The young boy with one arm is in Bed #20. For the past three days I have assisted the nurse when she changed his dressing. It actually takes at least two people to hold him down. I always take his head and right arm while one or two other people take his legs as we try to hold him still while the nurse tales long tweezers and begins to pull out live maggots from the open wound. The boy screams and moves around the entire time, even after the nurse has given him a caramel (I guess that only goes so far as a pain killer). I do my best to try to calm him by holding his hand (very tightly) and speaking to him gently. As I'm in close proximity to the wound I have an up close view of the entire procedures and actually count the number of squiggly maggots that she is able to extract. It must have been 30 the first day and nearly as many these past two days. The iodine soaked gauze is helping to bring them out, but it's still taking time. It's really an amazing site, and gross when she drops one on the bed and it starts to wriggle away before she snatches it up and drops it into the little bowl of iodine to join the others.
Again, I surprise myself at how closely I am able to watch and not be squeamish. Bob asked me in an email yesterday how I handle the intense things I've been seeing and if I ever got sick from seeing something terrible. Very good questions. I have not gotten sick and I've seen some pretty gruesome things. And I'm not sure why that is as I usually avoid looking at anything like this on tv or in movies, much less in real life. But I knew coming in to this that I would be in circumstances like this and I made the decision that I wanted to be as involved as possible. I need to be strong for the patient, for the nurse that I am assisting and for myself. This is all changing me in the most profound way...or bringing out sides of me that I really didn't know I had in me. Pretty extraordinary stuff.
This Saturday will be my last day volunteering. I can't believe the time has passed so quickly. I've learned so much about myself and about life in general. I will miss the patients, some of the staff, many of my fellow volunteers and the nuns very much. It's going to be very difficult to say goodbye to many of the patients, especially knowing that it is very unlikely I'll ever see them again. They have taught me so much and touched my life in unimaginable ways. I will always be grateful to them.
I hope to be able to return to Calcutta next year to volunteer again and meet a new group of patients and volunteers that I know will enrich my life yet again.
Again, I surprise myself at how closely I am able to watch and not be squeamish. Bob asked me in an email yesterday how I handle the intense things I've been seeing and if I ever got sick from seeing something terrible. Very good questions. I have not gotten sick and I've seen some pretty gruesome things. And I'm not sure why that is as I usually avoid looking at anything like this on tv or in movies, much less in real life. But I knew coming in to this that I would be in circumstances like this and I made the decision that I wanted to be as involved as possible. I need to be strong for the patient, for the nurse that I am assisting and for myself. This is all changing me in the most profound way...or bringing out sides of me that I really didn't know I had in me. Pretty extraordinary stuff.
This Saturday will be my last day volunteering. I can't believe the time has passed so quickly. I've learned so much about myself and about life in general. I will miss the patients, some of the staff, many of my fellow volunteers and the nuns very much. It's going to be very difficult to say goodbye to many of the patients, especially knowing that it is very unlikely I'll ever see them again. They have taught me so much and touched my life in unimaginable ways. I will always be grateful to them.
I hope to be able to return to Calcutta next year to volunteer again and meet a new group of patients and volunteers that I know will enrich my life yet again.
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