Ta-dah

 
 
 
 

that's kind of pretty much a miracle

a taste

 
 
 
 

Pretty feets and bloodsuckers

So i'm sitting on a computer in the suprisingly pleasant library of the national pediatrics hospital, avoiding a conference by the doctors on the trip. That's not to say that the presentations aren't interesting (slide 3: Chainsaw + face = bad), but i'm about to duck out to go eat snake with the team anesthesiologist.

the title of this post is a reference to the broken english introduction given to the conference audience about "giving children pretty faces, hands, and feets." Bloodsuckers is a nod to the leeches that we've been putting on the new finger of the boy operated on last night, to increase blood flow through the digit. Apparently in the US, all one needs to do to procure leeches is call 1-800-LEECHES (I'm not joking) and "medical grade" leeches will be overnighted to any hospital in the contiguous 48 states by a company called 'USA Leeches'. The vietnamese equivalent of this service is to draw a picture of a leech and tell the family of the patient to find a jar-full before their loved one's finger falls off. Sure enough 10 hours later a jar of wild pond parasites was sitting in the SICU.

follow-up:

Other news is that I ate 1/2 of a cobra, but the details will have to wait for tomorrow's update...

fill in the blanks

sorry about the sketchiness of the last post but the past few days have been a blur and the internet is a bit spotty. I spent last night in the hospital attending a brand new 'finger' that 17 hours before had been the 2nd toe of a kid with his 4 long fingers squished off by a big metal box years ago. The surgery ran from 9am to about 1 am and by the end of it both the US and Vietnamese teams were sitting on the OR floor giggling with exhaustion against a backdrop of anesthesia equipment blips and 80's love songs from an old boom box. The finger looks good but the outcome is still up in the air so, who knows.

many stories of oddities and niceties and some good food. the parents (and grandparents and great grandparents....) and patients are so so touching here. They sleep in the hospital on beds or bamboo mats next to the child's bed. Hospital care here is literally home care but with physician oversight. The families and staff are so attentive to their children and so appreciative to have help that it's incredibly refreshing to be here and the hospital doesn't really feel like a 'foreign' place.

I have several hundred pictures on the way and am writing down my days so I promise to get the stories from here to there but it will have to wait until I can relate them face to face as this typing is tiring and insufficient anyway. I miss many people right now, but not many things at this point. Still excited to be here.
more pics soon.

g

Bia Ha Noi

Things Eaten so far:

snails
big SNAILs
kidney
liver
pig's feet (pictured)
intestine
squid jerkey
charcoal grilled clams
mussels
quail eggs (some feathers)
tiny fried river crabs
octopus

things witnessed:

1 traffic accident
1 toe to hand transfer microsurgery
1 total ear reconstruction
10,000,000,000 motor bikes

Compadres:
2 nurses
1 resident
2 young folks
1 Colonel
1 madman
1 first US Hand transplant surgeon
Khan Vy etc.

my surroundings

just an update on how the world is in my vicinity. nothing too new happening school wise. Still words/numbers in words/numbers out. The vietnam trip is on the horizon and with it the end of my second of three terms of my first year of medicine school. Still have to face the Great Regurgitation of final exams in a few weeks. Extracurricular (actually supracurricular) activities have improved. Back to baking and soon to interview for fellowship that will pay me to bake and teach for the local food bank. My room smells like a brewery with 5 gallons of red ale bubbling away by my portable heater. My cooking intensity has picked up a bit. Last night I alchemied up a chipotle infused apricot chutney sweetened with vermont maple syrup, which partied surprisingly well with a smoke italian sausage and lentil stew. The photo is a roast turkey sandwich on fresh ciabatta with caramelized onions, goat cheese, spinach, and dill mustard.

here are some photos of my room for those who haven't had to navigate it in person. Cozily cluttered i think.

Etc.

I've been informed that I have a birthday approaching so I made a book list with a few ideas. It's on Amazon, but I'd prefer the used editions that are probably cheaper through Bookfinder4U.com



Other than that, just hacking away at school again.