Hi there, all. It's Friday, the 5th, in the evening and I am going to try to put out this post before I crash for the evening. It's been an eventful couple of days here in Can Tho and have taken lots of pics. Let's see if I can get caught-up...
So, on Thursday afternoon, Amy and I met with Dr. Quyen (pronounced 'Whin'), who was the pediatrician that contacted Amy as she has a large caseload of children with autism and would like some help with those kids, including her own 5 year old daughter. She met us at our hotel to discuss her needs and goals and as I had written before each time Amy communicated with her the number of children she needed us to see increased significantly. Prior to our meeting, it was 25 children and at our meeting it was 30 children, but she did recognize that Amy and I would likely not be able to see all of these children, so she had selected 17 children as a final result. Amy and I are planning on the likelihood that all 30 will show up at some point is high and that's just fine. Dr. Quyen's concern and worry was so palpable when we met with her, Amy and I are hoping we can help, even in the smallest way during this initial encounter with the children and families she sees.
Her goals in connecting with Amy were (1) to help confirm the diagnoses of the children on her caseload as having Autism, (2) help her (and the 1 teacher in Can Tho who works with these children) with treatment ideas for each child and for their families, and (3) to provide each family with education about activities they could be doing with their children at home. This is obviously a very expansive list of goals and Amy and I have discussed that since this group of children have been added to our plans that we can only do the best we can with providing what Dr. Quyen is seeking this particular trip. Obviously, we cannot officially diagnose children with Autism or any other diagnoses, but one challenge here in Vietnam is helping them discern the differences between Autism and Cognitive Impairments/Mental Retardation. In the past, we have been presented with children who have had Autism diagnoses, but they were not autistic, rather had significant cognitive impairments. So this is an ongoing challenge and meeting these new children should be quite interesting.
She, and another parent who accompanied her to our hotel, took us to her medical clinic/office to allow us to see the space to see if it would be sufficient for when we see the children. It was a lovely office space and will be just fine. We then returned to our hotel. Obviously, this work is falling more squarely on Amy's shoulders than mine, as this is the work she does each and every day. I am planning on helping her in any way I can during these experiences.
More details about the plan in a minute...
Last night, we dined with our entire entourage to celebrate Jenni Lehnert's birthday. Jenni is an RN and she is one of the primary coordinators of our trip with her husband, Bruce, who is the lead surgeon and co-founder of IEP. We had a lovely dinner and welcomed her to the 40 year old clan! Happy Birthday, Jenni!!
Here's some pics from the evening...
 |
| Potato dumpling that was served with duck...our meal was decidedly more French, than Vietnamese |
 |
| Mango Shrimp |
 |
| Rau (aka morning glory...kind of like spinach) |
 |
| Apple tart...delicious |
 |
| Vietnamese birthday cake...not typically my favorite. Looks pretty though. |
 |
| Amy reviewing some items with Dr. Phuong |
 |
| Making our presentation of gifts |
We met with Dr. Phuong (pronounced 'Dr. Fung), the pediatrician who is in charge of the therapy department, and sat-down to discuss our schedule. We were planning on being at her hospital today (the 4th), Monday (the 7th) and Tuesday (the 8th). Dr. Phuong provided the connection between Amy and Dr. Quyen and is supporting her work with the children with Autism. So, Dr. Phuong began by saying since Monday was a holiday, that we would be working tomorrow, which is Saturday. Not quite sure how that meant we were working as well, but we are. So here's our plan for the remainder of our time in Can Tho...
Friday, January 4th ~ at the hospital (check!)
Saturday, January 5th ~ 830a to 11a - seeing patients at the hospital
11a - 1230p - lunch with the hospital staff
1p - ???? - begin evaluating the children with Autism at Dr. Quyen's clinic
Sunday, January 6th ~ OFF!
Monday, January 7th ~ 830a to 1230p - seeing patients at the hospital
1p to ???? - continue evaluating patients with Autism at Dr. Quyen's clinic
Tuesday, January 8th ~ 830a - ???? - continue evaluating patients with Autism at Dr. Quyen's clinic
So, a bit of a change and/or addition from our original plans, but oh well. Seems like it's the right direction to go and there is absolutely no network of information here in Can Tho at this time for families of children with Autism. Amy and I are happy to help however we can and so....it will be interesting and challenging, I'm sure. More to come on this.
