MEDCAP 2: Day 1

Today started very early and was quite eventful! I mustered at 0530 and then proceeded to the flight deck for our helo safety brief. I got  my flight assignment and grabbed some breakfast before returning to the flight deck to prepare for lift-off. It was very cool to see the ship from the air and some of the islands of Talaud, Indonesia. The water was a turquoise blue and the mountains were full of jungle thrush and very steep! When we landed, we were immediately greeted by an Indonesian military member. As I started to look around, I noticed that the entire landing field was surrounded by town-folk watching us. As we walked down the road to the school where we would be staying, people were lined up all the way down the road saying 'hi' and trying to shake our hands. It was like we were celebrities or something! Once we got to the school compound, it started to rain. We sat and waited for the helos to return with our 12 pallets of supplies. We then unloaded all our gear and set up the pharmacy. Before we started seeing patients, we ate lunch and I had my first MRE (meal, ready-to-eat). I must say it wasn't too bad but I can see how they would get old very quick! We started seeing patients at 1300. We were sent 3 translators to help us communicate the medication directions and counseling points to the patients. We got to know them pretty well already and they are fun, kind, and personable people!
The local people here are so appreciative of our assistance. It has already been a humbling experience since most of the patients are very sick and what we would think to be a standard treatment in America is actually an impossibility here. Most people were under the impression that this mission was a 'SURGCAP,' meaning we would be screening patients and doing surgeries. It was quite depressing at times when patients would bring us their paperwork and prescriptions and the cheif complaint note was 'lump in L breast x5 years & lump in L lymph x2 years' with just a prescription for Tylenol or Motrin. We definitely don't have the capabilites to treat cancer on this mission since it requires such extensive follow up. Some of the cancer cases were very gruesome and it was difficult to see these terminal patients in such pain and discomfort. It was hard to explain to these patients that even in the US, we wouldn't be able to treat them since their condition was so far along already.
I know being here does help most of the people we see but it's heart-breaking to be unable to help some of the severe patients. After we shut down for the evening, some of the Navy guys had the opportunity to play basketball with some of the kids. It was nice to hear some sincere laughter after such a long day. As we got ready for bed, the decision was made to have us (Flying Officer Warren, HM2 Rodriguez, and myself) to sleep in the pharmacy. Since it was unable to be locked and some windows were missing completely, we decided that staying here would possibly deter unwanted visitors.

Before bed, I had the lovely experience of having to pee in a bag for the first time. This is the toilet system we will be using for the next few days. The Navy provided us these disposable bags with some kind of absorbable material to reduce the smell. It was also realized tonight that the shower bags were forgotten so we most likely won't be showering for 5 days since the ship is already 250+ miles away. Thankfully we have tons of cleansing wipes which will have to do!
That first night of sleep was actually not too bad although my anxiety kept me from falling asleep right away and the uncomfortable cot caused me to wake up every time I rolled over. They were also small so I couldn't stretch out all the was especially since the mosquito nets were the most restricting part. OVerall, the slight breeze through the windows with the sound of the geckos, bats, and cicadas made it reminiscent of my childhood camping memories.
I was woken up by the light around 0530 but dozed until 0615. I then got up and proceeded to prepare for the second day!