am and scheduled a bunch of them. The local gynecologist told us at 9:30 that he has a lady in labor and if she doesn’t deliver in 2 hours he will need to do a c-section on her. That obviously kills our schedule. S’s two hysterectomies today have taken about 2 hours each. The baby boy was delivered vaginally and the schedule was saved. Since I knew a C-section was possible I quit adding new cases. So now the day may be short.
Alex told me at 1 that the local gynecologist has a c-section and hysterectomy for him in the morning. I didn’t budget for that. It will drastically change our schedule.
Mandie, Edwin and Betty arrived after dinner along with Teo, Frida and Teo’s dad. Teo was giving a presentation on MMI but had laryngitis. Frida was happy to answer questions for him.
Edwin’s temp had come back up on the trip so he didn’t feel good and was fussy. Our room got pretty small when they unloaded. Mandie still takes a hernia bag (huge suitcase) wherever she goes & Edwin’s stuff doesn’t help. I had forgotten about sleeping with a light on and music all night plus a slopey bed and intermittent coughs from a little one.
This has been a different group in that everyone, except the Dominican’s turn in at 9 but few wake early. D & G are the only ones up when I get up at 5. It allows a little more quiet time.
L began to have vomiting and diarrhea yesterday. He took Cipro/Immodium but still had trouble through the night so he won’t go out of camp to clinic today. He has really shined as a doc and his Spanish has been good. He has done well with the flex from surgery to clinic.
Friday pm
Well the reason for the gap in the days journal is that there is a gap in my presence. Thursday was lost. Wednesday was a good day and we worked hard in surgery and clinic. L was feeling better by evening but just ate soup.
The evening activity was a walk into town for phone call and ice cream. The phone stores were closed so we settled for ice cream. Edwin got to ride the motorcycle and pony at the ice cream store. Much to mom’s chagrin since before this no one had put pesos in the rides for him before. All to bed about 9:30ish. At midnight it hit. It was a terrible epidemic of GI symptoms. I got to be 1st with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea 3 times by 3 AM. The team was quick to mobilize and an IV was placed. Over the next 2 days only 5 were spared. Largely due to quick responses it didn’t seem to last too long. Most were better within 24 to 36 hours. The worse thing that can happen to a group of clinicians is for something like this that can’t be rationally or logically explained. It wasn’t the food or the location but probably a virus that we passed around among ourselves.
In any regards, Thursday at the hospital only allowed 1 surgery with the “left over” participants. Everything was postponed and rescheduled.
After being AWOL (asleep without leave) I woke on Friday AM feeling weak but OK. Both medical clinic and surgery still had people down but by evening most all were either well or on the mend.
Surgery was too busy for us to be able to do so we postponed some until Tuesday and Wednesday so the schedule is finalized. The downside is that it still will require Saturday for partial schedule.
Saturday
We only had 2 new cases of the GI bug, two of our anesthesia people. One stayed behind at the camp and the other one worked so we could run 2 rooms by overlapping cases. We didn’t want either anesthesia to be out on a limb with no back up. Today also 5 left at 4:15 AM for the airport and to return home. The sharing and fellowship time was good last night. Most of the medical team either came to help or walked by today. The schedule went by fairly fast.
Some of the team is going to the river for the afternoon. Some will walk to the orphanage to see the kids and facilities.
Into the first case the generator stopped today so we lost all power. We had to wait for someone to get on his moped and go to the house where the key to the generator shed is kept. Once he returned with the key they got in and restarted the generator. No generator means no lights except for the windows in the OR but more importantly no electrical cautery. The anesthesia monitors and machines operate on battery backup.
Yesterday, while doing a gall bladder, the generator sputtered and died. Sure enough it ran out of gas. Same guy, same moped to the gas station to buy diesel and returned to fire it up. No problem. When the generator stops it also stops autoclave/sterilizer so new instruments can’t be run so downstream problems then occur.
PM – we were able to finish the schedule today without too many problems. I have never had to deal with this variable a schedule of people available to work so it changed almost daily.
I still don’t feel great but good enough to work. No n/v or d but still anorexic. Should be good for the diet. The evening was restful and quiet with a lot of time to visit.
