Here goes nothing...

Thanks to some peer pressure from my mom, I'm starting a blog to share my experiences here in Nicaragua over the next 2 months. I am in Leon, which is on the west coast of the country and am working in the Heodra Hospital in the center of town. 


I arrived on July 3rd late at night after a harrowing ride from Managua. Woke up the next day and stumbled out into the sunlight and the hustle and bustle of the third world. Really felt transported immediately and it took a couple of days to get used to. 

All in all, Nicaragua is as wonderful as I remember it. SO hot but my room has AC so I do have some respite and in general i'm getting used to it. I am staying at a boarding house of sorts that houses lots of travelers and I'm making some good friends. There is also a pregnant cat who is going to pop any day now!

So far I've completed two days of work, which have been exhausting. There aren't a lot of patients but the hospital is like a whole other universe. It's dirty, hot, crowded. Yesterday there was a corpse in the hall waiting to be taken down to the morgue. There are no resources - one ventilator, no infusion pumps. I had to learn how to calculate my own dilution from normal saline to 1/2NS then figure out how many drops per hour would be in 18 ml/hr because we have no infusion pump. It's totally insane but i'm learning a lot - especially how much we take for granted. I am finally figuring out how to write notes and will be doing presentations on Monday. It feels like med school again where it takes 30 minutes to learn how to say "regular rate and rhythm, no murmurs, rubs or gallops."

On the fun side, went to pilates class last night and then out dancing with my new friends. Had a great time and loving a day of rest today... except that I may be doctoring the cat delivery.

Sending besos.