So, what is a "regular" day? Obviously, each person's idea of this is unique, so how can it be said to be regular? For instance, on Helene I usually wake up at 6:30am weekdays, and whenever it gets too hot for me to remain in bed on weekends, usually 7:30 or 8. Most days I go for a run after starting the coffee. 30 minutes later I'm pouring the coffee, sweating like a madwoman because it's 85 degrees out and I just ran 3 miles through a trail, over a hill, down a beach, and back. "Little" Dominic (or "old man" according to his island nickname, for what reason I really don't know) thinks this is pretty crazy, he may be right except that my caffeine addiction says I must do it anyway. Personal devo's, morning devo's, then the day gets started for real. The medical clinic is 'first come, first serve", unless an emergency comes along to trump the cough/cold/fever already in line. I may pull a feather out of an ear, I may put 4 sutures into a 6 year old's eyebrow, or I may listen to the fetal heartbeat of a woman who just learned she was pregnant. It's all in a day's work in our medical clinic.
Other days I go out and walk the island to make home visits. Here I will walk a wharf that only has every 3rd or 4th board intact anymore, praying not to slip into the muck below, inhabited by nasty crawling creatures of tremendous variety. It's happened, it is disgusting! I will probably battle island dogs that seem to hate me just because I'm white-skinned (how do you think that happens? I don't know, since I am one of the few people that would actually stop to pet them for a time, if they only wouldn't bite my hand off for doing so!) My rounds covers about 4 – 4 1/2 miles on Tuesday mornings, and I love it – getting out into the community is one of my favorite things!
Afternoon might mean a Ladies Bible study, or a tooth pulling, or laundry and fixing dinner for the team. Sometimes I will get called out for an emergency visit, or one will come knocking on my door. Like this evening, only it was a phone call that summoned me to the far west end of the island to see Papa Lee, who "was low since yesterday". Well, considering he is 97 years old, this could mean a whole lot of things, but I packed up an IV and some meds, along with the usual array of vital sign checking devises, and set out to see him. 20 minutes later we arrived, he was indeed 'low', poorly responsive, dehydrated, and probably post-stroke. He has survived many many incidences when we thought he was going to be on to his heavenly reward, maybe this is another time he will survive and surprise us all, and maybe not. For now, he has 1 liter of fluid in him via IV, his pressure came down, and his body is cooled off. He is responding a little, held my hand, and jumped to the pain of the needle stick. Praise God he is in no apparent pain. We prayed together, the family and I, discussed his life and tenacity for living, laughed some and shed a few tears together. It was a blessing to serve the Lord again in this place. A "regular" day? Mas o menos, more or less.
1 comment:
I loved hearing about your "regular day". Sometimes it's really fun to find out what constitutes the "ordinary" for another person. For instance, your days sound to busy and exciting to me, yet each day brings about the same adventures for you...so, they don't seem worth even mentioning to us. I'm so glad you took the time to tell us about your days! We are creatures of habit, aren't we? Always trying to form a bit of routine into our lives. It does make everything seem more useful and satisfying. Still, we like that bit of the unexpected to spice things up; and you do have that!
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