Medical Visit, March 18

My first visit to Ramavaram today! What an experience to say the least! Swarmed by kids, teenagers, and adults alike...I was in for quite a shock! To FINALLY visit the place and see for first hand what Sangam India was all about was truly amazing!

My first visit saw a lot of cases of conjunctivitis. disposed medications..kinda like a mini “medical camp!” Apart from that, got to interact with the people there as well as the kids… such unconditional warmth and generosity! Felt something you can’t quite put into words to be able to help so many deserving kids… All I can say is that I am glad I am part of such a wonderful organization and looking forward to many more trips and experiences at Ramavaram!

Kudos to the whole gang for starting Sangam India!

Click here to view the photos from this trip.

Medical Updates

Earlier this week, Dr. Thinesh went with Sangam India members Nivedita, Vasundra and Vandhana to the slum to combat a recent epidemic of conjunctivitis that we discovered on our previous visit to Ramavaram. We'd all like to thank Dr. Thinesh for taking the time to come to the area to help treat the people there. About 10 children were treated for conjunctivitis. A variety of other medical complaints were also addressed on the same day. Hopefully we will soon have a short statement from Dr. Thinesh about his first visit to Ramavaram and his experience there. Click here to view the photos from this trip.

Also occuring on the medical front:

• Nagajyothi, our patient from Ramavaram with chronic suppurative otitis media (unsafe type) was admitted into a hospital this week and has been recieving treatment. She will hopefully be operated on next month.
• We are working with one lady who has had complications postpartum. She is in the process of getting her tests done and will receive treatment soon.
  

Funding for Nagajyothi's Surgery

One of the residents of the Ramavaram slum, Nagajyothi has been diagnosed with the "unsafe type" of chronic suppurative otitis media, an ear infection which can have dangerous, (even lethal) complications ranging from deafness to brain abscess. One our visit to give food to the residents following the rains last month, Nagajyothi's mother complained to us that her daughter had an ear discharge since her childhood that had recently become bloody. We sent her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with this condition.

In order to prevent complications, this is a condition that requires surgical treatment. Sangam India is going to be funding this operation. Today Nagajyothi and her mother came to the hospital to begin doing the labwork to prepare for the operation, which will probably happen in the near future.

We aren't sure how much the operation is going to cost, but we will post an update as soon as possible. If this is something you may be interested in paying for specifically, please let us know. Thanks!

Dharma gets surgery

Being medical students and doing social work on the side sometimes seems like we’re doing two totally different things, but this past weekend was a chance for us to bring our two worlds together. Dharma, a child from Ramavaram, was brought in to our hospital on Friday for a minor surgery. It being a new experience for him and his family, his parents asked us to be there and take them through the procedures. At first it seemed like we wouldn’t really know when the surgery was going to happen, and we were all waiting, hoping that someone would call his name soon. After a while, the three of us that were there decided to go in and talk to the surgeon. When we tried, though, he was very brusque and told us to just wait until the name was called. We tried again after a few minutes, since Dharma’s parents both came to the hospital and we knew that they really couldn’t afford the time off. This time the doctor took us in, and Benedicta and I scrubbed in on the surgery while Aruna waited outside with the parents. The procedure itself seemed simple enough. I had the opportunity to get some hands on experience with mopping blood and holding clamps and scalpels, and whatever other little things the surgeon allowed me to do. The surgery took about half an hour, after which we dressed the wound and took Dharma and his parents to get meds as well as give the biopsy for histopathology. The whole process took about 3 hours, but we were able to send Dharma home, having taken care of all his medical expenses. Today he came in for his follow up, but he came alone without his parents, which made all of us think about how hard it is for some of the people that we’ve met to take time off work even for medical attention. It really reinforces how vital it is that we continue to take doctors and medicines to them rather than waiting for them to come to us. Dharma is doing fine now, and I have to say that I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the process.