Tea time

Thursday.

Madura foot again.....

Wednesday
This morning's clinic was dominated by a 50 yo lady's foot. this foot had been a problem for the last 5 years but nobody had really got to the bottom of what was wrong with it. Some thought Leish, some though vascular, now we were thinking mycetoma. sadly all the notes had been appalling and no idea of treatments used were available...not that it matters really as if it is a mycetoma there's little to be done anyway. Photos sent to my tame dermatologist Steve at HTD for comments and bright ideas but none so far sadly. The next two patients were all about the bites. I have to mention at this point that we are not alone....we are being stalked by a man with a camera as Hillside HQ is having a fundraiser and we are to be immortalised on film - moving and still. Anyway the 6yo had bizarre pustules and scarring bites on his legs from playing the the long grass, stop it and they'll stop I reckon....but lets see what Steve has to say on them.... Next there is a lady from Charlton - yes I go halfway around the world and meet a lady from two roads away ! She has also got bites and is an amateur botanist. She describes pulling off the scabs of her bites and locating a thing growing inside, looks under a microscope and draws it. Bot flies I reckon from the picture but there are none there now thankfully. She has lived here for years and dosen't wear repellent or long trousers...mad woman!

Organise my flight back to BC on the way to do the HELPAGE talk with CherryMae which goes well, despite them bringing out high sugar squash and biscuits after a healthy living talk!! Lovely group of old ladies with their hats and tea dresses. One lady I chatted to had had a terrible stroke leaving her hemiplegic, but our physios and her good sense to follow our guidance had got her almost back to normal by 18 months...fantastic news.

The camera crew had held up Evert leaving us stranded on the pavement for the good part of an hour, so only Emma was in clinic! Frantic baking and doily making followed for the party tomorrow....

Invasion of the crabs.....

Tuesday
Up super early for the mobile clinic today to San Jose as it's a monster trip....but oh no, the Ministry Nurses are all late in town so we get going late as well. Thats the final insult as not all of us could go either, poor Heather stayed behind and did home visits with the nurses. So we all eventually get going and pile in...MAN it's squashed as three of the nurses are rather wide in the rear ! We stop at San Antonio to pick up Sophia and drop off one of the nurses - but then they all disappear for ages again (Grrrrr - Belize time) FINALLY we get going again and 90 minutes later we get there (2 hours later than planned).

San Jose is a lovely village, but its a heiniously busy clinic. The nurses are running a vaccination and postnatal clinic next door, and we get most of those patients with the obligatory cough and colds that they've all got at the moment, but there are other with far more serious complaints. One chap has a terrible shoulder abcess with needs surgical intervention so he will have to go to Belize city, another old chap has a huge upper abdominal mass - probably a gastric tumour. Off to Belize city for him too. I can't get over in words how busy this place is. We are all cramed into one room, there are screams and crying from the clinic next door, the ambient noise is deafening and we have to share one bench as an examination couch! As we're late and didn't bring lunch it's just cake and peanuts for us, and we eventually leave at 4pm exhausted and hungrey. I have 1 photo of San Jose which shows how busy it was !

Home eventually and excitement as we've booked Gomier for dinner - but we have a problem, Andy won't give us a lift in (and we've never asked him before despite them owing us 4 now) and the taxi we booked never turns up. Heather sensibly has been relexing at the Coral Inn all afternoon and just ambles round. Andy eventually takes pity on us 40 minutes later and ferries us in...guilt is great. Veggie lasagne and soya icecream 'fruit' flavour. Nice, but Miss Janices soup was better !

So the crabs......every full moon this time of the year signals a mating frenzy and all the crabs leave their holes onland and make a dash for the sea. Now this doesen't sound so spectaular except there are thousands of them and they're BIG. So big that if you run one over in your car the tyre will burst as the claws dig in and that is the end of the tyre and the crab. Dangerous. They're fast too, but not so tasty.

