Blog From Eric Walker Jr. August Class 2013. August 1, 2013 I left Baltimore 7:00am 7/31/13 and arrived in Fort Lauderdale 9:45am. I left Fort Lauderdale 5:40pm and got to Lima Peru around 11pm, but picked up an hour from the time difference. It was the first time I’d ever gone through customs and I was confused but figured out pretty quickly to nod, grin, and pass the passport. Once I got through customs, I grabbed my bags and went to the main center in the airport. My plan was to call Dr. Rolling, just like we talked about before I left Baltimore, and book the first flight to Iquitos that night. It didn’t work out that way but oh well. I never told T-Mobile I was going to Peru so my phone was reduced to a contact book. I could look at contacts but calling, texting, emails, and accessing the internet in general became impossible. On top of that I had 8% battery and the only outlet I saw was being used and had a line to it. Plan 1 failed. I had to work fast. Plan 2 became borrow some ones cell phone and call Dr. Rolling before my phone died. I asked three people before I realized no one was giving their phone to some random black guy who couldn’t explain why he needed it. Plan 2 failed. Plan 3 was ask the information desk for help. Her English was slightly better than my Spanish, but I don’t speak Spanish at all. I could tell she wanted me to make a call on a pay phone. The pay phones took soles, the instructions were in Spanish and most of the phones didn’t work anyway. Plan 3 failed. Planed 4 was getting to Iquitos and figuring out how to link up with Dr. Rolling from there. The lady at the information desk told me all the flights were booked and she had no clue when they would open. Plan 4 failed. Damn. By now my phone had 3% battery and I was running out of options. I felt like I failed in Peru before the program had even started. I’m not the panicking type and I didn’t want to give up but I had no clue what my next move would be. I started pacing back and forth trying to figure something out. All I could think of was Kevin Hart and the joke in “Let me explain,” when he calls his friend to lie to his wife. “B*tch has got the drop on us, my backs against the wall, this is not a test, help, me . . .” In between my laughs I was sending silent prayers to God for help out of my situation too because I didn’t know what else to do. Out of nowhere help came in the form of a random lady. She came up to me and said I looked lost, in English, and wanted to help. I explained what was going on and she got to work. She took me to a working payphone, showed me how to use it, and got me in touch with Dr. Rolling. Help from random lady, success! Dr. Rolling said there was another part to the airport with stores and a Starbucks I could wait at. There was. He told me I would have to talk to Peruvian airlines or Star Peru around 4am to get a flight there and seats would be open even though the people at the information desk said they wouldn’t. They did. He said more students from the program were on their way to Lima and would arrive in a few hours. They did. He said there was an internet lounge with couches, computers, and free Wi-Fi. There wasn’t, but oh well. When I and the other interns met up they were cool and we talked the hours away till we could book our flights to Iquitos. By the time we got to we got to Iquitos it was 10:00am 8/1/13. We were all drained when the Taxi driver took us to the Hotel. I wanted to rest but we couldn’t because we were already late for our first rounds at the hospital. We had to throw on our scrubs, no shower, and go straight to the Hospital Iquitos. Introductions were short because we had a lecture about the hospitals history to hear from one of the surgeons. By the time the day was over we had another lecture from the chief surgeon at the hospital about sutures, a microbiology lecture from Dr. Rolling, and a spinning class at the gym. I didn’t get to sleep until about 2:00am 8/2/13. It was easily the longest day of my life. August 2, 2013 Days seem a lot longer in Peru. Breakfast started at 7am and we had to get to the Hospital by 8am. We had three translators that showed us how to work the taxies, exchange money, and show us where to get food. People constantly tried to get over on us because we were foreigners and couldn’t understand the language well but the translators looked out for us. They also explained what the doctors were saying in the lectures and patient rounds. I took notes as doctors described what they looked for before removing an inflamed gallbladder, or how symptoms could be used to find out the cause of infection. After patient rounds we were given a lecture about the snakes we may find while hiking in the jungle. The instructor was a doctor at the hospital and a professor at a local college. He spoke only Spanish but was extremely animated so I could catch on to what he was saying even without the translators. I learned how to tell the difference between poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes and if they were attacking or retreating. He showed very graphic pictures and explained the how different venoms may have different effects in the body. After the snake lecture we went to the operating room. I watched a C section, appendix removal, and gallbladder removal step by step. Some students acted as aids for the doctors but there was only so much space to help. I quickly got over being a little squeamish as I watched doctors cut through the abdomen layer by layer and wipe away endless blood. I can still smell the burning flesh and see the bloody towels used to keep the area clean for the surgeon’s cuts. Once the surgeries were finished we had a lecture from the head Anesthesiologist at the hospital. Dr. Rolling made it a point to make sure we knew we were learning from the people who “really did this stuff” and knew what they were talking about. The lecture was long and complicated. Until that lecture I wouldn’t have ever guessed so much chemistry and math went into anesthesiology. We took a short break for food and rest, and then returned to the hospital for a shift in the ER. When we got there I saw crowds of crowds of people demanding service. There was a policeman at the door sending people back who weren’t sick or injured enough to be seen. It was hot in the Emergency suit and the doctors were visually frustrated by how busy it was that night. People who couldn’t pay for their own treatment or have some type of insurance were cleaned up but not treated or just sent away despite their injuries. We did patient rounds with the doctors and saw bed after bed of ailing patients. The doctors showed us how to check patients with respiratory problems for fluid in their lungs. They also showed us what an abnormal heart beat and blood pressure looked like on an x-ray and sounded like through a stethoscope by letting us examine the patients. Driving in Iquitos is primarily motorcycle and three wheel wagon. Everyone dips and dives in and out of the lanes like mad men, so I wasn’t surprised about how man accidents we saw that night. Men and women flooded in with open gashes over their knees, faces, and arms. Hyste
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 23:21:26 +0000
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