#10 - Too Bad so sad!!

A crazy busy day today as the Doctor came to the village for a clinic...All the complicated patients that needed their medication reviews, and annual Doctor type check ups.

My day was one where the harsh reality of being in a place that services some but not others hit home again.  I want to be strong for my wife when I ring her each night, but when she asks me "how was your day?"  there is a protective part of me that just wants to say "Fine"  and a little boy inside me that really wants to tell her how it really was.

A 9 year old boy came with a letter from a village across the water (PNG) today, He has been blind in his left eye for two years and arrived to have his eye assessed....He only has a cataract, An impressive one but still just a cataract.  It could be fixed permanently  with a 15 minute operation by an eye specialist, but because he is from PNG Queensland Health doesn't want to know him.  I suggested that the man should take his boy to Port Morseby to be treated by a specialist, he saddly told me that they cant afford the journey.  So after telling him that I cant offer him anything but a cup of coffee and a sandwich, and suggests that he goes home now, he turns to me and tells me that they spent all their savings on the Outboard motor fuel to get here, believing that once in Australia, we would help him.

What do I do with that??
It is gut wrenching!!

The day was another day of firsts.  I heard word that my lady with the retained placenta was doing well.  That was nice.  A small boy came in with a nasty, nasty dog bite.  One of the village dogs ( a mongrel with no owner/name) bit him.

This is the same dogs 8th victim.  I asked how this can happen with out him being put down.  But there is no council rules about dogs on the island, and no vet.  1 every year or so a vet comes across from Northern Territory to "clean up" the stray dogs, and left some "Green Dream"  in our drug cupboard for Just in case cases.  Well I put the case forward that this was such a case, and after a phone call to my own Vet in highfields to get some advice on dose and technique, orchestrated a task that I have never had to do.  We sent the dog on a Long vacation to doggy heaven....aided to by some expired valium in his "last supper" to make hime super sleepy, prior to me inserting an IV to administer the drug.

That pooch wont bite anyone else.  Humane? I will let you be the judge, I am placing the public safety ahead of animal rights on this one, and will sleep well tonight knowing that the village kids are a bit safer with this mut out of the gene pool.

It is 9pm and I have just had a call out to a sick baby with nasty ears.  First dose of antibiotics and a chance to log this blog in the mandatory waiting time.  After anyone is given an antibiotic, there is a period of time (usually 20 mins - half an hour) where they may have an allergic reaction.  At it's worst an anaphylactic reaction can kill someone in under 4 minutes.  The waiting game can be nerve wracking at the best of times, but when it is 9pm at night and you are 500 km away from the nearest "real"emergency department with doctors , bells and whistles, an anaphylaxis is a bit of a drama to say the least....even for a hard old bastard like me!!

As the business of this place soaks in, I ponder what my week would have been like had I stayed home, and whilst I miss my people terribly, my normal day job seams like a distant memory and a yawn encroaches on my face. I would not change my week for a moment.  There is something very cool about isolated practice, and frontier nursing.  There is something very satisfying about tossing one or two starfish back into the ocean, even if the beach is littered with millions.  As least I can make a difference to those few.  And that is what it is all about...Making a difference, and believing that no matter how small you are and how insignificant the task, you are loving the highest of His creation.

Send Chocolate!!!