No country for the feeble hearted. by D.P.

Going to the Dentist is scary enough in a country with the best trained dentists with the latest equipment. So in a country where everyone warns you against the medical care, the last thing you want is a toothache. The last thing we did before leaving the States was to go to the Dentist and take care of our dental needs.
So it was no fun to wake up here one day with flu symptoms AND my teeth aching on one side. Of course I hoped that the aching teeth were caused by the flu and that when the flu went away my teeth would be fine. Nonetheless, I asked a 8 year veteran here who the best dentist was. He said his was trained in Germany but DID NOT have an x-ray machine. He told me the name of an Arab dentist from the capital and trained there who had an x-ray machine.
What to do? The known guy or the unknown with an x-ray machine?
When the flu cleared up and I knew I had a serious toothache,-I went with the x-ray machine. This guy's clinic is in his house. In the 3-week process of helping me,
he disclosed that his equipment was from the 80's but top notch stuff.
On the first visit I learned that he did not have the alleged x-ray machine, but he told me he could send me to the university for them or MAYBE he could pinpoint the problem without one. Cheryl had started me on antibiotics because I had swelling around my gums. The dentist and I thought we probably had found the problem tooth, but I still thought we were going for the university x-ray options to make sure, when he started drilling! Well, I hope he got this one right. No shots or anything. He said the tooth turned out to be dead. He drilled out an old filling and began the first step of a root canal. Now I thought that because this was just an "inspection", he had skilled some of the niceties of dentistry.
But obviously, he was going far beyond "inspecting." It was when he told me to "rinse" that I realized what was missing. There was no drainage tube hooked over my teeth and into the bottom of my mouth, nor even a bib.
Another strange thing is that he packed the "root canal" with a disinfectant that smelled like detol or pinesol. Not only could I not stand it; no one I talked to could either! It was on cotton down the root canal and then he blocked it in with another piece of cotton. He instructed me to replace the "retainer" cotton regularly with another pick of cotton, using a toothpick or a match stick.
In 2 days, I replaced it just once.
Now the story has a great ending. After 4 visits (all with no bib, no drainage suction hose, and no anesthetics) I went home with a good root canal and filling for $83.
The dentist had a very interesting story. He was kidnapped from his home down in the capital and ransomed with money. He came here looking for safety but found the housing too expensive, so he went back to the capital and continued working. Friends told him he would not be kidnapped again. But one day at his office, while changing the oil in the generator, 3 men came in and asked for the doctor. He knew they were kidnappers. He told me this is the ONLY lie he ever told in his life.
He said, "He's out to lunch. I'm the secretary." They left and he immediately moved here.
Back here at home during that time we had our pipes freeze. Now you know how in the States, this is no small problem. But here everyone's solution is, "Just wait till 11 am and the sun will thaw them out." Strangely, with no water due to frozen pipes, I go into our kitchen and find flies on the window and ants on the counter! What a place: the inconveniences of winter do not even spare you from the inconveniences of summer.
At one time, each of our teams' 4 houses had problems:
ours: water leading from inside the concrete bathroom floor down to the first floor.
another: no hot water. another: generator not starting, and the last: wires burned up so no electricity could come to the house. Like he said: "In America, wires don't burn up: breakers are flipped."
Such is life here. Never a dull moment.

more stories for my gore-hungry readers

Today was another marathon morning at the maternity hospital. From the minute I arrive until I leave, my adrenaline is pumping hard and I feel energized like in no other situation. When I arrive home, it usually takes a couple hours to come down off the high. Since there is no one at home but my husband, he has the privilege of listening to all the stories fresh in my mind. I just have to tell someone. Maybe that's why I'm telling YOU, because there's only so much a guy can take of this stuff:)Upon making my rounds this morning I looked in the delivery rooms to see what was going on. I found a young 18 year-old girl having a hard time so I went to her aid. Halfway through the delivery I discovered that she spoke Arabic so I continued throughout the rest of the time to speak quietly in her ear and give her instructions on how to breathe and push properly. The midwives were all throwing up their hands in despair, telling her she was going to have a C-section because she didn't know how to push and threatening her that if she didn't get the baby out soon, it would die! I, on the other hand, was whispering in her ear that she was doing a great job and that she & I together would push that baby out. She told me afterward that if it hadn't been for me, she could not have made it to the end. It was a rewarding experience. She delivered a 4-kilo baby boy that unfortunately had some sort of deformity. I went and looked at him and his one arm was grossly oversized, as well as some other parts of his body. It was so sad. I learned later that her husband had divorced her when he found out that she was pregnant. You can't believe the heart-breaking stories I hear every time. I again went around the delivery rooms to see if there was anyone that needed help. I found a woman crying quietly; the cleaning lady translated that she felt so alone because her mother hadn't come with her and everyone in her family abandoned her. I wiped her tears and rubbed her back and she grabbed my face and hands and kissed me. Such small acts of kindness that make all the difference and yet I rarely see the nurses or midwives touching the patients in any way. I attended at least 4 other deliveries this morning, some very quick and easy; others pure hell. One of the deliveries that I attended was also being watched by about 30 nursing students. Some of them watched in horror with their hand over their mouth; one male nurse told me he's never getting married. This particular baby ended up being pulled out by the vacuum so there was extra tension & drama. As I was getting ready to leave. I saw a nurse running up the stairs and through the hall with a baby. When I went down to the lobby, I discovered that a woman had just delivered twins; one in the taxi and one on the waiting room floor. Both babies were fine but the taxi driver was very traumatized! Since there is only one baby examining table on the whole floor, there are always nurses running through the hall with freshly-delivered babies. I often get to help clean up the babies and dress them and I love that. Until next time...

