Friday, June 24, 2016

Nyacyonga Again


Nyacyonga Clinic

Yesterday was my second visit to Nycoyonga, the slightly less urban clinic that WE-ACTx For Hope partners with to assist in providing care once per week.  I traveled with Edmund, our trauma counselor, and Dr. Gilbert, our clinic doctor.  It was my turn to shadow Dr. Gilbert was he finished some patient consultations.  He saw 6 patients in total, with concerns ranging from chlamydia to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).  His adviced also ranged from giving antibiotics (Deoxycycline) to going to the closest hopsital for X rays and blood work.  

One of the HIV positive patients came in because he recently had a Rapid HIV test at a different clinic that came up negative.  This man had been HIV positive for 10 years and on ARV's for 8 years.  His wife was HIV negative, so they are considered a discordant couple.  He wanted to talk to the Dr. Gilbert because he wanted to stop his ARV's since he had now tested negative for HIV.  His wife was also encouraging this.  Dr. Gilbert was explaining the mechanism of action of HIV and why, even though he still have HIV and needed to take ARV's, the test had said he was negative.  Thus, he left choosing to remain on his medication and glad that he had consulted the doctor.  Smart man.


Dr. Gilbert setting up in one of the offices.
Edmund, me, Dr. Gilbert and Chantal.
Random fact about Dr. Gilbert:  While working in Partners in Health (PIH) in Rwanda before he joined WE-ACTx, he worked alongside Paul Farmer multiple times, who also taught him how to perform a lumbar puncture at one point.

Random fact about Edmund: Before becoming a trauma counselor, he was a self-taught professional photographer.  He used to photograph weddings and other events (which explains why the lighting on this photo is way better than my others - he helped us figure it out!).


Flowers

After Chantal's rough couple days, my housemates and I chipped in to get her some flowers and say thank you for all that she does for us.  

Here's the team and Chantal with her bouquet: