I'll have pictures of the trip from Kathmandu up later, but we went from 4000feet to 4800feet, and we're way in the hills. It is quite beautiful.
I'm staying at the place of a physical therapist who works at my placement. His name is Damu, and he is a wonderful guy, so pleasant and open. His wife is absolutely lovely as well, she works as a peace officer throughout the country. They are both such wonderful people and wonderful resources here in Nepal.
We stopped by the hospital that I'm working at as well, just to drop off some stuff, I didn't start working until the day after, but it was kind of a shock to see the patients. HRDC is the Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children. It is a mostly American and Swiss funded hospital that specializes in orthopedic pediatric ailments. The hospital itself is very well organized and actually has a department that does community based rehabilitation where they have divided the country into several districts and operate mobile camps and satellite campuses to conduct rehab where the patients can't make it to Banepa for treatment. It is quite the amazing hospital
It is the building on top of this hill.
The first day of work was great. I got to see so many different things. These were problems that you would never see in the United States, I didn't really even know what to make of them. Some of the most common things that are seen at HRDC are clubfoot, athrocryphosis multiplex congenital, osteomylelitis related problems, and polio, among many others. HRDC is also the only hospital in Nepal to conduct the Ponseti method of clubfoot treatment, which I will explain here if any of you want me to, but otherwise read it here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponseti_method
Oh, by the way, this hospital, for orthopedic injuries, is on top of a freakin' hill. A huge hill. I'll have pictures of those later, and the 20 minute hike I have to climb up everyday along the rice paddies and terrace farms.
These patients are often seen quite late because of many reasons, some because of lack of money, others because lack of mobility. For a developing country whose major geographic element is the mountain, I can only leave you guys to imagine what that's like for healthcare access in this nation.
There is one patient who I have begun to really connect with, and she makes me want to learn the language more, so I can understand more of what the doctors and physical therapists are saying. She has the most beautiful smile and pleasant demeanor. She's from a super rural village in the northeastern part of the country and has been in this hospital in and out since she was 5 years old. She hasn't been back to her village since she was 5 and only sees her parents once a year. She has been in a boarding school in Kathmandu while simultaneously getting treatment at the hospital. When she was younger she had a chunk of her leg removed due to a bone infection (osteomyelitis), and now that she has finished growing, they put her through surgery to insert a leg lengthening device to spur osteogenesis over a course of 3 months in attempt to lengthen her leg by 10 centimeters. She is so amazing. She is also an amazing example of the diversity of people in Nepal, she is of Sherpa ethnicity, and has strikingly East Asian features, but is just part of a massive spectrum of East and South Asian features of the people here. It is quite beautiful to see such a melding of people, cultures, and religions in this country. In some ways it's almost a natural melting pot, unlike the United States, which has developed its heterogeneous population through immigration.
More on her later.
I spent today in the out patient department, the physiotherapy room, and the ward where the inpatients are. I really enjoyed my first day and I look forward to delving deeper into the workings of this hospital and its people.
If there's anyone you guys want me to write about here, and clarify, I would be more than willing to look up the information and have a separate post for it. It would give me more ability to tell you about cases, anonymously of course, where I see it happening here in real people.
