Day 31

Day 31

June 24, 2011

Today went by surprisingly fast. Sometimes just days observing in the clinic can go by painfully slow (especially when there are no patients), but toady in the morning I felt like there was a continuous flow of people and visitors coming in which was really nice. One lady in particular stood out to me. She was an older woman. Six months ago she was in a motor cycle accident that caused her to break her shin bone. It was still bothering her after six months of being splinted up so she came in for an evaluation. After another x-ray it was found that her bones have not yet mended themselves together again. After 6 months this is something that should have been healed. The first thing I noticed was that she did not have any crutches, so by constantly putting weight on a broken bone like this how would it even be possible for it to recover completely? When I asked why she didn’t have crutches it is because it is too expensive, she wouldn’t know how to use them to begin with, and crutches are something that are not very prevalent in India. Another reason for this improper healing is diet and it could have been set wrong from the the first splint she got. Now for this older women even to have a chance at a simi-full recovery she will have to go to a specialist (if she can afford it), and they will have to go in and break it all over again. I know that so many cases occur  where someone had to have their bones rebroken, but if you could have seen the condition of this woman I think you would agree that her frail body would be unable to handle this sort of strain again.

            Yesterday was a weird day of both hello’s and goodbyes. We have three new interns. Two more are form the UK and will be going about 12 hours south tomorrow to work in the AIDS/HIV clinic. They are also in medicine so its always nice to talk to people with similar interests. I got to know the other intern from CO a little bit more also. He just finished his first year of Med school so it was interesting to hear about how my future could look. So much studying, but very rewarding in the end. Now for the goodbye… my dear friend who has been with me though out this entire process has been such a strong woman admit her pain. She got a rash a couple of weeks ago which turned into shingles. Shingles is a very painful infection that is a mature spin off of the chicken pox. With a week left, there was no point in trying to fight the pain with getting sleepless nights and a rundown immune system. For these reasons it was the best decision for her to book a plane ticket home for this Monday. Honestly, I first thought she was joking…but I was wrong. Of course I will be sad that she is going to be leaving, but I am also glad to hear how the Lord is teaching her to let go and trust in him. After spending a month or so in the hospital after her prior mission trip, I am also glad to know that she is learning to know her limits when it comes to health. She will be truly missed her on base not just by me, but by so many people who have come to know her as a part of our family. I hope that one day we will all be able to reunite again. I am going to miss everyone here so much. Luckily though I don’t have to say bye until Monday! Until then we are going to have one amazing weekend at the Park Hotel here in Hyderabad were we will get to have a nice shower, beds, AC, workout room, nice food, and even a pool!! Ahhh I am soo excited… I’m feeling a bit spoiled of course, but I do feel blessed to have this opportunity and to spend it with such an amazing group of people.