Therapy work at Medishare - Post by Amy Garland

Today was incredible. Jen, Jill, Sue, Melissa and I went to the Medishare Hospital to see if we could be of use. Jill and Jen (2 out of 3 of our team's pharmacists) were immediately snatched up by the pharmacy manager to assist with filling prescriptions and making IVs for the hospital to catch up on a busy morning. Later they tackled the pharmacy storage container to organize and inventory the meds. Melissa (PA student) was able to shadow several MDs in the ER and ICU performing various medical procedures. I met Gina, a great PT from Raleigh, NC who was working in the therapy department for the week and needed help with her caseload and upper extremity splinting for 2 patients. I worked with 3 children in the pediatric ICU and one adult in the spinal cord unit. I spent a lot of time fitting one little boy with an incomplete spinal cord injury into a wheelchair for discharge back to his orphanage. He smiled so big when he sat in his very own wheelchair for the first time. He also needed a right wrist splint and right ankle splint which I modified and fitted for him. Every week a team comes from around the world to volunteer at Medishare, they are extremely organized and have amazing supplies and facilities. I will try to attach a photo of their operating room and orthotics/prosthetics lab, they are really amazing, I'm thankful to have connected with them.

The orphanage has several tiny new babies and I think all the girls had one in their arms this evening, they are too cute! Tomorrow all of us will work at the construction site to move hundreds of cinder blocks 3 stories up that we are pouring at the school. We just had a quick downpour and now most of us are in bed, hopefull for a decent nights rest with ear plugs and Benadryl.

-Amy Garland