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Dates: 2/26 - 3/4
On Sunday, 2/26, I attended the Catholic mass. This
time, the mass was shorter. I stayed after mass and
talked to a few people. I met some people from the
US and also spoke to Dr. Anon, whom I met at the
hospital. I found out that some people get together
for coffee after mass, so maybe next week I'll go
with them.
The hospital this week was not really busy for me.
On Monday, 2/27, I helped correct an English
abstract for a paper about colon cancer and its
treatment at Pahon Hospital. The grammar was
difficult to understand, so I rewrote some sentences
and gave suggestions about how to fix it. I spent
some time in the OR and ER as well.
On Tuesday, 2/28, I spent the morning in the newborn
care unit and the OR.
I
love seeing the newborns and their mothers. It's
great to see the interaction of all the family
members. Yet, some of the mothers are there to
watch their babies in isolation boxes. Some
newborns are struggling so much to live that it is
difficult to watch their mothers stare longingly at
their babies. I always see the same mother and
father looking after two twins that are still very
sick - they have been there for over 3 weeks
already.
I saw some hysterectomies in the OR. It was
interesting to see the different techniques that can
be used depending on the patient's situation.
On Thursday, 3/2, I spent a short time with the
psychiatrist, Dr. Joompol. He had a patient come in
with a sexual dysfunction complaint. It was kind of
uncomfortable to here the doctor talk about all
these different techniques to treating sexual
dysfunction. He kept trying to make jokes about it
and laugh, but I felt wierd talking about this topic
with him. Later in the day, I went to the physical
therapy department and spent the rest of the day
there. It was great to compare the US's PT
treatments and setup to
that of Thailand. It's so different!!
I taught 5 regular classes on Wednesday, 3/1. The
students had an easy lesson about verbs and forms of
verbs. The students were excited to be done with
their classes since this week was their last week of
regular class before their summer vacation. (Summer
vacation runs from mid-March until mid-May.) On
Friday, 3/3, I taught classes in the morning with
Karen, the other volunteer. We did some fun
activities where the students walked around and
asked their classmates questions to fill in a bingo
like board. I only had a half day of school on
Friday.
I went to Bangkok on Friday, 3/3, to see muay Thai
(Thai kickboxing). It was crazy at first to travel
to Bangkok with just Karen. We were a bit nervous
about being by ourselves in this huge city but we
had a great time. We stayed on Khao San Road where
a ton of farangs (Westerners) hang out. We met
people from Finland, Sweden, Japan, and England. We
also had some time to shop on Friday and Saturday (JJ
Market weekend market). We headed home on 3/4
late in the day. That night, I went to a music
club, Glitzy, with my host sisters and friends. We
saw a band and listened to a DJ and danced. It was
fun to go out with them!
Dates: 3/5 - 3/11
On Sunday, 3/5, I traveled to a nearby town to see
the floating market. Basically, this is a market
where people sell things while floating on small
wooden boats. I went with 4 other people and we
rented one of the wooden boats. You wear big sun
hats and have a
guide control the boat with a paddle. You travel
through a canal system and get to a big market. We
left early in the morning to try to avoid the
traffic jam of boats, but we hit the jam anyways.
It was fun to be in an old wooden boat and float
through the canals, taking in the market scene. We
even tried some new food that day as well.
I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at the
hospital. On Monday, I spent time in the labor room
as well as the OR. I saw a few births and had a
generally laid back day. On Tuesday, I visited the
pediatrics ward for newborns and young infants. I
went on rounds with an intern and Dr. Pansueon.
This only lasted a short time because I headed to
the OR to see some surgeries - hysterectomy, tubal
ligation, and c-section. Later in the afternoon, I
saw two new surgeries: a maxilofacial surgery
performed by a dentist to install a plate on the
mandible and an eye surgery performed by an
opthamalogist to repair
the lower eyelid. Both surgeries were due to
motorcycle accidents - a common occurrence here in
Thailand. On Wednesday, I spent more time in the
labor room and met some nursing students practicing
labor techniques and skills. I saw an ectopic
pregnancy surgery - basically an emergency surgery
to remove a fallopian tube since the pregnancy
had ruptured. I also attended a conference
concerning the treatment and diagnosis of a young
boy. The interns and doctors discussed possible
ideas and settled on TB meningitis as the
diagnosis.
On Thursday, I went to lead an English camp with
Karen, the other volunteer. We led four different
groups of about 35 students each. The students
ranged from age 8 until age 12. We sang songs,
played games, learned about animals and animal
sounds, and practiced doing introductions. It was a
great day and we spent all of our time outside;
unfortunately, I got sunburn from that (my first
burn here in Thailand.)
On Friday, I spent the day at a subdistrct
government office. I met the staff and spoke with
them during the day. It was hard to find time to
talk with them since they needed to work. I will be
teaching them English lessons starting next week.
In the evening, I got a Thai style massage (very
different than US), sang karaoke, and went to a
lounge/club, Glitzy. Very fun!
On Saturday, I visited the royal palace of King Rama
VI in Nakhom Pathom. Then, I saw an elephant show
and crocodile show in a nearby town, Saphran
Elephant Park. It was a fun day of touring as
always!
We even met a famous food show host and cook (McDang)
at a restaurant.
Dates: 3/12 - 3/18
This past week, I only spent 2 days at the
hospital. I decided to spent some extra time in the
labor area. This was really fun since I got to
speak with a group of nursing students who were
practicing skills for delivering babies. The staff
in the labor unit has gotten
to know me a little more, so I feel more comfortable
spending extra time there. I enjoy asking questions
about the mothers and babies as well as checking
information in the patient charts. I saw many
different cases where a c-section was necessary.