Ah....Chicken Soup

Monday.
The talk of the town is Miss Amelia's cousin getting bashed. Thankfully other things happen to take our minds off it - mainly a busy clinic and the 'hysterical' Imelda from Barranco appearing out of the blue. This time she's been talking to her sisters and is now apoplectic about getting diabetes, high blood pressure and pregnant. It turns out she's engaged and having sex but has no idea about getting up the duff, except that her breasts hurt and thats what has worried her. So, we do a full work up, BP and BM and breast exam then send her down to the Family Planning Cemtre in town as we're not allowed to talk about contraception (bah!). Phew. Dr John does a quick teaching session beore trying for the 15th time to send a message to his wife (also a Dr and over in the Far East doing a placement) by email. Then Tah Dah - Miss Janices Chicken Noodle Soup with rice. I am happy happy happy and fall asleep smiling.

Independance Day

Friday. So we've just had a week off and yet we have Friday off too due to Independence Day.Packing again, but only for the weekend this time thankfully and then we're off on the 8am bus to Placencia. Omar ignores us (again), wonder if he got to the karaoke competition? Hide and seek on the bus. Ghost towns everywhere. Independence (no sign of Victor's car) to get Hokey Pokey water Taxi the final step of the way to P. Radio broadcast by the president - could teach Gordon a thing or two about sound bites. Lawrence and Julia's guesthouse, heed the nurses warnings and go for the one of the beach. Wander up and down the boardwalk - all is closed! apparently there is a mass hangover that is affecting the whole town. Not so great lunch, beach and hammock to relax and dinner at Wendy's . Dreadful Americans at the Purple Space Monkey put everyone of the coffee they crave, even with a black out. Pissed Parrot less bad.

Saturday.
Bad nights sleep as Emma practising her underwater diving techniques whilst asleep in preparation for her PADi course . Early swim then we try to go to Omars for breakfast but he's closed this time, so back to the Space Monkey for bizarre brekkie with fry jacks and butt bacon. Nothing to do bar shop (little to find except Guatemalan stuff) till we find the shell man and get some cute earrings off him. He's a bit lechy tho...Dinner at Omars, creole everything and sadly two loud Yanks appear - but leave eventually. They are particularly vile here - far far worse than Rio Dulce. Back to bed after a skinny dip!

Sunday.
We abandon Emma and catch the 10am boat back to Independence and then the bus back to PG due to lack of anything happening. I stay in the tree house and the others cycle into town. Victor appears and disappears then reappears in camouflage in his Merc. Have a chat, then he goes again back over to the noisy house oddly and spies from the porch. Eventually goes then 30mins later all hell breaks loose and she starts cussing someone loudly for ages, then we hear blood curdling shrieking and shouting, then see someone with a baseball bat and then someone running away. Blimey - who needs Eastenders. Money stolen and Mother in Law bashed - police and finally peace. Wow.

Barranco

Thursday. Burns girl doing well, old skin removed and immobilized but now traumatised by doctors. Garifuna village at Barranco along a pretty good road for a change. Scruffy compared to the Maya villages and in the main with elderly patients (wearing smart clothes and hats) rather than young kids with fevers. Busy. HTN checks, possible GH disease, and the Maya family which kept me very busy up until lunch with a bad back for mum (well she does have 7 children), worms, nits and the 20yr old daughter has 'hysteria' for which exercise and a job is prescribed by Dr John. Maggotty fish lunch (I didn't find any!) and the sick puppy. Coral Inn is open (hurrah!), relax, rum and funeral. Independance day celebrations in town...we get beers in tree house with ondrea and maire. Wierd dreams!

Has anyone seen my fish?

Wednesday. Market, Dr John loses his fish whilst we aquire ours....word spreads fast through town and they begin to wonder if he's up to the job.... A deluge of people from San Marco appear suffering from- eczema, headaches, stress and Grandpa with probable Barretts oesophagus/ Ca...no Omeprazole MUPS when you needs them. Indianville also sends a busload in- it's our nearest malaria village but only brings sniffles for this Mum and daughter, the little boy has bronchitis and after a morning of running around with them and picking them up and hugging them alot (they are the cutest kids) I also find out they have LICE! Cue dash to the shower and frantic hairwashing. Lunch is the most awesome banana pudding and and the snake doctor with his herbal cure alls. Having said that he does have a higher cure rate than the hospital......Afternoon nap as heat exhausted - even 2 fans couldn't keep me cool!