26th of June - 8th day of treating .....

At Jesuit Ashram a patient came in with major complaint of lower back pain, whilst going through his history & physical exam he presented hyper-reflexia (exaggerated reflexes), ankle clonus (uncontrolled twitching) and over-contracted muscles in the limbs. Diagnosis was an upper motor neuron lesion, a condition rarely seen in Australia yet this was diagnosed by one of our students.

The night clinic at Seva Kendra is becoming more and more popular with word spreading of the success, Students are working late into the night, and patients are traveling miles by foot, cycle and train to see them.

A 2 year old child came into the Balasan (rock breaking community) with ear pain (no sign of infection). We adjusted a subluxation in her cervical spine (neck) achieving instant relief and immediately smiled after her adjustment, confirming that you are never too young for an adjustment.

Student proficiency with diagnosis, speed and efficiency of treatments has moved ahead in leaps and bounds, Many of the attending patients are coming in with complaints typical of Chiropractic treatment i.e back pain, cervicogenic headaches, AC sprains, joint pain/dysfunction (its not all Leprosy) and Patients are enjoying immediate relief from the students care. Students are also beginning to grasp the "real life" implications of "Duty of Care". The situation here is quite surreal, and we are coming in contact with diseases/conditions that are not representative of the typical care in Australia. The sheer quantity/frequency of these surreal situations is also quite overwhelming. Students & Clinicians are strongly supporting each other through these situations. We have found each other to be one of our most valuable resources here.

Today is International Drug Awareness day, and a group of us where lucky enough to visit a Drug Counseling Center on the Nepal border. They provide a needle exchange program, counseling, drug substitutes, HIV care, medical care. Drugs abuse was not an issue that many of us where aware was present here, so it proved to be a valuable visit. We commend the staff for their dedication and effectiveness of the program achieving outstanding results with such limited resources.