One day, Dr. Kung, the doctor I work with, performed
4 c-sections in the course of 8
hours. In addition to the labor unit, I spent time
in the OR. This is always exciting to me! I
observed several new surgeries, such as gastric pull
up (pulling the stomach up to attach to the
esophagus near the clavicle) and emergency surgery
for a ruptured ectopic
pregnancy. I love watching the surgeries. It's
definitely one of my favorite things to do at the
hospital.
I spent one day at Karen's (the other volunteer)
school. It was the last day of class for the
students. Basically, I introduced myself and we
played games, sang songs, and danced. The students
were in grade 5 and definitely enjoyed the silliness
and fun that we brought into the classroom. Since
it was the last day, we took photos. All of the
students wanted to give us hugs and have us sign
(autograph) their notebooks, arms, or shirts. It
was pure craziness and really hard to try to leave
the room with a bunch of students surrounding me.
It was a good day of fun!
After spending some time at the school, I decided to
get a haircut. I picked out a photo in a magazine
and showed it to the hairstylist. I was quite
nervous because I've never gotten my hair cut by
someone I didn't know. My hair turned out great!
Even though it didn't look like the photo (at all),
I really enjoy it since it's a little shorter and
cooler in the hot weather.
I spent the last 2 days of the week at my school,
learning to play Thai musical instruments and to do
Thai dance. I really enjoy learning songs on the
instruments. It looks really simple at first, but
it's a bit hard to learn quickly. The students
helped me to learn
a few songs on several different instruments, such
as the kim, ranaud, kong, and saw. Then, came the
dancing...I absolutely love doing Thai dance! It
focuses on specific hand positions and rhythmic
patterns with the feet. I learned about 10
different movements that can be put together in
several patterns.
On Saturday, I traveled to Bangkok to pick up my
sister. Since she didn't arrive until about 1130pm,
I spent the day touring around the city with Karen.
We wanted to try traveling around the city by
ourselves and to visit places most tourists don't
go. We definitely had a great time and then met up
with some friends for dinner. My sister, Sarah,
arrived safely and we spent the night in Bangkok.
Dates: 3/19 - 3/25
This week, my sister, Sarah, came to visit me in
Thailand! We picked her up on Saturday and then
spent Sunday touring in Bangkok. She was definitely
feeling the culture shock but she enjoyed traveling
around the big city. We went to a few wats,
traveled by boat, tuk tuk, and taxi, and just barely
made it on our night train Sunday evening.
We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Chiang
Mai, a city in northern Thailand. Chiang Mai can be
thought of as the capitol of the North. It is a
relatively big city, filled with many things to do
and places to see. We arrived Monday, midday, got
cleaned up at our hotel, and then ventured out into
the city. We took a boat tour and later that day
went to the night safari. This attraction just
opened about one year ago, so we enjoyed the newness
of everything. It was amazing to see so many
animals and I loved how the animals actually had
nice areas to live in.
On Tuesday, we took a tour to Doi Suthep, Doi Pui,
and a Mong tribal village. Doi Suthep is a gorgeous
wat with about 306 steps to walk up. With a
wonderful view and beautiful buildings, it was well
worth the stairs. Doi Pui is a village area and
also a forest region. We stopped at a tribal
village where they sell hand made crafts and
clothing. We saw a beautiful garden museum with
flowers, such as poppies (opium flowers), roses, and
many others. In the afternoon, we went to the zoo
and saw 2 lovely, adorable pandas on loan from
China. The zoo was fun but the living areas for the
animals were not very nice. While looking at the
reptiles, one of the workers saw us admiring the
snake, so he jumped in, grabbed the snake, and put
in on our shoulders. Whoa, that's never happened to
me before!!
On Wednesday, we traveled to Bo Sang, the umbrella
village of Thailand. It was amazing to see the
steps of making an umbrella. We watched the workers
cut sa-kee trees for the wood frames, make paper,
assemble the strips of wood, use a wood saw to
fashion the
handle, and paint beautiful designs. We got a few
things painted: a wooden container for my mom, my
handbag, my shorts, my sister's shirt, etc. The
designs were incredible and the painters were really
talented. We also visited a hot springs, where you
can boil eggs in the water. Those were some yummy
eggs! We then headed back to the center of Chiang
Mai to catch our night train back to Bangkok.
We arrived in Kanchanaburi (finally) on Thursday
afternoon. After getting cleaned up, we went out to
dinner and to the night market. My sister really
liked seeing the town where I lived.
On Friday, we toured around the town, went to some
wats, and stopped at a hot springs nearby. It was a
fun day with my sister! That night, we had a bunch
of people over for dinner. After, we packed up some
bags and went to sleep. We left early for the
airport - around 230am Saturday. Sarah arrived
safely home and I spent the rest of Saturday
lounging around since I got sick (stomach flu and a
cold).
Dates: 3/26 - 4/1
This week, I suffered from a stomach flu and a bad
cold. Not very fun in the hot weather! I couldn't
really eat any food. I spent Sunday and Monday at
my house: sleeping, resting, trying to get better.
I didn't go to the hospital since I could barely
stand up!
