Blogs from North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 16

Today was another beautiful day. The sky was overcast and there was a nice breeze, which made it cool outside. I’m thinking it might rain tonight because the wind has picked up. This morning I was in the labor and delivery unit again. I observed two births, one male and one female. That makes 6 births this week, 5 of which were girls! These two births weren’t much different from the other births the past few days. Our preceptor wasn’t there again today, so we followed the instructions of the CMU and BCNC instructors. I asked a few people if the hydrocephalus baby was born already, and nobody knew. The mother was no longer in her bed, so i assume she had delivered. Around 10am everyone met up and viewed the hemodialysis unit. Th unit and ... read more

Today we started the day with some pork and rice that was delicious and attended morning ceremony. After morning ceremony, we went to the hospital and when we got there I volunteered to go into the OR for the day. I was excited for the opportunity to see how surgeries were done differently in Thailand, but to my surprise they are actually very similar. There were two options for surgery and I ended up going into the hip replacement surgery. The patient was an 80-year-old who had fallen and fractured the head of her femur. When they brought the patient in she was completely awake and looked scared about what was to come. They put her on the operating table and started tying her hands down and covering her with sterile blankets and they anesthesiologist came ... read more

Well Tomorrow morning will be about one week since we left D.C. but it feels like I have been here much longer. 1: Because I already feel so close to my bodies. 2: Because our days are so packed I feel absolutely exhausted. I woke up with horrible allergies today which is such a bummer because I love Thailand, but I’m not sure I would ever be able to live here for a long period of time because well I seem to be allergic to everything! My nose is twice the size. I feel drowsy without medication. My eyes are burning and itching non-stop. I hope that the air-conditioning in our room (which we finally figured out the right setting) will help and maybe some Benedryll. Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to be in the ... read more

Today the weather was sunny and hot although I had to spend most of my time inside. I turned down the opportunity to see a spinal surgery to go back on the labor and delivery unit. Sadly it was a very slow morning on the unit. I was only able to observe one delivery right before leaving for lunch. A lot of the moms on the unit had complications/high risk pregnancies. Some of these complications/situations included epilepsy, twins, SVD, and hydrocephaly. The hydrocephalus case was very interesting. The doctors plan for the birth was for it to be vaginal! Once the baby descends into the birth canal, the doctor will tap into the babies head and release the fluid so that the baby can safely make its way down the canal and into the world. This ... read more

January 8th Back to work (kind of). This morning, we participated in the nursing students' morning ceremony. It is focused around respecting the teachers, the flag, and Buddha. Christianity is growing in Thailand so there is a moment of silence for Christians who would like to pray which I thought was interesting and thoughtful. We got a full tour of the college and saw the different simulation rooms. They are very similar to the ones at Messiah. After the college tour, we toured the hospital that we will be working in called Nakornping Hospital. We saw about 7 different units, including men's medical, women's medical and surgical, trauma, emergency, pediatrics, and labor and delivery. The hospital is made up of many different buildings that you have to walk outside to go into different units. It was ... read more