Blog

Moms asking me for my number if they liked the care their children got. The minimalist pediatric ward at Port Antonio hospital. The doctors at Annotto Bay keeping a 900 gram 28 weeker alive with CPAP after Bustamante was unable to take him because one of their babies needed the only available ventilator. A road accident outside Port Maria with one of the victims lying in the road. Inep and naceberries. The way the sea turns pink at sunset. Running into the mom of a child I diagnosed with appendicitis in Port Maria, outside the surgical ward in Annotto Bay. Chickens in the courtyard and goats in the parking lot. Too many road accidents — nobody wears seatbelts. Reggae in the morning, reggae in the evening, reggae at nighttime, on Irie radio. A 7 year old yelling “please doctor! I beg of you!” while I was suturing a laceration on her foot, then jumping off the gurney and running screaming through A&E when I was only halfway done. A restaurant in Annotto Bay called “Juss Enuff”. My other favorite Jamaican business — Car Wash and Bar. Dr Ramos’ teaching rounds — What am I thinking of, doctor? Learning to sail the Hobie cat. An 8 year old rasta with his dreads in a tam. Ackee and saltfish. Conversations with the drivers, mostly about food. Seeing things I never see, like hemophilia, and things I always see, like asthma. Who Cook It Betta? Singing along to “Three Little Birds” on the way to Annotto Bay — Cameron, the driver, said we should all listen to it every morning of our lives — I agree. The kids of St Mary’s and Portland parishes. Soon come.