On Tuesday, I started to feel a bit better which is
good since today I traveled to Ko Samui, an island
in the Gulf of Thailand. I traveled with Karen and
2 people we met the program. We took a bus to
Bangkok and luckily got the last 4 tickets for a bus
to Ko Samui. We left Tuesday night and arrived in
Ko Samui on Wednesday morning. We rode
in a really great VIP bus that had big seats so you
could actually sleep. Then, we took a ferry for
about 1 hour to get to the island. Wow! The
landscapes were so different than Kanchanaburi. My
first view of the Gulf of Thailand was so beautiful!
On Wednesday, we settled into our bungalow - Wandee
Bungalow, located right on a nice, quiet beachfront
of Maenam. We got a nice deal on the price since
the people from the program knew the owners of the
bungalow. We rented 2 motorcycles and the 4 of us
traveled parts of the island. Every place we went
was so beautiful! I took many pictures. We visited
the Big Buddha by the beach and stopped at Chaewng
Beach, the busiest beach of the island. It had
really clear water and great waves! We visited some
rock formations called Hin Ta and Hin Yai. This day
I got a little sun burn but now it's a nice tan
color. At night, we took a night swim by our
bungalow. A little scary at first, but it was great
to float in the water and look at the stars and some
lightening in the distance. An island nearby is
known for the Full Moon Party. It wasn't a full
moon this past week, but a black moon. So, we went
to the Black Moon Party. Basically, it's a
big venue filled with great decorations,
techno/mixed music, games, drinks, and food. It was
fun to dance and be outside! Definitely lots
of crazy drunk people dancing in wild fashions!
On Thursday, we took the motorcycles to see some new
parts of the island. We stopped to swim on the
beach and registered for a tour to a national marine
park. We went to some waterfalls too. It was nice
to have an early night!
On Friday, we took the tour to the Angthong marine
park. This consists of 42 islands in an archipalego.
It was gorgeous! We got to snorkel (kinda difficult
with my cold but fun), hike, and kayak. The water
was so clear and I loved swimming and floating in
it. We took a speedboat with the tour and met some
people from New Zealand, Ireland, and Great
Britain. We saw the lagoon which is the setting of
"The Beach," even though it wasn't filmed there.
On Saturday, we traveled to nearby Ko Pha Ngan. We
took a ferry and spent the day on the beach. The
water was the clearest I've ever seen with some
great waves. The water is so warm in Thailand that
it feels like a bath. I picked up some great shells
and rocks on the islands too. We arrived back on Ko
Samui and went to dinner at a friend's house. Good
local food!! We packed up a bit to head home on
Sunday.
Dates: 4/2 - 4/8
On Sunday, I finished traveling on Ko Samui. We
stopped at the Big Buddha Wat and two more smaller
wats after a rainstorm hit the island. We finished
packing and got on our bus in the afternoon to head
home. We traveled by ferry and bus through the day
and night.
We arrived in Bangkok on Monday at about 4am. We
got on another bus to head to Kanchanaburi and
arrived back home around 630am.
On Monday, I relaxed and stayed at home. It was
nice to have a day off, plus I needed to unpack and
get some more sleep.
On Tuesday, I went to Pahon hospital. I had not
been to the hospital for about 2 weeks (traveling
and being sick). I spent time in the labor room and
OR. Dr. Kung was in charge of OPD (outpatient
services) this week so there wasn't much to do with
her. I saw a c-
section, repair of fractured zigomatic bone, burn
cleaning of a young boy, removal of femur plate, and
a few vaginal births. It was hard to watch the
young boy getting his burns cleaned. About 65% of
his body had 2nd degree burns. This was evident by
the area being white or black. He could not move
most of his body and screamed loudly in pain
as the nurses removed his bandages and cleaned the
wounds.
On Wednesday, I went to Tha Muang hospital. This
hospital can be described as a community hospital
while Pahon is a general hospital. Tha Muang is a
small building. In fact, they are currently
building a brand new structure that is much bigger.
I worked with Dr. Kittypoon (Dr. Kit). He is a
general practicioner and currently works in OPD. He
sees
a wide variety of patients: young and old with many
different problems. I saw many patients with
hypertension, respiratory distress, possible
tuberculosis cases, back pain, skin problems, and
much more. I get to help by listening to breathing
and heart sounds,
checking muscle movement, and palpating the abdomen
or sore regions. After work, I traveled to Bangkok
to use a visa service. I stayed with Paeng (host
sister) and Nok (works with TSC).
On Thursday, I boarded a bus headed to Cambodia so I
could renew my visa. I paid $50 to use a company
service for the 8 hour round trip bus ride. I
didn't realize that I had overstayed by 4 days. Ah,
I read the wrong date on my passport! So, I had to
pay an extra $50 for the overstay. Not fun. The
ride was long but I met a few foreign travelers. I
arrived back in Bangkok, met up with Paeng and Nok,
and headed back to Kanchanaburi.
On Friday, I went to Pahon hospital. I met Dr. Kung
in OPD, but I had to wait for awhile until she
came. There was a special luncheon for the new
hospital director. I attended the event and had fun
eating lunch with the doctors. I spent the rest of
the day in the OR seeing a repair of an eyelid from
a dog bite and a c-section. After work, I traveled
to Bangkok (again) with Nok, Paeng, and Karen.
On Saturday, I went to Dream World. There was a
special promotion with Care powder. All you had to
do was buy 2 bottles of powder and you could get in
free for the day. Dream World has many rides, like
rollercoasters, water rides, and small kiddie
rides. There's also a fairyland, giant house, and
haunted house. Thais say that they "play" many
games at the park which means they go on many
rides. I liked hurricaine, space mountain, bump
car, grand canyon and many others. We traveled back
to Bangkok that night.
Dates: 4/9 - 4/15
On Sunday, I went to mass to celebrate Palm Sunday.
Instead of receiving normal palm leaves, I received
one that was folded and cut into a really neat
shape. We started mass outside, then proceeded
inside to finish the service. Even though I cannot
understand the
actual words of the mass, I know the meaning that
each section has. I love the songs and how small
the church is. In the afternoon, I went to Erawan
waterfall for the second time. Since I didn't make
it to the top the first time, Karen and I wanted to
hike to the 7th tier. This took awhile since there
wasn't a set path near the top and you had to find
your own way. It was definitely worth the hike up
the mountain since the top was so beautiful. Even
though there were a lot of bugs at the top, we got
in the water. I love the feeling of clean water
flowing down the waterfall onto me. It's so
refreshing and
makes me feel connected to nature. Afterwards, we
celebrated Karen's and Pie's (Karen's host sister)
birthdays.
On Monday, I went to Pahon. I spent much of the day
in the labor room. This time I got to help suction
the baby's mouth right after birth and help to clean
the baby. Suctioning isn't very difficult, but it's
so important because the baby must breath. As soon
as the
head is delivered, the mouth and nostrils are
suctioned. Then, after the rest of the body is
delivered, suctioning is done again. A type of
olive oil is used to clean the baby since a baby
cannot have a real bath until after about 24 hours.
The oil helps to soften the skin and remove blood,
fluids, and other matter stuck to the body after
birth. I went to lunch by myself and met some
doctors there. I went to the labor room again and
stopped in post partum to visit the nursing
students. For one hour at the end of my work, I
taught an English class for the nurses and doctors.
8 nursing students came and 1 doctor. We practiced
conversations, did an activity to explain
photographs, and chatted. The doctor knew English
really well, but the
students didn't know as much. I also began teaching
P. Att's friend's children and the children's
friends. 5 students in total. They come to my
house and we practice English for about 1.5 hours.
We did intros, basic conversations, and the photo
activity today. They also made up stories about
animals.
On Tuesday, I went to Pahon. The main highlight of
today was seeing an amputation. A 16 year old boy
got his right arm stuck in an ice making machine in
a factory. It was so mangled that they couldn't
save it. It was amputated just below the elbow. It
was a bit
gruesome to see the broken bones, tendons, and
muscles of the forearm just hanging loosely. The
hand was pretty much intact, but the lower arm was
destroyed. During the surgery, the doctor
apparently performed a step considered to be below
standard for medical technique. The nurses were
worried that I would inform my government that Thai
doctors perform below standard work. I am not quite
sure what the step was but I think it involved
suturing the muscles so that they would not be
funtional anymore. The doctor switched the origin
and insertion instead of trying to save the muscles
to use with a
prosthetic arm. I also had a class for English
today, but no one came. A man named Sage
(pharmacist) stopped in and we talked in English for
about 45 minutes. He speaks as if he lives in an
English speaking country and enjoys talking a lot!
I taught the 5 students again today. We played a
board game that I made and practiced a conversation.
On Wednesday, I went to Tha Muang. At 12pm, we
celebrated Songkran Festival. This is considered to
be the Thai new year. Everyone wishes each other
good health and fortune for the coming year. Water
and paste/powder are used in the celebration. The
official day is 4/13 but it creates a 4 day
holiday. At the hospital, younger workers pour
perfumed water and flowers into the older staff
members' hands and wish them good health and
fortune. You also pour some on Buddha images to
start. People wear really colorful shirts, shirts
that Americans would describe as Hawaiian shirts.
After the lunch and ceremony, people will pour water
onto you or put paste onto your face. I was
drenched and full of paste on my face when I left.
At 2pm, Songkran was celebrated at Pahon. After
changing my wet clothes, I went to Pahon to
celebrate with the doctors. This was inside so
there was not extra water and paste thrown. We
poured water into the older staff members' hands as
well as the Buddha image. Most older staff wished
me good health and a good time in Thailand. I went
to karaoke this night with Karen, Pook, Pie, Paeng
and Nok. Fun times singing as usual!!
On Thursday, I celebrated Songkran with my host
family. Since today was a Buddhist holiday, we gave
merit to the monks, which means to give them food,
drinks, and supplies without wearing our shoes. The
monks walked along a huge area near the river. The
street was closed so we could give merit. After
this, I poured water onto the Buddha
image. Then, my family and I let a big bag of many
little fish loose into the river. The merit
symbolizes asking for good fortune, while the
releasing of fish symbolizes letting the bad fortune
go away. I taught the 5 students today. We talked
about directions, practiced a conversation, and did
some questions/answers about a wide range of topics.
On Friday, I headed to Bangkok to celebrate Songkran
near Khao San Road, the tourist road. It was so
crazy!!! We had to find a place to stay, so we went
to the nearest guest house but were still wet and
pastey to a small extent. After dropping off our
bags, we loaded our water guns and went out to
play. Barely any farangs played! We were
usually the targets of massive pasting and water.
But paste in the eyes, nose and mouth is not fun so
we constantly had to rinse our faces off. You could
buy paste and water for really cheap so it was easy
to keep playing. The actual Khao San Road had a
foam machine and on our second trip down the road we
were in a giant mob that was
pushing and shoving. It was a bit scary but we made
it out alive and safe! We played for 5 hours, then
went back to our guesthouse and cleaned up. We met
some cool farangs at our guest house that evening
and hung out and talked.
