the last month

Well... I have had quite a month. I had visitors for the last three weeks. My boyfriend came down to hike the Inca trail with me for four days... which if anyone knows me, I am not a hiker or camper. It was quite an experience. While we were hiking, I was not sure it would be worth it, but the end at Machu Picchu was fantastic. We also toured a bit more of Peru. My parents also came to visit for a week, again, I visited Cusco and Machu Picchu. I found a new appreciation for it the second time because I was not so tired. Anyways, this week, it was back to work for me. I have been too busy everyday to blog, but I finally had a minute to sit down.
On Monday I spent the day trying to organize my scattered brain after having three weeks off, but it came back to me so I pulled it together. In the afternoon, I happened to walk in on a lady who was walking around in the birth area in contractions. I asked if it was okay if I stayed to help and she said it was fine. I stayed and helped here get through the contractions and onto active labor. Once she was in active labor, it was only about 20 minutes. She had a beautiful little girl. I got to clean her up and dress her. I also helped the doctor assess her and do the APGARs as well. It was definatly another great experience to see the birth. I am thinking of midwifery as well as doing nursing... another thing to consider in the future...
Tuesday, I was able to work in the lab again. I did a few blood draws and helped test hematocrit, do urinalysis´ and look for different blood diseases in the blood under the microscope. I also worked in the topico area where I cleaned and dressed a wound of a teenage boy. For some reason, the day before, he had come in complaining of toe pain. He had quite the ingrown toenail I am told, so instead of taking one side off, they actually took the entire toenail off. I am not sure why at all and when I asked, the lady just told me it was what the nursing tech did and she thought it was what the doctor would have wanted. Very odd, because now, he is going to have to come in every couple days to get it redressed and cleaned until it heals. He is also required to keep it elevated which means he will not be able run around like a teenager for a while, and he is also more suceptible to infection because there is so much open skin. I am still confused why they did this, but I guess I will just pray I never have to get a toenail cut off here.
Yesterday, I went to the place where they cut up the animals to process again and gave vaccines in the locker rooms. I got to give about 60 vaccines which was really good. I always like to practice my vaccination technique.
Today, instead of having our usual 15 or 16 patiens, we had 23 which was quite a bit more for two of us to handle. It was quite a busy day, but it went by much faster than usual which was great. My goal for tomorrow is to have suture patients to practice my suturing before I get back to the States and cannot do it again!!