10/30/2007
I got a ride into work with Somath today and I think this will be our norm. I’ll pay him some money at the end of the week for gas. We stopped at the entrance to the rehabilitation complex for breakfast before starting work. I saw some interesting patients today to include a new patient whom I evaluated with Dr. Lee. He appears to have severed his wrist extensor tendons and Dr. Lee advocated exploratory surgery. The family was thinking about it last I heard and I told Dr. Lee I can at least make him a splint to offer him functional grasp if he decides against surgery.
I also saw a Colles wrist fracture whom had been pinned. The alignment didn’t look great and his range of motion was limited, but I got him doing some self stretches and strengthening for home. Next was a young lady with a complex fracture to the elbow with limited flexion range. The end field is hard, but she is more limited by pain. I also educated her on proper home range of motion. Home exercises are severely lacking and I can add home exercise pictures to my list of what I should have brought.
In the afternoon I caught a ride to an orphanage near the French Embassy where I was to meet with three volunteer speech therapists to help them with positioning of the kids. Walking through the gate I was met by a man with one good eye and a weed whacker who refused me entrance. I called up the speech therapists and they showed up a few minutes later, right at 2pm as we had agreed. They were flabbergasted that this person would not let me in and after five minutes of discussion he agreed to let them in to talk with the manager.
Florence and Chloe returned with the manager a few minutes later and he explained that something had happened ‘in Cambodia’ recently that changed the rules they were working under. In order for him to allow me to enter the premises I would need to get him a written CV. He was very nice about it and tried to explain it best he could. By this time Claire, the third speech therapist had arrived and was listening in. They all apologized and we agreed to meet later for drinks. Claire then pointed me to Calmet hospital a few blocks away.
I walk over to Calmet hospital to find the Pasteur Institute next door to get my last Japanese Encephalitis vaccination. I get to the window, and the gal my international vaccination form, and tell her what I want. She enters me into the computer after asking me if I was Khmer then tells me to go to the cashier window. There I’m told it will cost $20 which I happily pay (I should have waited till I got here to get all my shots as the first two JE shots were $125 a piece.) They then send me through the door to find door number 3. Signs are in Khmer, French, and the only thing in English is the number.
Behind door number 3 I find a nice doctor who asks me if I’m Khmer or not and why I don’t speak it better. She is non-accusatory and asks me some further questions as she gives me my shot. I had chosen to come here as both of the local doctors I asked at CSC recommended it and Samath told me the vaccines here arrived refrigerated where as the ones that make it to the corner pharmacies may not have been as carefully transported.
Overall I suppose things worked out well. I got my shot and was able to spend the afternoon uploading pictures.
