Brazil trip - Day 5...

Another beautiful day on the Amazon.  It kept looking like rain, but never did which meant it stayed HOT!!  I headed down to the clinic a little early to get set-up for the day.  Before we were even open for business, they ushered in the first patient of the day.  He had a cut his foot last night and needed some stitches.  I got his wound irrigated out and then set Dr Robins up to numb him up so I could really clean it out.  Dr Robins didn't initially want to put in stitches since it had been about 16 hours but we decided in the end it was better to close it up.  It had to be quite the scene - the patient was sitting in a dental chair, the doctor sitting on a paint can, while I perched on an old battery.  Oh and let's not forget Lynn holding a flashlight over head!  Seven stitches later, he was ready to go!  I did have to laugh because some of the Americans were taking pictures and Lynn tells us the patients wife pipes up

and says, "If I would have known we were taking pictures, I would have done my hair!"  I guess women are women every where!  Didn't take too much to get us excited for the day.  Lynn keeps laughing at how excited Dr Robbins and I get about blood.  All the excitement got the clinic off to a late start but it was worth it.  Before lunch, between Dr Robins and I, we saw 80 patients so not a bad start.  While we took our lunch break, boat loads of people kept showing up, so it looked to be a busy afternoon but actually only saw about 20 more patients, so I guess the rest just came for the festivities.  It was neat to see more patients coming with either prescriptions or lab work which shows they are able to get some level of care when we aren't around. We had the cutest down syndrome boy come through the clinic today and he was just adorable.  Also had a lady come in with what she called a lump on her breast for 6 yrs.  When I went to examine her, I was expecting something horrible (from past mission trip experiences) but just looked like scar tissue.  She said it itched and got red when it was hot outside. I had no idea, so I had Dr. Robbins take a peak at it.  He wasn't positive either...maybe a previous infection or herpetic infection that we wouldn't have meds to treat.  We decided to try a steroid cream and for her to follow up if that didn't work.  I also diagnosed a heart murmur in a 6 yr old boy.  Dr Robins took a listen and said it sounded benign so he should be fine.  Those were probably the most exciting cases of the day, other than the laceration.  I've really made it a point to pray with every patient and they don't seem to mind at all.  Apparently the villages we've been in the last few days all rose up out of religious differences.  I guess they have village splits instead of church splits.  Today we were in the Baptist village as well as all those who traveled over from the Nazarene village.  After clinic, many of the patients stayed behind and a rousing game of soccer ensued.  The boat crew versus the locals...it was definitely fun to watch.  Nathan and I were playing frisbee with some of the kids.  They weren't great at it and the frisbee made its way in to the water more than a few times.  After one such episode a little boy (probably 8 or so) bad to jump in the river to get it.  He obviously had no idea how deep the water was because he immediately disappeared under the murky waters.  You could see the panic on his face as he went under.  Nathan and I immediately ran over and Nathan pulled him out by his shirt.  I'm sure if we hadn't grabbed him, word would have gotten around that the Americans were drowning Brazilians kids in the river!  We actually ended up losing the frisbee in the water so that was the end of that.  Right after that, Ruth Anne called me over because a guy had a bloody hand.  So much fun for one day!  The man told us he was near our boat cleaning fish and that a piranha came up and bit his finger.  It was definitely

bleeding a lot but after cleaning it up, it wasn't too bad looking.  He had 2 superficial lacerations on each side of the nail of his index finger.  Probably would have been much worse, except the nail probably took the brunt of it.  We ended up just steri-stripping it and sent him on his way with some antibiotics.  Another happy customer!  Tonight was worship at the local Baptist church and it was standing room only.  Many people were even just outside the doorway listening, but as packed as it was, we still sang "Father Abraham."  The Brazilian crew puts on a skit at every service.  I might not be able to understand it, but it sure looks like fun and the crowd laughs non-stop.  It has something to do with sin trapping us and Jesus being the one that frees us from sin.  You can tell the crew really has a passion for what they do.  We did have a bat fly around the building for about 20 seconds...that was a first for me.  Thankfully it made its exit out the back door and the service went on .  Dinner tonight was chicken pot pie. (although it had mashed potatoes on top so kind of with a shepherd's pie flare) some type of beef and Brazilian potato salad.  It had quail eggs in it, so I guess I can cross that off my list.  After dinner, me and the roomies settled in for the night ad spent some time chatting with our Brazilian room-mate.   She has an interesting story, but I'll have to save that for another time.  I'm tired of writing by flashlight with snoring in the background!  My co-workers always joke that I need to write a book about my adventures around the world.  After this journal, maybe I'll have to give it some thought.  Too bad I haven't journaled on all my other journeys.  Tchau...