Tuesday –
Sunday was a good day with most of us continuing to get better. The “schedule” seems to change more than stay the same. Instead of our own worship in the morning and Dominican Church in the evening. We found out they do have church in the morning so we walked to church at 9 AM for a 2 hour service filled with familiar tunes. Instead of a leisurely walk in the country and visit to the orphanage, Alex suggested a “road trip” to Samana. The “50” minute bus ride took 2 hours but took us through rainforest and fields of rice to the northern coast.
For $12 US we were able to take a boat to an island that had a hotel on one end and a public beach on the other. After an hour, we were back on the bus and headed home not to arrive until almost 8 PM. So no worship or orphanage. I think all enjoyed it however.
Monday we were at full strength and had a good day at work. Saw a few new consults but were running out of spaces. Even at that we still finished early. It was nice to walk home and be able to rest for a while. Pastor Prenza came to talk about the camp, their orphanage and Kids Alive. It was very enjoyable. Several of the group have been supporting kids and several others are going to support a child that stays at the orphanage. It represents a unique opportunity to be able to see and know who is helping the children.
Saturday we had to put cases on from those that we postponed from Thursday. They were only able to do one case on Thursday before more had gotten sick. Friday we had enough to do one room so more cases were postponed. That almost completed the schedule for the next week. It made for a very disjointed schedule with me out for a day and ½. I have never seen this kind of sickness.
Tuesday the schedule was very full until we got there and found that 4 of 10 majors didn’t show up or were cancelled. So we finished around 3 with all the cases. Hard to figure why. Maybe God thought we needed more recoup time after so many were ill. There were about 25 that ultimately got the problem, with 20 getting IV’s and meds. The early intervention probably shortened the course of the illness but we were running three teams…medical, surgery and infirmary complete with specialists in all (IV Ninja Nurses was a new special area.)
Tuesday night was enjoyable and slow. Steve presented the year’s official poem entitled DCP. DCP stands for the “Dominican Colonoscopy Prep.” Those of us old enough to have had a C-Scope can understand immediately the implications of the illness. Edwin has had a good time with all the activity but hasn’t seemed to be a bother to anyone.
Wednesday
The day starts early as usual with breakfast. I was able to finish G’s paperwork (she was getting credit for her work here.) Today the clinic stays at the school to work with the kids and parents. Our schedule was interrupted by the local GYN adding a tubal and C-section that canceled and was replaced with a breast biopsy.
I started with hernia surgery on a 6 month old girl. We found a large hernia. After surgery the baby’s father told me I operated on a sibling 2 years ago and on him 5 years ago. They were very appreciative, that feels good.
The day went very fast with the surgery and then the breakdown and loading time. We were done by 2:30 and back to camp. It gave us all a chance to take the yellow bus without packing the clinic to the orphanage. This group has been a little different in that we have all done things together more than most prior groups. Don’t seem to have those who separate off. The orphanage is still growing and improving.
After dinner we presented our gifts then had our sharing time. Not much tearful stuff, but genuine appreciation for each other.
Thursday
We were up for breakfast at 7 AM, then to break camp and travel to Santo Domingo for market. A little different schedule, then to resort to check in for lunch. The ride was short with the new highway and we barely go to the marked and Sobeida’s dad who owns a cab arrived for Mandie, Edwin and I. Then we went to get her car along with a few other things. We then went to buy a new tire, got gas, bought two birthday cakes and visited Claudina’s aunt for a package and picked up a package for Deyra. Then to the resort a short time before the team arrived. The weather at the resort was coolish and intermittent sun. We had our final dinner together in a garden room setting and had the birthday cake for A.
There is so much medical and surgical equipment, beds, large cook stove and kitchen supplies that the Dominican staff had to go to Dajabon twice to transport all of it there. Once on Thursday and another trip Friday then to take the next team on Sunday, it is going to be a long weekend for them.
Saturday
Friday Mandie, Edwin, P, M and I stayed at the resort. Edwin was still not feeling better with his cough. We had a nice slow day to refresh and revive. A couple of meals later we were all standing around visiting and enjoying each others company.
Not much sleep with Edwin coughing 4-5 times every 5-10 minutes. Finally got to sleep from 3-4 and got up to finish packing for the airport. Final ride in the “Guagua Amarillo”
Finally can go off duty with no more people to manage, statistics to keep or people to care for until next year. Read “Outlier’s” by Malcolm Gladwell from Miami to DFW. Back home before you know it.
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