Garlic and Onions--June 4, 2018
This couple walked to clinic today. They have been married for six years and have created five children.
The lovely lady came in with her left arm held up and her husband arrived with his left hand elevated—gently protected by his right hand.
The lady had a very large abscess in her left armpit. It was fluctuant and very painful to the touch. I numbed the skin with xylocaine and used a scalpel to perform an “incision and drainage” (I and D) of the abscess. She also received a shot of antibiotics. (I realize antibiotics are not normally used after an I and D of an abscess, but I really don’t care. This is Haiti.)
The gentleman told me that his left long finger became swollen about eight days ago. He went to a hospital where an incision was made on the palmar side in the middle of this digit. He stated that there was no drainage when he underwent this procedure. He was put on a course of antibiotics.
However, his finger continued to get worse. It became more swollen and painful. Last night he applied a home remedy of garlic and onions to this digit which somehow caused the finger to begin draining from the previous incision site. He told me the finger was “burning” with discomfort.
His exam showed a very swollen and tense left middle finger. There was purulent drainage from the incision made at the hospital last week.
He has infectious flexor tenosynovitis and, in my opinion, stands a good chance at amputation–or at best ending up with a finger that does not work. He needed definitive surgery many days ago.
I gave him some oral narcotics for his pain–his wife will share them–and two big doses of antibiotics. I also referred him to the closest hospital which can admit him and perform surgery. He smiled and told me he will go to the hospital tomorrow.
So, is there a learning point here? You bet there is.
When you treat people like dirt, and they live in the dirt, they acquire medical problems associated with a dirty environment. And they suffer and smile and hope and pray that their garlic and onions will work.
Also, their five little kids depend on BOTH parents being around and providing for them. When the father has a very painful infected finger, and the mother walks around with her left arm up in the air due to severe pain, the kids’ lives are on the line also.
So, once again, the lack of structure in Haitian society and the pervasive misperception that poor people find it enjoyable to live in a dirty environment, often leads to severe problems for people like this couple and their children who need them so much.
John A. Carroll, MD
www.haitianhearts.org
2 replies on “Garlic and Onions”
Keep up the good work, doctor. I always appreciate that you put these problems into the broader context of social/political problems.
Anonymous says:
Thank you, George.
john