There isn't much privacy in Aso's office. The examination room and waiting room are kind of combined into one large space. Everyone gets looked at with an audience and gets their diagnosis with an audience. (A woman in my ESL class described to me a gynecological visit that was the same set up. Can you imagine getting that kind of check up with a room full of people!?) Our photographers were able to come in and take all the pictures they wanted without really asking the parents (who's children are getting looked at for life threatening diseases!) or other staff. Granted they get what they needed and leave as soon as they could it still showed how little privacy was given in the situation.
Dr. Aso is an incredibly gracious man. He was very warm and welcoming and his spirit exuded optimism. He has learned to make due with the resources he has. After attending medical school in Italy Aso returned home to Kurdistan to help his people. He is a paying member of a pediatric cardiology association in Europe but is unable to be granted a visa to attend seminars. According to him it is because he is an Iraqi but no matter the reason without further training he cannot learn the newest techniques and improve his knowledge of the type of medical care so desperately needed here. Even Aso's supervisor does not know many of the procedures required to fix the children that come in their office so how can Aso become better?
Still he is creative with what he has. A girl around 7 or 8 came in to have her heart checked. I could never imagine a heartbeat could be so irregular and a person still be alive. But here she was sitting by me with her huge brown eyes staring at me while I made really excited faces in an effort to make her feel like everything was ok. Aso wanted to hear what her heart rate was like after some exercise. Many doctors have a treadmill or something handy for these situations. Instead he dramatically waved his arms around and smiled wide as he told her to go run up and down the stairs three times. Once she returned, he checked her again and told us with medicine she would be completely fine.
The machine Dr. Aso uses to see into a child's chest was given to him by Italian partners. The part that is run over the heart (which looks similar to what is used for a sonogram) is normally used on 1,000 patients before being replaced. Aso has used his on over 4,000 patients. He said his western counterparts are always shocked when they hear that. Apparently the picture on the echo machine (which is the TV-like screen that shows the heart function) is getting fuzzy. Dr. Aso said this offhand but I'm assuming American doctors would balk at that fact.
During the few hours we were there Dr. Aso was continuously explaining to us what was going on and answering any questions we had. On the one hand this was very helpful and nice of him to do. On the other hand I felt bad that we were getting critical information before the parents. Some of the parents seemed annoyed at our presence, some kind of excited and others ambivalent. One younger mother had brought her toddler in because at different appointment a doctor said her son had an enlarged heart. She looked so worried and constantly on the verge of tears as she tried to calm her squirmy son. While Dr. Aso was talking to us about what was going on I tried to keep smiling at her to some how lessen her stress. She waited so patiently to hear the diagnosis that could change her and her son's life forever. The diagnosis we were being told first. Luckily, the boy was completely fine. You could see every muscle in the young mother's body relax as she heard the good news. It was like she melted but in the best possible way.
The last amazing thing we experienced in that office was this...
Baby Abdul came into the office with his father. (Read this amazing PLC blog post written by Esther about Abdul and his father. Especially read the second to last paragraph.) We got to watch Aso diagnose him with a very serious heart condition (he's already had one surgery but it's benefits are only a temporary fix) and then recommend PLC to Abdul's father. When we returned to the office Lydia showed us the above picture and we learned that they came straight over to meet Jeremy and discuss their options. Now baby Abdul is going to be a part of the Remedy Mission!!!!
This is why Remedy is so important. With this one event, Dr. Aso will get training from highly educated doctors, 30 children like Abdul will be able to see their next birthday and 30 families will rejoice because their children are on their way to better health.
The day I went to the hospital for this visit had started out terribly but it ended up being good for my heart. And that's exactly what Dr. Aso is there for, to fix hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment