Day 6: Clinic Day

Today, the groups split again and Carli, Gopi, Maggie and I headed to the CCH Clinic. This is the outpatient clinic where patients can come if they have a referral from their doctor. The clinic is nice and has many treatment tables with lots of different supplies and some equipment. Not too bad for Haiti.

Today, we saw several patients with a variety if diagnoses, but the main underlying theme seemed to be lots and lots of edema! The students had a lot of time to practice some hands on skills with some retrograde massage. We saw two people who had had a stroke several months ago. We worked with them on restoring motion to their affected side and gait training. One gentleman wasn't using his cane appropriately and we were able to teach him how to walk more safely with it. The students did fabulously today and are working more independently with more confidence. 

After our break for lunch, all of us came back to the clinic. Maggie and Kathryn were able to make a splint for the young boy we saw yesterday who was missing his radial shaft. 

An American pediatric orthopedic surgeon is going to be coming in April so we told them to put this boy on the list for a consult for possible surgery for a rod placement . 

And some more retrograde massage for some more broken wrists and hands!

When the clinic was a little dead, I did some cleaning and organizing of their therapy closet. It is filthy and there are so many supplies, splints, and braces that they don't ever use or even know how to use. It's kinda sad. Gopi was quizzing Claudy our rehab tech on his anatomy. He's so smart and wants to eventually become a PT!

After clinic, we went over to the Sisters of Charity house. This is a sort of respite house run by nuns. The organization itself was originally founded by Mother Teresa. There are beds and beds full of babies, infants, and toddlers that they are taking care of. These children are not orphans as their parents sometimes come to visit. They are just unable to care for them. It's so sad, but not as bad as the Romanian orphanages. These children will interact with you and make eye contact. They are well cared for by the nuns who care very deeply for them. You are unable to take pictures inside, but their faces will forever be burned into my memory. Some of these children are so malnourished they are wasting away. The sisters are trying their best to nurse them back to health. It is just so sad. We are nearing the end of our journey. It has been such a great trip, I will be sad to leave :(