On Saturday, we went to JJ Market, a huge weekend
market. I bought a lot of gifts and a few things
for myself. Such a great place to get deals!
After, we went to a Thai movie with English
subtitles called Nong-Teng. It was a comedy. We
really enjoyed the movie, but then had to hussle to
catch the last bus back to Kanchanaburi.
Dates: 4/16 - 4/22
On Sunday, I went to mass to celebrate Easter. The
church was decorately very nicely and filled with
fresh flowers. With the new decorations, the church
looked much different. The mass was great, and
there were snacks and drinks afterwards outside. I
met a couple
from Canada who have lived in Thailand for 2 years,
teaching English. They were named Melissa and
Brian. It's rare that I meet another person named
Melissa so that was fun.
I taught the students (6 this time) in the
afternoon.
On Monday, I went to Pahon. Today was the official
day for Songkran festival in Kanchanaburi. I spent
time in the labor room and OR today. Both units
were slow and there were not many things to see or
do. It was nice to have some time to talk to some
of the nurses and doctors. In the afternoon, Pahon
celebrated Songkran outside. We
poured water into the elder staff members' hands.
There were about 12 staff members present. There
were a ton of nurses and other staff there, throwing
water around and putting paste onto people's faces.
I got really wet and full of paste, but it was fun!
I headed home after this and changed to go out and
celebrate in Kanchanaburi. I went with
P.Att, Pook, Paeng, Nok, and their cousins. A few
people sat inside the truck we used, but I was in
the back of the truck (outside). We had one huge
bucket and one medium bucket of water. We used
containers, water guns, and pvc pipes to shoot water
at others in the town. It was hilarious to just
drive slowly and get wet from others and then shoot
them with water. Since I am a farang, most people
wanted to get me with water and paste :).
On Tuesday, I went to Pahon again. I met Dr. Anon
in pediatrics, but there were only about 6 patients
to see (not many sick children). Dr. Anon is also
Catholic so I sometimes see her and her family at
mass. The children had different conditions, such
as abdominal pain, respiratory problems, renal
failure, hemoglobin dysfunction, spleen removal,
fever, etc. I also spent some time in the OR. I
saw the following: plate fitted for fractured femur,
stab wound to abdomen, maxillary facial surgery,
c-section (called phonetically see-saa in Thai),
hysterectomy with chocolate cyst. I taught an
English class for the doctors and nurses today.
Only one doctor came, Dr. Jern, whom I normally talk
to at the hospital. It was good to have a chance to
talk again. We talked about America, vocabulary,
definitions of words, pronunciation, etc. I taught
the 6 students in the afternoon.
On Wednesday, there was a holiday because of an
election. The election was for parliament
officials. I hung out with Pook, Paeng, and Nok. I
also taught the 6 students in the afternoon. I
played badmiton in the evening and got my hand
slightly bit by one of the
dogs. Cannom bong (the dog) wanted to eat the
birdie (shutterfly) and I reached to pick it up and
he bit my hand. It was just a small scratch like
bite but it did bleed.
On Thursday, I went to Tha Muang hospital. I met
with Dr. Kit. I like his OPD work because I see a
variety of cases. Today I saw the following:
osteoarthritis, internal hemmoroids (2 cases),
abdominal pain, work checkups, back pain,
hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc. Dr. Kit tells me
information about drug choices and the patient's
condition. I can help by checking breathing, heart
sounds, and joint movement. Patients usually ask
Dr. Kit for additional medicine that they really
don't need. His response is that the hospital isn't
a restaurant and you can't order what you want for
medicine. He
continues and says that if the patient wants to sit
in his chair and order what they want on the
computer, then they can and he will take a rest. I
taught the students in the afternoon. I went to
Pahon hospital in the evening to see a doctor and
get a rabies vaccination. It was weird to be there
in the evening. I had to wait a bit. I will
have to have a total of 5 rabies shots and 3 tetanus
toxin shots.
On Friday, I signed up for a trip to Cambodia. In
the afternoon, I went to a government office to
teach the workers. It was kind of hard because some
are much more advanced than others. There were
about 8 people at the class. The staff is nice, so
I had a good time. I taught the students in the
afternoon.
On Saturday, I went with Pook, Paeng, and Nok to the
local department store (3 levels) and took photos in
a photo studio. For about $6 you can get a total of
20 photos. The studio is filled with colorful
backgrounds and many, many props. We just pick what
props or background we want to use and the
photographer takes a bunch of photos. Then, we can
pick what photos we like for the package. You can
also order individual ones.
I taught the students in the afternoon. In the
evening, we cooked food for dinner and
I wrote down recipes for the food.
*I taught my family, friends, and students some card
games from America. Very funny!! They always want
to play now.
Dates: 4/23 - 4/29
On Sunday 4/23, I went to mass. It was a nice
service. The Easter decorations are still being
used. Today was the last service with the current
priests. Next week the church will have 2 new
priests. I had a relaxing day, then taught the 6
students in the afternoon. This coming week we will
have some fun days for the class.
On Monday 4/24, I went to Pahon. This was the usual
Monday with the morning in the labor room. Today, I
met some of the new interns. There were 2 male
interns working in the labor room. The doctor
working with them is a senior staff member and kept
drilling them with questions. It was interesting to
watch the interns think and try to answer the
doctor's questions. Sometimes she would tell jokes
to the interns but other times she was sarcastic.
