Comas, Scalps, and Orlando Bloom?

I think we're finally back in the swing of things here in Hue. I will be working in the pediatric ICU for the next couple of days. It is such a different world here when it comes to medicine. The ICU is quite different than what you would see in the States. I was able to take care of a number of babies this morning and I loved it. These kids had a number of problems including heart defects, pneumonia, cleft lip/palate, bacterial meningitis, kidney failure, and one girl was in a coma after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. I was paired with another student, Kelly, and we worked with Bac Si Hau. He is a very busy physician, but took the time to explain the disease process for many of these kids. Again, the patience and kindness of these physicians is astounding.

I was able to clean the scalp of a 5 month old boy this morning. His head had never been washed before and it was covered in a lot of dead, crusty skin. This is a common practice in Vietnam as many of the people believe that if the baby's head is washed, their soul will blow away. Very interesting. The cleaning process was sorta gross, but he looked so much better afterwards. One of the many delightful battles we face in nursing...

The past few days have been pretty low-key. It was raining and cold here for a while, but I am a-okay with it. I think everyone else wishes it was warmer, but as you're aware, I do not do well in the heat. It finally stopped raining today and is a bit warmer. I'm hoping this weather holds-out until we leave for the villages next Sunday.

In other fun news: we went out to eat at the most amazing Pho restaurant last night. They had the best food I've had in Vietnam to date. They had these fried pastry dumplings filled with various (and unidentifiable) food. It was a place where only the locals hang out except for one other tourist guy. I swear it was Orlando Bloom! He looked just like him but everyone else disagreed with me. But I will stand by my celebrity sighting. Why wouldn't he be here? I mean, Orlando needs a vacation too, right? Sheesh.

Okay...that's all for now. Wish me luck in the week or so ahead. This begins our marathon hospital and village time. Non-stop, 7 days a week. We won't have another break now until mid-March. Should be fun!