La Clinica Primera!!!

Today was our first medical clinic day. First of all, breakfast started at 0630... (pancakes/Nicaraguan coffee were well deserved given the early hour and the mango bombs). The city seemed to come alive during the week compared to Sunday. We continued to try to set up the clinic before the patients arrived at 0900. Our first patients began to arrive and "Dr. Bob" checked them in and took their vital signs (blood pressure, temperature, weight, etc.). The patients were then evaluated by all of our awesome providers with the assistance of our even better translators! We saw such a mix of ages, genders, symptoms, concerns and personalities. Patient problems ranged from minor scratches, to cough/cold/fever to diarrhea with suspected parasite infection and a multitude of women's issues. We even saw extreme cases such as breast cancer and diabetic ulcers. We did several ultrasounds of pregnant women (more in the afternoon after the word got out!) and even revealed a girl baby to a very happy mother who would have otherwise not known. We started the rotations in the "pharmacy" area of our clinic...all we can say is how much we appreciate them. Overall, everyone had a great time and the patients appeared happy and positive (the kids were even happier after Bob started handing out Starburst candy). We cared for over 300 Nicaraguan patients and had a great time doing it. Some things to keep in mind were all the signs of optimism and goodwill towards community that we noticed in our patients after seeing their living conditions yesterday. What an amazing experience! Looking forward to start all over again tomorrow. Drs. Nikki and Bob Holbrook P.S. I wanted to write this entire blog in Spanish...my co-writer disagreed...