Around 10:30 a.m., a tiny baby, her grandmother and brother
arrived with a volunteer nurse. This family was coming from the Syrian refugee
camp right outside of town. They could have been delayed for many reasons, but
I’m simply glad they arrived because the baby
definitely needed care.
At six months of age, the baby weighed 8 lbs. Unbelievable! She was so little (And she was so adorable!). Her grandma
who held her, put her on the table, and moved the baby bottle of water to the
side, so the doctor could begin to examine her.
While the doctor checked her with the echo, he began to express his concerns in Arabic. However, the Syrian family looked at him oddly because they didn't know what he was saying. Syrians speak a different Arabic than Iraqi Arabic, which is the reason communication was so difficult. To help communicate the status of the baby's health, he used hand motions, wrote down instructions, and then, he instructed the med student, his nurse and the nurse from the Syrian camp to go over it one more time to ensure that everyone was on the same page.
They talked about when the doctor would plan to see them again, and discussed what was expected of them before they came back. The doctor gave basic instructions on how to properly clean the bottle. He told them to boil the water, put it in the bottle and place the cap on it. Then, I couldn't really make out the other part of these instructions. He pointed to the bottle using his finger to show them how much water they should put in the bottle and how much of the prescribed nutritional ingredient he wanted them to include. This was interesting because his instructions required them to go to the pharmacy.
The pharmacy doesn't open until later in the afternoon here, and to get this medicine from the pharmacy would cost money. I'm not sure if the family or the doctor had to pay for the first round of medicine for this baby, but I do know that if they ran out, the Syrian family would most likely be responsible for getting the medicine and paying for it. This was so interesting to think about because, after all, they were from the Syrian camp, and you don't know their whole situation and whether or not they can afford this cost of care.
I had a lot of thoughts and questions, but I continued to observe everything. (Some ideas came to mind about the topics I would like to write about for my independent study course, and I made a note of them.)
Watching everyone in the room was interesting to see because there were two different languages being spoken, and a lot of confusion. The main concern the doctor was trying to share with the family was in regard to the baby's weight. She was too small for the operation in this city. He wanted to first "aggressively treat her nutritionally," and then see her in a few weeks (hoping that she would gain enough weight by then). His plan was to move forward appropriately with the operation after the right amount of weight gain.
This tiny baby had VSD, a common heart defect in babies. She could have been treated for this immediately if she could go to another hospital in the area that has the equipment for such a young baby, but in this town, there is no equipment available for the operation. She is just too little for the local hospital's machines in this town. She is also without papers -- papers, like a passport -- that can help her get past the checkpoints in this country or even possibly leave the country for the operation. Thus, she is stuck, and her surgery will have to be delayed for about three weeks.
After the nurses and the med student figured everything out, the Syrian family left. We met the family to see if there was anything we could do for her, but due to reasons previously stated, like the lack of passport or accessible equipment, PLC is unable to help her.
Interested and want to learn more?
More is to come on my
academic blog.
Check there for more details.
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