Here are some photos from our day and a little about the children we saw...
Sign indicating we are in the right place. It's a pretty run-down hospital at this point...much more so this year vs. 2010. Hoping at some point they will build a new one for the kiddos.
Entrance to the hospital...always lots of folks about.
Walking in...Amy's carrying our box of supplies. The murals are updated and freshly painted.
More cute murals.
This is the therapy room. It's not too small, but somewhat crowded when many families arrive. The green mats are covered in plastic, which make them very sticky on which to work...especially when it's warm.
This little boy has cerebral palsy. He is working on standing. Helped his mom learn how to facilitate walking with support.
He exhibited lots of negative behaviors when frustrated with his lack of communication, such as hitting his mom, throwing things, hitting his head. Amy taught his mom and therapist how to use the sign for 'more' with him, but it is difficult in the Vietnamese culture for parents to have expectations of their children for communication, etc. Parents do much of this typically for children at this age, so this wasn't helping this child's frustrations and development.
Super-cute and engaging 4 year old with cerebral palsy. Is working on improving his trunk control and standing and walking. Has AFOs (braces) at home, so can walk holding onto hands with those in place. Some difficulty with speech production due to his difficulty with breath control, but demonstrated some lovely speech and engagement with his mom and the Vietnamese therapists.
Lunchtime....rice + green beans + rau (greens) + hot pot (veggies at top of pic get put into broth that is heated)...delicious.
Lovely fish to accompany our lunch...with some chili too.
Beautiful and delicious green beans.
Our lunch table. At the end is Hoa (pronounced 'Ho-ah'), who is our translator. She is 19 years old and in university.
Dessert...rambutan (think pear and orange combined)...and little oranges (like clementines).
This is called a custard apple. It's soft and has a milky texture. The black seeds in the middle are not edible.
These are plums. Taste a little like a cross between an unripe apple and rhubarb. A little tart and very crunchy.
An 11 month old baby who developed Bell's Palsy 6 days ago on the right...likely due to a virus. Limited movement of her right eye and face were noted. Likely she should get full return of function once the virus goes away. Taught mom some massage and muscle facilitation activities to do. She was quite engaging and so beautiful!
A 12 month old with torticollis (tight neck muscles on the left). Believe it or not...1st time in Vietnam I have seen a child with torticollis. Unfortunately, he has been receiving PT since 1 month of life, so they need to become more aggressive with their treatment (which will be difficult for the therapists/parents to do here due to cultural ways with children). Has a curvature of his spine as a result of his head tilt.
This cutie little girl was 4 years old and her mom is an English teacher here in Can Tho, so we were able to easily communicate without use of translation. She was born with a problem in her brain ~ mom couldn't remember the name of the diagnosis, but is going to email me with that information ~ and just recently learned to sit independently. She is developing a scoliosis (curvature of her spine), so I'd like her to get a brace to prevent it from getting worse. Dr. Phuong made a few phone calls and it seems she will be getting a brace custom-made for her soon. There is a gentleman in Can Tho who makes braces/splints and does a nice job.
Mom and a 'specialist' (likely a therapist) have worked very hard with her and she can now stand independently while leaning against a wall. Good progress for this little girl. Not sure she'll learn to walk, but mom has great intuition and works with her so much, so not ruling it out.
We then, gladly, got to walk back to our hotel to decompress and to stretch our legs. In 2010, despite our greatest desires and plans to walk back from the hospital each day it rained so much that we could not. So today, despite some cloudiness (and lots and lots of humidity), we were able to walk back to our hotel. Yay!! Was able to get some 'day-in-the-life' type of photos, which I always love finding.
 |
| A hand-cart for someone who cannot walk. |
 |
| An elote cart. |
 |
| The Apple Store |
 |
| Love the wiring. Wonder what an electrician would think about this??? |
 |
| Found this exercise center...not sure if it's in use, but the poster was a hoot. |
 |
| Yoga, Pilates (?), Pole Dancing??? |
 |
| Orchids for sale...on the street |
 |
| More wiring... |
I will post some fun videos of kiddos and other things likely tomorrow night or on Sunday. It's time for a shower and to go to bed!
Having a great time and glad to be back into the pediatric world again...feels like home!
xoxo
Stacy
No comments:
Post a Comment