Today, instead of teaching English at the hospital,
I got a foot massage. It was relaxing and different
than I thought it would be. I taught the students
in the
afternoon and we had "sports day." I taught them to
throw a frisbee - rather interesting experience -
and a form of ultimate frisbee. We also practiced
badminton.
On Tuesday 4/25, I went to Pahon. I met with Dr.
Pansueon who works in pediatrics. Today, I worked
with her and an intern. There were many cases to
see this time in the young children ward. I saw
some new cases: infant with cyanotic heart (50/50
chance to live), young boy with HIV who was orphaned
since his parents died from AIDS, young
girl with nephrotic syndrome, and a girl with
abnormal hemoglobin and an enlarged spleen. I also
saw a few of the same patients as last week. Some
of the kids were pretty crazy and wanted to run
around the unit or hit each other with toys. I
taught an English class today with Dr. Jern. The
class focused on several issues in America, such as
education, government, religion, family, etc. It
was really interesting to compare Thailand and
America and to listen to her views and ideas. I
taught the students today and we had
a "team challenge day." The students were on teams
and had to use tape, cardboard, and
scissors to create an object. They were then judged
by 3 of my friends. It was really cool to see the
students work together and be creative.
On Wednesday 4/26, I went to Tha Muang in the
morning. I spent time with Dr. Kit in OPD. It was
really fun because Dr. Kit is a funny person and has
an interesting sense of humour. He always tells
jokes to the patients. But he focuses on trying to
get the patients to understand the importance of
their condition and treatment. I saw cases of UTI,
protozoan urinary infection (I got to see the cells
under the microscope), diabetes checkups,
hypertension, and ischemic heart disease. Dr. Kit
also supervises some cases in the ER, so I got to
see a patient who forgot to come in for a wound
cleaning and
developed a very infected foot. I went to a
luncheon with the Pahon doctors as a "leaving party"
for the old interns. It was fun. Then, I spent the
rest of the afternoon at Pahon - in the OR or
relaxing with the doctors. I taught the students in
the afternoon.
On Thursday 4/27, I went to Tha Muang in the
morning. I met with Dr. Kit in OPD. We had some of
the same types of cases: hypertension, diabetes,
hyperlipidemia, etc. Sometimes when I ask Dr. Kit
questions, he'll grab a piece of paper and draw some
sort of diagram, chart, or phrase. It's usually
pretty funny looking but helpful in my understanding
of a medical topic. I've really enjoyed figuring
out lab reports and learning about how results will
pinpoint a condition in a patient. After lunch, I
went to Pahon to get another rabies shot. Then,
later on, I taught the students. It's nice to see
how the students can grow in the understanding of
English. They are all really fun and put forth
effort in learning and participating in games and
activities.
On Friday 4/28, I had a free morning. In the
afternoon, I went to teach at the local government
office. Today, I taught a group of students and a
few staff members. It was an interesting mix of
people - young and old. Sometimes this poses a
challenge in selecting activities because of varying
English levels. It was a fun time. Then, I headed
back home to teach the 6 students at my house.
On Saturday 4/29, I went to the local government
office in the morning. They have a workshop for
making things out of "sa" paper. It was really cool
to see all the things they make, like lanterns,
bags, tissue boxes, small and large boxes, etc. I
decided to make a
star lantern. I choose some really cool colored
paper, but the end product wasn't so good because
the paper did not weigh enough to keep the shape of
the star. Nonetheless, it was a fun experience.
You need a lot of patience to make something from
the paper since it takes awhile to do and precision
is necessary. Today in the afternoon, I had a party
for the students since 2 of them will be leaving to
go on vacation. We had food and played games -
badminton mostly. It was fun to see the students be
excited in planning and setting up the party. They
even brought balloons and a souvenir from Thailand
for
me. In the evening, I went out with my 2 host
sisters and some friends. We went to Discovery, a
lounge/club. There was a band that played good
music and we danced and had fun!
Dates: 4/30 - 5/6
On Sunday 4/30, I went to mass. This time there
were 2 new priests. It was a little different and
mass seemed to be shorter. The priests are friendly
and have a good sense of humour too. I didn't teach
the students today, so I had some free time to relax
with my family and friends.
On Monday 5/1, I went to Pahon. I stopped in the
labor room, but there were no cases to see. I
headed to the OR to check on the cases there. Dr.
Sahathep had a case of total hip replacement (THR).
He allowed me to observe his case which took a total
of nearly 4 hours. The patient was a woman around
50 years of age. She originally had a bipolar hip
replacement but the prosthesis became loose around
the insertion point and needed to be replaced with a
new design. It was amazing to be able to see the
removal of an old prosthesis and the insertion of a
new one. The surgery was rather messy and I got
splattered with blood a few times and needed to be
cleaned with an alcohol swap (neck, ear, forehead).
Dr. Sahathep is an interesting doctor - head of the
orthopedics unit. He always seems to give me a
sarcastic smirk or glance whenever I see him.
During the surgery, he asked me questions about
anatomy. I knew almost all of them, considering it
was difficult to understand exactly what he wanted
to know. My afternoon was relatively calm compared
to the morning. I taught the students in the
afternoon, 4 this time.
On Tuesday 5/2, I went to Pahon. I did some work in
pediatrics, labor room, and OR.
I also taught a class to Dr. Jern. This time, we
talked about dance since she wanted to learn some
dance from America. It was fun! I taught the
students in the afternoon - great time as usual!
They love to learn!!
