After lots of traveling over the past week, we finally got down to business today and started seeing patients. We are working at a hospital in the provence of Lopburi in the town of Nakhon Chi Si. Even though it is a hospital compound, the eye team is working in and around what amounts to a small wood cabin. We are checking vision and pretesting and fitting glasses outside, while the doctors work in the cabin. Because the cabin is air-conditioned,this was a good deal in the morning, however the AC died by the afternoon. The outside temp was over 100.
We processed over 600 people through the eye clinic today with about half of those getting prescription glasses and many others needing just reading glasses. I saw a lot of eye disease related to sun exposure, especially cataracts and pterigium. Most of the people said they were farmers or outdoor workers. Surprisingly , I saw no macular degeneration. Perhaps the Thai people aren't genetically predisposed to it and/or perhaps their diet rich in fish, vegetables and fruits is protective against the disease.
I had some new career experiences today... Doing eye exams without shoes on (I was in socks but some of the other eye docs were in barefeet). This was because of the Thai tradition of not wearing shoes in a building. All of our patients were shoeless also. I did an eye exam on a Buddhist monk in his traditional robes (and barefeet).
After a long hot day it was great to rehydrate back at the hotel. We are at the same location tomorrow.