More labor & delivery stories:)

For those of you who enjoy this kind of thing, I must tell you about another day on the labor ward. I promise I won't post too many of these on here:) I arrived and got changed into my white coat, notebook & pen in hand (for all the new words I'm learning!) and popped my head into the delivery room to see if there were any interesting cases. One of the women was on the delivery table and ready to deliver twins. That definitely caught my attention and I decided to stay and watch. Her little old mother from the village was by her side but not helping at all so I gently pushed her out of the way and went up by the woman's head to give her some advise and help her push. It was a very intense time as the first baby took almost an hour to push out. It came head first. What a surprise when the second twin came down feet first. I was horrified to see them literally twist the little body like a pretzel to deliver the shoulders and head. I can't imagine how that baby could have survived the trauma but she did. They were two identical baby girls, both in good health. I helped clean them up and dress them and put them in a little metal bed side by side. I was so bummed that I didn't have my camera. I'll take it from now on. Someone came over and looked at the babies and asked if they were boys or girls. When they heard they were girls, they turned up their noses in disgust and walked away. I stayed with the mother through the extensive & painful stitching (no anesthesia whatsoever!)After cleaning her up and getting her dressed, she lay on that uncomfortable 1/2 bed for another 30 minutes. I went out in the hall and demanded a wheelchair for her and they finally brought one. At first they told me there was no bed for her. Then they decided to take her to another floor. The poor thing was so exhausted and when we tried to get her into bed, she fainted dead away. After splashing cold water in her face a bit, she came to. There was no sheet on the bed, no blanket, no pillow. We covered her up with her coat. The old mother kept plastering my face with kisses and thanking me. It was a true pleasure to be able to help that sweet woman deliver her first babies and to see them survive a very traumatic delivery. Throughout the morning I also helped two other women, one who delivered her 4th child quite easily and quickly. She was weird; she kept covering herself up and not wanting anyone to see her! Who cares about that when you're delivering a baby?? At one point a man (intern) came into the delivery room and she freaked out. The other lady that I helped a lot ended up having a C-section at the last minute because of fetal distress. I was told that there are about 50 deliveries a day on that ward, usually 15-20 of them C-section. Even after all the deliveries I have witnessed, I still am awestruck every time at the miracle of it all.

Coffee Shop nights at the LIFE Center

The LIFE Center is definitely a happening place on Thursday nights in our city. We arrive an hour early to get set up and plan our evening but students are so eager to come that they also begin arriving an hour early. Our Starbucks Lattes and homemade baked goods, along with lively English conversations and fun games make our center a very popular place for our students to hang out. This semester we are particularly packed out with more activity than ever before. It takes 3 of us behind the counter to keep the orders going and another to serve and clean up. That leaves only 4 or 5 of us to talk to people. With 40 people in attendance, you can see that we need more help. If you're out there and considering a short-term opportunity, we sure could use you! It is a rewarding (though exhausting) experience to spend several hours talking to students who are so interested in what we have to share with them. They are eager to learn about our country, our culture, our opinions and our beliefs. I'll try and post a video of some coffee shop action but no promises as the internet is very slow here.