On Wednesday 5/3, I went to Tha Muang to work with
Dr. Kit. One of the highlights of the day was in
the ER. A woman, age 28, came in by police escort
to the hospital because of physical abuse from her
husband. She looked horrible. Her entire face was
swollen and she could barely see out of her eyes.
She had numerous bruises and cuts across her arms
and legs. (The husband used a cooking stone to hit
her). Apparently, her husband gets drunk on a
regular basis and beats her up each time. So,
accordingly to a quick calculation, she would get
abused about 200 times a year! She's been to the ER
many times and has quite a few x-rays of her skull,
chest, and nasal cavity. She had to be admitted
because of her enlarged facial region. The husband
does not get arrested or anything - quite the
opposite of what might happen in America. Other
cases included checking osteoarthritis on a monk
(need permission because women aren't allowed to
touch monks unless health care etc), diabetes
checkups where the patients are not following the
doctor's orders, and some of the usual cases I've
seen before. I taught the students in the
afternoon.
On Thursday 5/4, I went to Tha Muang in the
morning. Dr. Kit had a meeting to attend, so I
spent time with Dr. Jeb. She was an intern at Pahon
when I met her, and now she works as a doctor in OPD
for 2 years at Tha Muang. Today was part of
diabetes checkup day so I saw a lot of patients with
DM. Currently, it's mango season in Thailand so
many people like to eat mangoes and sticky rice
(rice with sweet coconut milk). Unfortunately,
patients with DM tend to eat way too much of these
sweet foods and have very high blood sugars. All of
the doctors have to remind them to watch their diet
and have control over it so that DM doesn't progress
to more complicated problems, such as neuropathy,
heart failure, kidney failure, etc. In the
afternnon, I had another rabies shot and then took a
bus to Bangkok. I met with Nok and Paeng and we
went to a scary Thai movie called "Ghost Game" (Lata
Pee). The movie used a killing camp (used during
the Khmer Rouge control) in Cambodia as the
setting. It was scary!
On Friday 5/5, I headed to Cambodia with a small
tour. I almost missed the bus since I woke up late
but everything turned out to be fine. At first, I
thought the tour was huge, but it headed up being me
and 2 other women (Thais who live in Bangkok). We
met our tour guide (Don) at the border and traveled
by minivan to Siem Riep, a city in Cambodia. It was
an interesting ride since our minivan overheated
several times. We made it to the city and toured
around. There are many lovely sites to see with
temples and great views. Cambodia is filled with
poor people and definitely offered a different
atmosphere than Thailand.
On Saturday 5/6, we did more touring and visited
Angkor Wat, the largest temple in the world. It's
listed as one of the 7 wonders of the forgotten
medieval world. (There are actually about 49
wonders of the world when you count all
categories). The day was hot, but I really enjoyed
learning about the temples. Some are Hindu and
others Buddhist. Our tour guide was great too!
Dates: 5/7 - 5/13
On Sunday 5/7, I spent the morning in Cambodia. I
did some shopping at the market, then headed back to
Thailand with my tour group. It was a long day of
car rides and bus rides. I finally got back to
Kanchanaburi at 11pm.
On Monday 5/8, I went to Pahon. There weren't too
many things to see in the labor room. I went to the
OR to check on cases there as well. Today, in the
OR, I got to help with a debridement and a hernia
repair. For the debridement, I helped to clean the
wounds from a motorcycle accident. The wounds were
pretty bad but it was interesting to see everything
up close and to participate. The hernia was really
neat too. I helped hold some retractors and did
other simple tasks. It was interesting to see the
layers of abdominal tissue and how the repair needed
to be made very specifically. The doctor explained
the layers of tissue near the inguinal canal as well
as the method of repair which is different than in
America. In the afternoon, I taught an English
class to 2 scrub nurses from the OR. It was
interesting to have a conversation about Thailand
and America
and to try to get them to talk more. I taught the
students in the afternoon - we talked about Thai
weddings and funerals and compared them to Western
versions. Only 2 classes left with them!
On Tuesday 5/9, I went to Pahon. Today, I worked
with Dr. Moss in the morning. She's a pediatrician
and we went on rounds in the postpartum unit to
check on the newly born infants. The babies were so
adorable! Some of the mothers still seemed so tired
though. During one checkup, the baby boy went to
the bathroom and the pee shot up in the air and got
the baby's chart and papers all wet! Everyone
nearby thought it was so funny and laughed! I
stopped in the labor room after, but no cases to
see. Kind of slow today. I also stopped in the
OR. I met up with a visiting doctor from America
(Dr. Jerry, psychiatrist) who was observing how TSC
works at Pahon. We went out
to lunch with a bunch of doctors. In the afternoon,
I got to see a catarac surgery. It's a very precise
surgery and uses small instruments and specific
motions. The lens of the eye was replaced after the
removal of the stiff lens particles. Dr. Wichai was
the surgeon. No one came to the English class
today. I taught the students in the afternoon.
On Wednesday 5/10, I went to Tha Muang. I worked
with Dr. Kit and with Dr. Jeb (who used to be an
intern at Pahon). Dr. Kit said some really
hilarious comments about some patients. One elderly
woman patient came to the hospital at 3am to wait in
the queue (line) in order to get a number for the
out-patient service. Even though she came that
early she wasn't number one (she got number 9). Dr.
Kit told her that she should really get rest since
she's older and come to the hospital at 6am if she
wants to come early. He said that the hospital
won't give her a golden cap for being the first
person in the queue to get number one. Later in the
day, a patient came in wanting treatment and meds.
