Two local nursing students recently got a crash course in caring for impoverished patients in the Dominican Republic.
Susan Gajdos, a 2005 Brandon High School graduate, and Stacy Luttrell, a 2005 Goodrich High School graduate, were in the developing Caribbean nation from Aug. 2-9 as part of an annual mission trip with their church, New Life Christian Fellowship in Grand Blanc. Five doctors and four nurses were with Gajdos and Luttrell, who will graduate from the University of Michigan-Flint in December.
‘I wanted to go because I wanted the experience before I become a nurse,? said Luttrell, 21, who also went on the trip last year. To go on the trip, they each had to raise about $1,600.
Luttrell and Gajdos, 22, had plenty of work to do? they saw roughly 200 patients per day, approximately 1,200 total during their trip. They stayed at a hotel in Puerto Plata, but went to a different city every day, getting up at 7 a.m., packing a truck with medical supplies and setting up a clinic in each place, to treat patients until about 7 p.m. each evening, only breaking for lunch. ‘We sat with doctors and assisted them? they tell you what they need and you do it,? said Gajdos. ‘We rotated doing labs, urine tests, tests for HIV, glucose, and other bacterial diseases.?
Fungal infections, parasites, scabies, chicken pox, and sexually transmitted diseases were common ailments.
‘The water supply (in the Dominican Republic) is very unsanitary and contaminated, that’s what causes a lot of the parasite infections we saw,? said Luttrell. ‘It also causes malnutrition and eats away at their stomachs and intestines. We also saw a lot of fungal infections. They walk around barefoot because they have no money for shoes.?
The nursing students helped with gynecological exams, Pap smears, distributed medicine, vitamins and deworming pills and took off cysts.
Gajdos recalls the diabetic patient who had a huge ulcer that hadn’t healed for a year. There was the baby, a few months-old, who had an extra finger on each hand that needed to be removed. And, most devastating, the woman in her mid-20s who came to the clinic with a throat infection and large mass under her chin that prevented her from being able to swallow. The woman had a temperature of 104 degrees and wasn’t mentally coherent.
‘She and her husband were HIV positive,? said Luttrell. ‘It was hard to break it to her that she had it. We had to send her to the hospital.?
Still, even with a lack of basic regular medical care and impoverished living conditions, Gajdos and Luttrell were amazed at the happy nature of the people they saw.
‘They were so thankful, even though they didn’t have anything,? said Gajdos. ‘Here, we complain a lot. Never once did I see any of them complain about their situation.?
Luttrell agreed.
‘These people literally have nothing,? she said. ‘They live in shacks, and they are happy to show you. They have very little, but are very thankful for what they have. They sang to us and praised God, and thanked Him for their life, and praise for what they had. Here in America, we have everything, but we take it for granted. We don’t realize it because we’re born to it.?
Medical attention was scarce for the people they saw, who were excited just to have their blood pressure taken. Luttrell noted that in the Dominican Republic, if a person needs surgery, they have to pay for the sutures, scalpel, every instrument used. ‘Down there, they pay for every little thing they are using,? she said. ‘And if they have a condition, they’ve probably had it for years. Their health care is very poor… I think it doesn’t take much to help anyone. I couldn’t grasp how providing medical care helps someone. I didn’t have to do anything special, just provide the knowledge I have going into the medical field.?