Hospicio Santiago Apostol... AKA, my job!!

When I blog, I talk about Hospice a lot. But have I ever really explained where I work and exactly what I do?? I thought I would give you all more of an explanation of Hospice and what I do there.

Going in to work!!

Hospicio Santiago Apostol is where I work. It is a Hospice clinic here in Chimbote that is run by the Incarnate Word Sisters, specifically Sister Juanita. Sister Juanita is originally from Texas too but has been living in Chimbote for over 15 years. It is one of the only palliative care clinics in South America and we get patients that come all the way from Cusco to be a part of the program. We provide services such as wound care, reflexology and therapeutic massage, tracheostomy care, colostomy care, IV therapy, nasogastric tubes, catheter care, bed baths, pain control, tube feedings, oxygen therapy, and nutritional education. There are about 25 beds inside the clinic, and on average anywhere from 35-50 patients out in the community at any given time. We have a full Interprofessional team – nurses, nursing technicians, nursing assistants, one doctor, a psychologist, a social worker, a pastoral care worker, and two cooks. We have an Interprofessional meeting every Friday afternoon to discuss patient issues, have guest speakers, educational workshops, leadership classes, and eat snacks and hang out together. Hospice is a really beautiful family and I love all of my coworkers!!

Hospice Clinic

The chapel inside of Hospice

The entry way of Hospice

Our room for morning meetings.... In this photo is Santos the nurse, Anita the social worker, Clorinda a nurse tech., and Susana another North American Volunteer that was here for a couple of months in Sept and Oct.

 

All workers take turns working inside the clinic and rotating one or two months working outside in the community – except for me, I am always in the community!! Which is fun because I get to take turns working with everyone, and I also get a chance to get to know all different parts of Chimbote and all different families. My day starts with a short meeting at 8am in Hospice with my coworkers to organize who the community teams will be (two teams of two go out every day) and what patients we will have. We divide into North and South Chimbote and switch every week back and forth so everyone gets to know all of the patients. After we are handed out our supplies and drink some tea, we are on our way. We see 5-7 or 8 patients every morning and I usually get home around 1 or 1:30. Then we go out again from 3-5:00 or 6:00 depending on how many afternoon patients we have. We offer all of the services listed above, though wound care (the bed sores here are TERRIBLE), massages, and NG tubes and Foleys are the most popular out in the community. I am a pro at taking manual blood pressures now.

And in a nutshell that is my work!! Since I talk about my patients sometimes in blogs (especially the famous Maximo from a previous blog), I decided to post some photos of me and some of my patients so you all can get to know some of them!!!! Obviously HIPPA has yet to reach Peru…..

This is a photo of me and the famous Maximo!!!! And his sister Fanny. As described earlier, Maximo has severe diabetes that has gone untreated his whole life, which has resulted in the amputation of his legs and blindness. Despite all of this, he and Fanny are some of the most beautiful and energetic people I have ever met. So content with their lives and so loving.

Here is me and Paula Rojas. Paula is an abuelita (little grandma) who has uterine cancer. She also has a lot of trouble with her site. While she needs to stay in her house and not leave for danger of hurting herself, she is a little bundle of energy and goes downtown often to sell little candies for money on the street. I have caught her a few times and said “Paula!! I am Katie, your Hospice nurse. What are you doing down here!! You know it is dangerous for you.” And she just smiles and says “Ahh Senorita, 20 cents for a candy!!”

This is a photo of Julia and her daughter, Maria Julia. I looooooooooove Julia!!!! She is one of my favorite patients for sure. She is the cutest little lady who always is laying in her bed and has the biggest toothless smile when I walk in and sing “Buenos Dias Juliaaaa!!!!” and give her a big hug and kiss. She has a fractured femur and their family doesn’t have the money to fix it, so she has kind of just slowly become immobile and her joints started to calcify. Now she is bed ridden and watches a lot of Soap Operas. Haha. She also took one of our kittens!!

This is Amada and I. Amada is 94 years old and has Alzheimer’s. She sleeps a lot. We go and give her reflexology massages to her feet and legs and talk to her a little bit. She is pretty much always asleep but when she is awake she always smiles a lot and is super friendly.

This is me and Paula Pizarro. She died in December, but I really loved her and wanted to put up this picture of her and I. She was 92 when she died and one of the sweetest little grandmas ever and had so much faith. She was always so welcoming and affectionate towards me and really happy to see us when we visited. Her daughter, Rita, is good friends with my community mate Kelli so we get to see her a lot which is nice.

This is Michel. He is only 25 years old and was in a car accident. He is paralyzed from the waist down. He has terrible, horrible bed sores. You can see down to the bone in some parts, like I am literally cleaning his coccyx. It is almost a blessing that he cant feel from the waist down because his wounds are so bad.

P.S. Update about the fire, donations have been pouring in from the Diocese, Municipalidad, and other groups around Chimbote. People have been donating money, used clothes, new underwear and socks, pots and pans, portable stoves, blankets, shoes, toiletries, and a large variety of other things.  While I wouldn’t say the people of San Pedro are “doing well”, I would definitely say that the situation is bettering and they are not going forgotten!!