The first 3 days being on the ship here in Santo Domingo have been pretty decent so far! The meals are not bad (not the greatest thing I have ever eaten either, but nevertheless...). On the 14th we got to meet some of the members of the pharmacy staff on board and they are amazing. I have already become great friends with HN Sparks (from Kentucky) and HM1 Fowler (a good ole guy from Alabama!!) and the best part about meeting these guys is that they LOOOVVVEEE Sweet Tea!!! HN Sparks makes a pitcher of it every day and he found out that I LOOOVVVEEE Sweet Tea too, so he let me partake of some!! Needless to say, my life on the ship is complete now :)
Yesterday, Amanda, Bill, and I got to spend the day in the pharmacy where we pre-packaged some more medication for Honduras. We also found out the actual days we get to go out to the Med-Sites on land, which I got to go out today, then I will go out Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Today was my first day out at Med-Site #1, which was about 20 minutes from the shore. My preceptor Bill and I were together along with LT Phung, HM3 Aycock, and HM2 Batey. I had to muster at the Pharmacy at 6:15 this morning, then we boarded the tenders to take us to shore around 7:00. So that made us get to the site roughly around 7:30 or 8:00, (after waiting on everyone to make it to shore). Once we started up for the day... the patients came in bursts; sometimes we would get backed up, then we would have 3 to 5 minutes of nothing, then it would get backed up again. The things I saw and the patients I met were eye-opening! A baby less than a year-old with a tumor almost the same-size of its head coming off of its neck and jaw, patients that come up with HIV and you really are not able to give them the meds that they need...
What an experience though!! I can't wait to see how Med-Site #2 goes on Wednesday!
Hi Ryan, Glad to hear you're having invaluable experiences! Can't wait to hear about the adventures! Keep blogging!
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