Yeladim!

First 3 days in pediatrics and much craziness! Already have seen one girl with congenital analgia (insensitivity to pain) which comes with all kinds of problems and infections. The mom is pregnant with another child with the same syndrome.

I'm learning new vocab and sentences such as:
Is your husband related to you?
Are you the only wife?
How many kids do you have and what are their agess? (Typical answer: 6 other kids, ages 7,6,5,4,2 and 1.)

Played with a little boy who is 2 years old but about the size of a one year old. He pretty much lives on the ward. He has some pancreatic problem and can only receive TPN (nutrition via infusion). The parents abandoned him and no foster care was willing to care for him. There isn't any appropriate institution for a child like him. But he seems happy, sitting behind the nurses station and understands some Hebrew, Russian and Arabic.

My latest patient is an 8 month old boy who weighs 3.5 kilos. He had esophogeal atresia and underwent an operation soon after birth but despite that has FTT (failure to thrive). They still haven't figured out exactly what the problem is. It also could be something congenital..
Inbreeding is bad.

The pediatric ER is full of impatient parents demanding that their child be seen IMMEDIATELY! Most people speak Hebrew, though sometimes there are Bedouin families that don't live in towns who are less educated and speak only Arabic and smell of smokey outdoor fires. I still need to find out what they burn becuase there isn't much wood in the desert. Most of the doctors know basic Arabic.
In 2 weeks, we go to outpatient clinics for 5 days. I'll be going to Aroer..a Bedouin town near Dimona. Should be exciting!
That's all for now...Julia & Julie inspired me to update the blog. :-)