Not for the squeemish

I've held out for 7 months since arriving here, knowing that there were many other things that needed my attention. Yet deep down inside I knew that one day my passion for nursing would woo me back into the hospital. Today was my first day in the gov't maternity hospital and I could write a book already. I arrived at 8:30 this morning to find my Dutch friend who introduced me to everyone and showed me the ropes. She then took me to the labor ward where I was to spend my first morning. After making rounds to the rooms and seeing the patients, I found one woman who was obviously in need of some help & comfort and who had no family member with her. I decided I would stay with her for the morning as this was her first baby and she was so afraid. With the few words I knew, I managed to communicate the basic things I needed to. As the morning went on, 3 other women were admitted to the same room. One of them was pretty far along and screaming out in pain. There was another young girl who had a dead baby in her womb and was being induced to deliver it. My lady was also entering the stage where they scream and cry out for God and their mother and say they're dying. The 4th woman was overdue and being induced so she was happy with no pain yet. So I had two screaming women on my hands and two that were being induced. The nurses would come into the room and say "Oh, that's the patient with the dead baby", "this one will be here forever, she's a primi and only 5 centimeters, "this one is hopeless; just leave her alone and let her scream". I couldn't believe my ears; such callousness! At one point I looked over my shoulder and saw the young girl with the dead baby crying quietly. She was 6 months along and the exact circumstances that led to me losing my first baby. I left my screaming woman and went and put my arms around her and we both wept together, me not being able to say a word to her. I went out and looked for kleenex, for we both were in need but not a kleenex in the whole hospital. The midwife came in and examined the other screaming lady and told her to get up and walk to the delivery room; she was ready to deliver. I thought to myself "someone is certainly going to come and help her?" But no, she was left to get off her bed by herself and carry her own IV with her to the delivery room down the hall! I left my lady and ran to her aid. Well, once I entered the delivery room, it was all over. I never wanted to leave again the rest of the morning. I stayed with this poor soul who begged me not to leave her. I figured she needed me more than the one who still had a long way to go. When we entered the delivery room, there was a man at the far end banging loudly as he tried to fix the window. A woman in labor was lying on the floor wrapped around the kerosene heater. We literally had to step over her! With much difficulty I helped my lady climb up onto the delivery table. It was only half of a table with nowhere to put her feet so they hung down in a very uncomfortable position. After 30 minutes of pushing, the fetal heart was very weak and slow so they rushed her off for an emergency C-section. The delivery room was like a circus; people wandering in and out, laughing and talking and shouting. At the same time the 3 women who were delivering all at the same time were shouting at the top of their lungs for someone to come and help them. WOW! I was so energized by the experience and can't wait to go back again in a few days. It is my passion and I realized once again that even without the language, human touch is so powerful when someone feels abandoned and in distress; just a sip of cold water, a back rub, an encouraging word, a gentle voice to quiet fear, is all that's needed.

New Year's Eve Kurdish Style

We were invited to a New Year's Eve party. We hesitatingly accepted, knowing there would be lots of drinking and who knows what else?? Lots of our friends were going and we didn't want to be party poopers so we went. We arrived at 8PM as instructed with hot food in hand. None of us had eaten dinner so we were hungry. Soon after we arrived, the electricity went out and we sat in the dark for more than an hour. A few smart ones had brought candles. People continued to arrive until almost 10:00. At 10 we asked when we were going to eat. They said "oh, we have to dance first, then we eat". The problem was that the sound system had also blown out so there was no music to dance to! They finally got a new sound board and the loud music began, followed by the traditional Kurdish dancing. You can see Darrell dancing in the video here. We both got in there along with some of our colleagues and really had fun with it. Finally sometime after 10:00 we dug into our now cold food when we could wait no longer and others began to follow suit. There definitely was lots of booze flowing and things were getting pretty lively after midnight but nothing out of control. At midnight everyone lit their sparklers and hugged and kissed and wished each other a Happy New Year as confetti covered all of us. They passed the mic around and different ones sang. We found the mic in front of our mouths at one point and sang impromptu "We wish you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year". Outside in the streets, the whole town was going wild with honking horns, hanging out cars and standing on rooftops, wishing all a Happy New Year. Many were dressed in Santa suits with scary Santa masks and even other kinds of masks. (I think they got their holidays mixed up?) People were eating and drinking and dancing; a real feeling of celebration in the air. We tried to leave our party at 12:30 but were literally dragged back into the dancing circle as they refused to let us go. Food was still being served after midnight and we stood around and ate from the common platter with our spoons in hand. At 1:00 we tried again and this time, succeeded to leave. I felt like I really bonded more with this culture that night. I realized I love these people and long to share more deeply with them. If only I had the tongues of men & of angels...But I do have love.