Degaje

After just 11 days in Haiti I think I have mastered the art of Degaje. Degaje is the Creole saying that basically means 'make it work'.  We do not have a lot of supplies or space but we make it work. 

This work is definitely tough, but not as hard as I thought it would be. Maybe because the people here are so nice and appreciative, or because I get to see improvements in their function in such a short period of time.

The hardest parts are:
1. The heat. Oh man is it hot and humid here. These dryfit shirts don't seem to make much of a difference and the scrubs are just stuck to me.  Brian makes fun of me because my knees sweat. ha ha ha!
2. The emotional drain: hearing the stories of the patients can sometimes be too much to handle.  It is hard to see that a patient has not had any therapy in 8 months since the earthquake, therefore they still cannot walk. In the US, we would have had them up walking the first day after their surgery. 
3. Obviously the creepy crawlers. I am not a fan
4. How unsanitary things are.  In the US I would be very grossed out but here in Haiti I just let it go and try not to think about it.  DEGAJE

The Best parts:
1. Hearing the patients say "merci"
2. Seeing my 6 year old patient smile
3. Having Brian here to hang out with, to vent with,  play cards with, and to sing songs with (We don't have any music so we rely on the music in our heads-DEGAJE).
4. Appreciating the little things: like getting pizza for dinner, sharing a coke at lunch with Brian, getting emails from friends and family back home, M&M's, finding Guinness beer at the little random market

Yesterday I had my first patient ever that had both legs amputated. He is doing really well but needs to get stronger before he can have his prosthesis. The way he transfers himself from the wheel chair to the bed is quite impressive and nothing I would have taught in the US but it works for him so DEGAJE
After Brian was done working with a patient that had a stroke and has a lot of arm and leg weakness, she hopped on the back of a motorcycle with her son and they sped off. DEGAJE
The receptionist at work had a spinal cord injury and is in a wheel chair but I saw her arrive to work on the back of a motorcycle and she just transferred herself so easily from the back of a motorcycle to her wheelchair without any help. DEGAJE.
My 3 year old patient with cerebral palsy arrived yesterday on the front of a motorcycle wearing sunglasses without a helmet. He sure did look cool :)  DEGAJE
These are things I would NEVER see in the US. I have never trained anyone in a motorcycle transfer.

So I will leave you with the following picture. This is the giant tarantula that Marvin, the prosthetist, found in our backyard when he was turning on the generator in the middle of the night. Then he saw it the following evening after dinner so he came to get me to tell me he wanted to show me something "fun". He totally tricked me. He said that he new I would not have come if I new what it was.