Barbados - World Asthma Day. Just the Beginning...

Well, my May holiday is drawing to a close and it has been very interesting. Barbados is wonderful and very inviting. After spending so much time here this winter pursuing my dream to Eat Sit and Think I have come to the point where I want to do more in this paradise than relaxing. 

The time I have spent here, while Derek works away on "important stuff", has been very decadent and wonderful.  After a few visits this year, I have found myself becoming spoiled. I longed for my Tassimo. I started resenting the need to put on sunscreen and I started renting a beach chair on which to rest my ever expanding derrière. Before I start demanding that Derek drive me down the road to the beach I knew it was time to regroup. I decided that I was well overdue to figure out a means to "give back" to the people who have so graciously hosted my family and me. 

I have come to readily see that so many are afflicted with asthma and reportedly the incidence of asthma in Barbados is even higher than in Canada. I am an asthma educator, so providing information by any means possible seemed an appropriate fit. 

I have made ties with the Barbados Asthma Association over the past 2 years. Last year I visited shortly before World Asthma Day in May 2012. I was able to provide some asthma aids donated in Canada as well as some information packages. This year I decided to visit, specifically for World Asthma Day on May 7 . During my visit I was also given the privilege of spending some time at a local primary school providing information to students and teachers. 

Enthusiastic school children




Being  with students in Barbados was so exciting. This is a role in which I feel comfortable. Children, whether they are in snow suits or t shirts are very much the same. 





The children at the school ages, 4-10 were very knowledgeable and very respectful to "Auntie Janet" as I was introduced. The older kids participated willingly. The wee ones were enthusiastic. I did it all for the hugs.





Speaking with teachers about asthma management at school was a little more intimidating. I found the most difficult thing was being heard above the clucking of the chickens. I am serious! 
School yard Chickens

Today Derek whisked us back across the island.  Bridget and I helped to man a booth with Rosita Pollard of the Barbados Asthma Association. We provided information primarily with respect to inhaler technique and medications. Glaxo Smith Kline was providing spacers which are so crucial to good delivery of the medicine in puffers. They are unfortunately very expensive. People make do with what they have and some have devised gadgets of their own. To have them provided free of charge was an amazing thing today.
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Polyclinic saw a good number of people come through.  I also had the good fortune to meet a number of interesting individuals committed to broaden the reach of asthma education on the island of Barbados.  I expect with the individuals who are committed and skilled in lobbying and advocating, asthma control will improve greatly over the coming years. Among this group is Dr. Vincent Hutchinson, who has been key in bringing Asthma Education to children in Harlem.  He plans to return to Barbados this year.  I expect good things will be happening with respect to Asthma Education.  

Make-shift spacer 

World Asthma Day in Barbados

So with the help of Bridget my Audio-Visual geek and my husband Derek , transportation coordinator in charge of heavy lifting, we had a busy week.  I hope when we leave here after this week, at least a few people in Barbados having a bit better understanding of ways to improve asthma control.

I also hope I have made some ties to the people who are working so hard here on the island to educate and provide the means to enable the people of Barbados to manage their condition. I look forward to meeting with these people on subsequent visits to add whatever I can to support their work.

Rosita Pollard and Dr. Vincent Hutchinson of A.I.R.E

Breath by Breath in an Empty Nest

I dropped off my beloved at Pearson for his return to Barbados as the project draws very close to something Derek refers to as "kick off". This means for us, as a couple, more distance and more time apart. This is not new to us. The difference now is that the nest, without the 3 sticky kids and without a spouse, is really quite empty.

I zipped back up to The Big Smoke (Orangeville) and actually got to work early. The hospital is a whole different place at 0715. Pie-eyed nurses are changing shifts, praying their car is not covered in snow. The emergency dept is unusually quiet. The parking lot is being cleared for another day of wobbly patients. The best thing though was the fact that I had time for breakfast. Headwaters is an amazing community hospital with it's true claim to fame, beyond state of the art medical care is the cafeteria. The food is well known. The ladies are gems. People come here just to eat. So I had breakfast. It was egg McShirley and could not be beat.  

The next 3 days were what I would consider challenging days. I saw many very sick patients. The routine I put my patients through to assess their lung function, is rigorous when someone is already exhausted. I ask them to blow hard and fast and long, much like a labour coach. I make them hold their breath. I make them breathe "normally" with a snorkel mouthpiece and nose clips on. It is a compromise between getting the best test results while still respecting this persons limitations. This week has been one of patience and understanding for an unusually large number of very sick people. Basically the rule of thumb is "how would I like my parents to be treated" and I try to go with this.  

My role in lung health is to attempt to identify lung disease and intervene and educate where I can to help slow or control the process. My role is not one of a Respiratory Therapist. These are the young keen kids I work with and for whom I have the greatest respect. RTs can do what I do. I cannot do what they do. These are the people you want there in an emergency. You don't want someone people refer to as "pokey". My fear is to be mistaken for an RT so when there is a "code blue" I hide in the closet. 

 I spent a morning this week with a team of people who work to make us aware of the campaigns and resources available to guide our patients in the process of quitting smoking. This is a role I take very seriously. There are so many factors in the decision to smoke and the decision to quit. I do not stand in judgement as a nonsmoker when I speak with my patients. Vices are vices. I have taken a 3 day course on smoking cessation counselling. I wish there was a 3 day course to help people break me of my addiction to Ben and Jerry's. Who am I to judge. As one of the team very wisely commented "if health were easy we would all be healthy" 

Another thing I encountered this week was a profound sadness in 2 of my patients. They recounted the loss of their husbands like it was yesterday. This attachment in later years is something of which I am becoming more aware. I will remind myself of this the next time I have the opportunity to spend another 6 weeks in Barbados.