Day 6

After 7 long hours, I've finally managed to upload these 8 photos with my 2G wireless internet connection. Now that my internet has been downgraded from 3G to 2G for the rest of the month, I've had little motivation to let my laptop roost all day in the heat in an attempt to upload these photos. Hopefully I'll get back on schedule. 

I went on a second urban field visit to MDR patients within downtown Nellore on this day. 

It's been a few days so I've forgotten her name but this patient is 26, works as an accountant at a power company within Nellore, and is paying off a large loan on her newly built home that houses her mother and sister. I was too shy to take a picture, but her sister suffered severe burns all over her face and neck from a stove mishap a few years ago. Apparently her husband left her after the accident because of her appearance following the accident. I've met a lot of people in a short amount of time whose husbands or wives left them following a major health problem. 

In the middle of her TB treatment, she contracted polio, was hospitalized for a few days, and lost a lot of muscle mass on her leg. She now uses a leg brace and walks with a cane. She plans to get married after her treatment is completed. 

This is Razzi! One MDR's DOC provider. She's 19, and her large family resides in a one room house on a small walled compound that gates in their many cattle. Upon entering the residence I was surprised to find this mini farm hiding away in such an urban area. Razzi just finished school and is very interested in fashion design, but her mom didn't think it was practical financially for her to pursue. She instead does tailoring. I hope to help her with her interests in fashion design somehow. She said she plans to get married in a few years and invited me to her wedding. I invited her to my wedding too. We exchanged phone numbers and I promised to stay in touch without fail! 

Dem cows. 

Her grandmother. Wrinkly people are always fascinating to look at. 

The MDR patient was extremely thin. I don't think this picture captures how thin he was. He behaved very weakly, had trouble standing, and couldn't stop coughing. When Solomon asked why he wasn't eating properly, he complained about sores in and around his mouth that made it too painful for him to do so. Solomon explained that the sores were a result of malnutrition--not a side effect of the medicine as the patient had expected. This patient is essentially in a vicious "doesn't eat because his mouth hurts therefore he doesn't eat therefore his mouth hurts" cycle. 

As a person who to this day cries when she is hungry, I can't imagine feeling the way he probably feels. 

The day ended and I went back home. I found some of the school boys in quite a predicament in the middle of their cricket game. Somebody hit the ball across the street right into a house, and the lady living there refused to give the ball back. The boys huddled over and begged her to return it. It was super funny and adorable to watch. After an outrageously long amount of time, she finally gave the ball back. Yay