Since they were initially treated at Pahon, Dr. Kit
told them to get the hospital records from Pahon and
then come to Tha Muang. He told the patient that he
can't meditate to see the records from Pahon and
that if he ordered them meds, it would be blank
because it doesn't know what the previous treatment
was. In the afternoon I worked with Dr. Jeb because
Dr. Kit had a meeting. We did a lot of diabetes
checkups and other cases, such as hypertension,
infections of throat and lungs, boy with down
syndrome, etc. One crazy incident happened when a
young boy around 3 came in and didn't feel well and
started crying during the checkup. His mom set him
down to stand on the floor and he threw
up all over! If it had happened a few seconds
earlier, the mess would have been on Dr. Jeb and
me! Today was the last day of class for the
students, since they will be starting school on
5/15. We played a version of Wheel of Fortune and I
gave them all some coins from America. I'll miss
them a lot!
On Thursday 5/11, I headed to Songklaburi with P.
Att and P. Tan. This town is in the northern part
of Kanchanaburi province, along the Myanmar border.
We spent the day and night here. We took a boat
along the river to see a wat (temple) that's
submerged in the water. Since the river was low, we
got to get out of the boat and walk around the
ruins. It was really cool to see! The area has
lovely scenary with mountains, trees, water, clouds,
etc. I loved it! In the morning, I ordered some
plane tickets to travel to the south of Thailand.
It was a bit difficult to order, but it's done now!
On Friday 5/12, we went closer to the Myanmar border
to visit Three Pagodas Pass. This was a famous site
during WW2 has the Japanese conducted the building
of a railroad from Myanmar to Thailand. I expected
the pagodas to be bigger, but they were really
small. We went to a market filled with goods from
Myanmar. Then, we headed home.
On Saturday 5/13, I got to relax a bit. I did some
planning for travels, got a haircut, and played
sports with my famqA{ iBY]ѐO|4Wķb8]V2pD,\"DpLq=c#5/YL;V X"=kbs mG8ǁba!>Urs\0 × t+!LOD ^P\yQKSr\2qϟTu -)@t{( y
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@vObh?"xAut come to Kanchanaburi to
visit their families on the weekends. They were
very nice and friendly. In the afternoon, I helped
P. Att's professor, Dr. Nisai, record an English
book in a recording studio. Basically, I read
sections of the book, such as pronunciation, things,
animals, vegetables, and fruits. These sections
were recorded to make a cd to distribute with the
book. The book and cd are part of a government
service project to promote the English language in
schools across br>
Kanchanaburi Province as well as Thailand.
On Monday 5/15, I went to Pahon. I spent the
morning in the labor room. There were so many cases
today! I saw 4 vaginal births in the morning and 2
c-sections in the afternoon. There were even more
cases after I left for the day. I did not work with
Dr. Kung today but worked with Dr. Youpa instead.
It's always interesting to see which
nurses will be working in the labor room. Some of
them know me and others don't, so I like to see
their reactions when we talk. In the evening, I met
two new volunteers who participated in a 2 week
program. I really enjoyed talking with them and
they were both really fun and friendly! We ate
dinner together too.
On Tuesday 5/16, I went to Pahon. I met up with Dr.
Ot and Koy, an intern, in the pediatrics ward. It
was a fun morning because Dr. Ot has a great sense
of humour and enjoys talking with much passion and
excitement. There were many cases to see today.
I really enjoyed speaking with Koy. She has a good
handle on English and it was fun to
talk about medicine and America with her. I met up
with some of the doctors for lunch. In the
afternoon, I met with Dr. Kung. This week she is on
the surgery rotation. Before her scheduled
surgeries though, Dr. Youpa had a c-section. She
invited me to join her in the
surgery. It was awesome to scrub in and actually
help during the surgery - just doing simple things
of course. After this case, Dr. Kung had 1 case of
total abdominal hysterectomy and 2 c-sections. I
observed the hysterectomy, then scrubbed in to help
her with the c-section. It was a pretty intense and
fast paced afternoon. I stayed
late at the hospital (about 6pm) in order to help
with the surgeries. In the evening, I headed to
Suphanburi to help with an English seminar.
On Wednesday 5/17, I helped Dr. Nisai with an
English training seminar for teachers in Suphanburi.
I basically led exercises for pronunciation and
other games and activities.
It was fun to get the teachers excited about
English. The main goal of the day was to
promote 3 traits of a good English classroom:
active, productive, communicative.
On Thursday 5/18, I went to Tha Muang.
Unfortunately, Dr. Kit was gone (but I didn't know
in advance), so I worked with Dr. Jeb. Her English
is soso and definitely offered an interesting aspect
for the day. However, since I met her, her English
has improved. There were many OPD cases in the
morning, but slowed down in the afternoon. Dr. Kit
came back about 2pm so I saw him for 2 hours. He
always enjoys jokes and stories, so I'm glad I was
able to see him on my last day of work.
On Friday 5/19, I went to P. Att's school, Wat
Thai. I taught 4 classes. It was the first week
back to class for her students. Some of her
students recognized me from the previous school year
(they moved from M2 to M3). I did a short
introduction, then we played games with candy as a
prize. The students really enjoyed the class and
loved it when I inserted Thai words into the class.
They really didn't think I could speak Thai until I
used Thai words for animals, colors, numbers, etc.
I had a great day at the school!
On Saturday 5/20, I spent the morning with P. Att.
We stopped at Wat Thai to give food to the head
monk. He gave us a blessing for good luck in
return. For the rest of the day, I cleaned my room,
organized things, and started to pack.
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