SCUBA!! Got certified to SCUBA dive and excited to do next dives. Got in 4 over last 2 days :). Stephanie got some great underwater shots with her camera and I will post when she posts up and I can save/tag them to me. We are planning a dive Monday 27th when my husband arrives for all three of us so she can get another dive in too. It is so serene and calm and very cool to be underwater with aquatic life Dave has been the best instructor and if your every here use Indigo Dive for sure! Got to play with a Crab that looks like a spider and see a trumpet fish and rock fish.
Apr 12th
Went to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie set. It was kinda depressing as the government took down most of anything that you would recognize. Their was a bar owner who has been here for years and he was quite upset about it as his bar was one of the sites the crew used as a spot to chill and have meetings. His bar is covered in pictures and he wishes that more people could enjoy it. We took Asquith as a tour guide with us and he showed us a small waterfall in the mountain. It was a bit chilly but was refreshing on a hot day. We just sat and chilled out and read the paper at the local restaurant there and took in the numerous lizards. We also ate real coco beans. They are white and very sweet. They are mixed with milk and pulverized into powder.
Apr 13th & 14th
2 days in clinic with not much to note except a pt with a BP of 220/180. Yes you read that right! After ORAL meds and rest he was 200/160. He had a slight headache and was up walking around. The NP and MD and I were like we have NEVER seen a diastolic that high on a conscious pt!! I have only seen 160 but they were in the CCU on a drip! The patient stayed at the ED for 36hrs and rested and was given 3 oral meds every 4-6 hours. He was DC'd home with a pressure of 151/120. He came back the next day for a check of BP and labs to see why he is so high. He did fine and it crazy that his pressure was soo high with so little complications. He made urine, which means his body has probably compensated so much...
Other random things different between US and here. Mammograms are every 5 years unless a fam history, Colonoscopies are not done unless you have a GI problem. PAPs are still done yearly despite new guidelines stating they are only needed every 3 years. Labs are done every 2 weeks because the hospital is closed for renovations. The MD draws them and they are sent via ferry on the 0930 boat. The moringa tree here is thought of as a "miracle tree" People believe it cures cancer, diabetes, HTN and everything ailment. While it does have some medicinal properties, it cures cancer as much as the South Sap fruit down here does :). The bark does have a toxin in it and causes paralysis so, only use the leaves!
The ULP is the party of government here for last 14 years and the elections are coming up so there was a party the first weekend we came in like a fundraiser. There is no Cath Lab here and no ECHO machine. Any heart diagnostic tests are done in Trinidad and Tabago and requires a plane ride. We scheduled a Doppler for a man having cramps in his legs and while the labs will be back in a few days, the soonest they can do his Dopplers is July!!! What if he had a DVT, he would be dead or loose a limb before he got the test, but it is the best they have :(. He was told to bring his own towel too, We think that was to wipe down sweat as he must ride a ferry to get there and wait for a while in the waiting room but I'm unsure...
One day 2 men came in for water. The public pipe was turned off so they had no way to get water. The gas station was out as well so they came to the hospital with 2 giant jugs. It is sad the things we take for granted. I have had hot water about 40% of the time due to some electrical issues with the apt owners water tank. I have been OK with it, but I will never take for granted again the ability to have hot water every second, to have water I don't have to boil to drink or to have think about what I am buying at store cause I must walk up 2 steep hills and carry myself in 2 hands. I wonder how strange it will be to drive again in traffic!
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