by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on March 24, 2010
Michael Felber, RN, and Kathryn Barrett, RN, take care of a patient in Haiti.
Children’s nurse Michael Felber came to Haiti on March 15, where he’s been working in the town of Fond Parisian. On Monday, he joined the Global Surgical team in Cange. Here, he reflects on his experience so far.
Being in Haiti is a little like the fable of the three blind men and the elephant – each of them had different experiences based on what they encountered. In someways things look a lot like most Latin American countries- it’s hot, the cities are crowded, the people are wonderful. Port au Prince looked mostly ok from the air, but then when you look closer you can see that some areas are rubble, and there are tents everywhere, even where the buildings are standing. The tents here at the field hospital are easily over 100 degrees, but many people are still afraid to go inside buildings. The kids here are wonderful – big friendly smiles, love to play soccer, make kites. Still pretty much everyone has lost family members. Many don’t have homes to go to, and rainy season is coming soon. Its hard to imagine that possible a quarter of a million people died in the earthquake and the days after. Where do you go from there? One of the patients said to me, “I’ll see you tomorrow, if god is willing”. The hospital is well run, especially considering how many people are coming and going. The pharmacy is as organised as I have seen anywhere. There are electronic medical records, although much simpler and more user friendly than ours. You have to be comfortable stepping out of your comfort zone. Tonight I am covering the night shift in Triage. It’s like an ER in a tent, hopefully more quiet now that everyone has gone to sleep.
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on March 24, 2010
by Shane, Meegan, Talon and Tristian Perkins
A little better than a year ago, Shane and I and our 1-year-old son were excited to find out that we were going to have another child. But when we got to our 20 week ultrasound on a Friday in September of 2008, my husband and I were told the words you never want to hear when you are pregnant: “There is a problem with the baby.” We were shown spots of fluid in the baby’s left lung and were told that it most likely was a CCAM (congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation), an abnormal growth of lung tissue that prevents the normal growth of the lungs.
Our world stood still and all we could think to ask was, “What did I do wrong and why did this happen?” We were assured that it was nothing that we did and that was there anything we could have done to prevent this. We had thousands of questions that needed immediate answers. We were told the soonest we could be seen was on Monday with a specialist in Manchester, New Hampshire. This was the longest weekend of our lives. With support from our family and friends, we knew all we could do until Monday was wait and pray. Full story »
by Melissa Jeltsen on March 24, 2010
Bev Small, RN, works with Haitian nurse Yanick Michel.
Before the earthquake, the hospital in Cange did eight, maybe nine operations a day, recalls Yanick Michel, a 26 year old OR nurse who’s worked here for a year. Almost immediately after the earthquake, the surgical caseload doubled. At the same time, donated equipment poured in to furnish the two operating rooms, including a new anesthesia machine.
To handle the influx of patients requiring surgery, visiting surgical groups, like this group from Children’s, are rotating through the hospital. As well as helping ease the patient load, the specialized surgical teams (orthopedics, plastic surgery and urology, for example) educate the local staff how to handle difficult cases they may never have seen before. “Although it’s been busier, it doesn’t feel hectic,” says Michel. “We adapt. I feel very comfortable because we have such a good entourage and we’re all trying to do the same thing. It’s all about the teamwork.” Full story »
by Claire McCarthy on March 23, 2010
Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Children’s Hospital Boston. Along with her blogs here on Thriving, you can find her at the Huffington Post and Boston.com. Follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
Around 10 years ago, my family got head lice—and I thought we might have them forever.
I will never forget it. My head had been itchy for a while; I tried dandruff shampoo but it didn’t help. One day, desperate with itching, I asked a colleague at work if she’d check my scalp for me. “Claire,” she said, “you’ve got head lice.” I called home, and told my husband to check himself and the kids. They were infested too.
By the time I got home, my husband had bought permethrin cream rinse and treated everyone. I immediately globbed the stuff on my scalp for the allotted time and used the little plastic comb in the box, combing out some of the nits (and lots of creepy-crawly black bugs). We washed all the bedding and clothes, scrubbed all the brushes and combs, tossed the stuffed animals in the dryer. We were relieved—but within a day or two, it was clear that we were still infested. A week later, according to the instructions (and what I’d learned in medical school), we did it again—to no avail. Those bugs were undaunted; they had no intention of leaving our heads. Full story »
by Melissa Jeltsen on March 23, 2010
Joceyln Guerrier, shown receiving a dressing change, was injured when her house collapsed during the earthquake.
After the earthquake, the hospital complex in Cange was inundated with people suffering from fractures, crushed limbs, spine and pelvic injuries and deep cuts and abrasions. Now, almost two months later, the wards are still home to patients with wounds that are slowly healing—and require attentive care so they don’t turn more serious.
Monday morning began with wound care rounds. Nurses Cassandra Mombrun and Pat Lisle assisted Dr. John Meara as they took off old bandages, cleaned and dressed wounds, and looked for signs of infection. One dressing change was for Jocelyn Guerrier, a 28-year-old woman with a fractured leg and a deep gash wound on her calf, who’s lived here since the day after the earthquake. She was washing clothes on her balcony when she felt the house shake. She tried to run outside but didn’t make it in time, and the house collapsed on top of her. A car transported her to Cange, where she’s been ever since. Although her house was completely destroyed, her family stayed safe during the disaster. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on March 22, 2010
Dr. Palfrey speaking during the Doctors for America event
Judy Palfrey, MD, made the following comments today at the Doctors for America event in honor of the impending passage of the nation’s health reform bill.
Good afternoon. I am Dr. Judy Palfrey, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). I have practiced pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital Boston for the past 35 years.
The AAP is a non-profit professional organization of 60,000 pediatric doctors who work tirelessly for children’s health and well-being. We are proud and honored to stand here today following last night’s historic vote on health reform! Full story »
by Melissa Jeltsen on March 22, 2010
Kathryn Barrett, RN, plays with a boy whose leg was fractured during the earthquake.
Melissa Jeltsen, a writer at Children’s Hospital Boston, is embedded with Children’s Global Surgical team at the Zanmi Lasante (ZL) Sociomedical Complex in the village of Cange, Haiti. The hospital complex, located two hours north of Port-au-Prince, offers medical care to people living in the Central Plateau. Led by John Meara, MD, DMD, MBA, the hospital’s plastic-surgeon-in-chief, Children’s Global Surgical team is spending a week in Cange, performing surgeries, wound care, general pediatrics and occupational and physical therapy. This is the team’s first mission.
The plane from Miami to Port-au-Prince was jammed to capacity with various aid groups, each identifiable by their matching t-shirts emblazoned with hopeful slogans. One read, “I’m going to Haiti, where are you going?” another, simply, “Restore. Rebuild. Redeem.” The nervous energy in the plane, manifesting in sporadic giggles, contrasted with the solemn manner of the Haitian man sitting next to me. He’d been in Miami, where his cousin lives, arranging to have his kids come to the United States. He was happy, he said, that we were coming to help Haiti. “So many dead,” he said, drawing a finger across his throat each time he repeated the phrase. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on March 21, 2010
