This week we got to observe a variety of tests and patient consults at HNN. On Monday we accompanied an EEG Tech setup the equipment on a 9 year old patient for a week long study. These prolonged EEG studies are done to find triggers for seizures and where on the brain the seizures starts and how long they last, they are done in patients with epilepsy to learn if they are candidates for surgery that would alleviate their condition. We got to talk to the Tech and discuss the inconveniences, the failures and the risks of the traditional way of setting up this EEG equipment.
On Tuesday we sat with Dr. Bogantes taking consults for patients with neuromuscular diseases along with an orthopedist that recently transferred into Hospital de Niños. Both doctors explained to us why they do tests like making the children walk to watch their stride when walking and watching how their back muscles behaved when doing certain movements; how these diseases are progressive and braces are used to slow down the progression of fibrosis and muscle tissue loss. The orthopedist taught us why different materials are used for day or night even for the same patient and what the process is for getting the braces made.
Then on Wednesday Sarah and I tagged along with Dr. Bogantes doing Transcranial Doppler tests (TCD) to kids with Sickle Cell disease as they are at a higher risk of suffering from strokes or neural death (the process of certain parts of the brain dying because of lack of oxygen or proper blood flow). Later that day we went to the School of Medicine at UCR to watch some cadavers and understand more visually the challenges for dealing with blood clots in the brain. Since we were already there Dr. Bogantes showed us some skeletons and explained to us visually how the bodies of the kids with neuromuscular disease would move if untreated and what damage this causes for not just their musculoskeletal system but also their internal organs.
Friday night the GMI group decided to go out to Costa Rica Beer Factory (CRBF), which is a restaurant I really like in Barrio Escalante. I decided to miss the train home and go with them to dinner. I ate a tasty beef tenderloin burger and got some interesting pineapple seasonal beer to go with it, great time overall.
