Las Gringas que Curan y Ponen Inyecciones

Thursday we woke up to the sweet vision of my roomie, Casey, on the tele! 

She is in charge of a project we're doing at the schools in the community with Hogar de Cristo. She is making the rounds with the press this week-- she got interviewed by the TV station, the newspaper, and a radio station! She's famous here. So glamorous. 


The newspaper article title was the best-- "Las Gringas que Curan and Ponen Inyecciones" which means the white girls that cure and give injections. The white girl part they got right but we don't in any way cure or give shots to anyone. Quality journalism right here. 


What we're actually doing is a project on anemia in schoolchildren in the rural communities. Our nursing students do assessments on all the kids and check their hemoglobin. We're going to try a few interventions- soy milk, anti-parasites, and both to see what is most effective. Anemia (and malnutrition in general) is a huge problem with the kids so hopefully we find an intervention that can help. 

 

Here's another pic from the TV of a student, Sammy, working with a little boy

After the exciting morning, we headed off to the pediatric hospital. I love going to the pediatric hospital. It's most similar to where I work in the US so I feel more at home. We first visited the PICU. The parents only have a few visiting hours per day and at the time we were there parents weren't allowed in. It was so fun to give the little ones some love while they were all alone. 

 Isn't this pic so cute? I took it of my student, Tad, and a sweet babe.

 This boy was so well-behaved! He had one piece of paper and some colored pencils and was just coloring quietly. He loved it when we came by though. 

Another sweet patient I met...

This is my friend Michael. He is so awesome! He has cystic fibrosis and this is his 20th hospitalization of his life. I used to care for patients with cystic fibrosis at Primary Children's. It was so interesting to talk to someone with the same disease in Ecuador. Much of the care was similar to the United States-- chest physiotherapy, IV antibiotics, inhalers, etc. However, his hospitalizations are a month-long and in the US ours are only 10-14 days. I can't imagine how hard it would be for him and his mother to be in the hospital for a whole month! I once went to an education day with the head Cystic Fibrosis pulmonologist at Primary Children's and she said a cure is close. Some strains of the disease already have drugs being tested. Michael's mom was so excited about this. I really hope they find a cure soon. Even with a terrible disease, Michael was so sweet and told my student nurses all about his medical care. 

 I must work the students too hard-- they all fell asleep during our five minute drive back to the hotel. :)