Final Countdown: Ear Infections and 3D Printers

-
We had our final team meeting on Saturday. There wasn't nearly as much to pack as there was last year because we were able to ship most of the medical supplies directly to El Salvador. This is a huge benefit to us, because hauling all those bags through the airport and customs costs us a lot of time. We're just hoping and praying that those medications are actually there when we arrive...


There's a slight hitch for me, personally. Here's what my ear looked like two days ago (Saturday morning) after a little trip to the urgent care:


Bad timing for an infected ear, but hey - what can you do? As Dr. Mike is slightly invested in making sure I'm in shape to travel on Thursday night, he took a look at it personally this morning. The details are a little too gruesome for this blog, though pictures of the procedure may have been of interest in a medical text book...

Packing is coming along at home here. Elizabeth and I are bringing filtering water bottles to try and add an extra layer of protection on the water we drink. These bottles seem kind of like the gold standard, but of all the goofy things: they don't have a cap to cover up the straw to protect it from external contamination.


So I asked Owen to help design some caps and print them using the 3D printer we got for Christmas. I think our design could use a few more iterations, but these should work fine!


Finally, here's my current stash of food and medications. Can you guess what illness I fear the most?


I feel good about our progress. I think we've got everything we need, and now it's just a matter of getting it all parceled out into the various luggage.

In four days, we're all gonna be a whole lot warmer...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tacachico Water Filters

-
Image
I think I mentioned this before, but we try to accommodate everyone who wants to go out on a water filter delivery run. It equips them to be better able to deliver the message back home during fundraising efforts, and it's also a chance to get out of the clinic area and see a little bit more of the country. Unfortunately, by Thursday, we were in a little bit of trouble with our delivery schedule. Tuesday morning had not gone as planned, so the members of that group hadn't visited anyone's homes. And the group that was supposed to go out on Wednesday morning didn't, because of the chaos (read the previous post!). Ken spoke with Dr. Mike and got his permission to have not just one, but two makeup delivery sessions on Thursday. This was a big deal, because Thursday was our second and last day in Tacachico, and we didn't want to fall even more behind than we already were. Here's the morning group heading out, complete with Dr. Mike! I think everyone alway...
Read more

Tacachico Clinic

-
Image
Although I spent most of Thursday afternoon out and about delivering water filters, I still had a chance to capture some action around the mission site and print some photos for people. The setup in Tacachico is a little unique in that they have an actual hospital building. I don't know the details of how or when it was built, but it's pretty new and clean-looking, so it can't be that old. However, it's completely empty. It looks like it's never been used full-time for its intended purpose. Obviously, that makes it a great setup for us, since we can move right in and pretend that we are in a real clinic, instead of something more like a summer camp! The first location the patients are taken to is triage, which is set up in the hospital lobby. After triage, patients move to the waiting area - rows of seats in the main hallway by the registration desk. From the waiting area, patients are taken to see providers. Because of the hospital setup, some provide...
Read more