Day 6 - I Spy

We had to say our goodbyes to the ONN crew as we ate lunch. They had a lot of footage to edit and assemble into their Hurricane Katrina anniversary documentary. They also had an interview scheduled with Dr. Phil, concerning the psychological after effects of Hurricane Katrina.

I was about to return to work, when one of the team members spotted the discoloration of my right eye and remarked that it had gotten worse. I admitted that I'd suspected pink eye (from viral causes), but that I'd intended to get it looked at after returning to Ohio. But Chuck wanted to get a look first. He instructed me to pry open my lower eyelid and look upward, then to pry open my upper eyelid and look downward. From what he saw, he decided that I was going to get my eye looked at as soon as possible. I said I'd need somebody to drive me to the clinic to get my eye looked at, and Chuck said he'd make the arrangements. In the meantime, I returned to the back room of the house to clear away more debris.

The son of the home owners came inside with Chuck once the front room had been gutted. He looked at the beams and the studs in the room and had to come to a hard conclusion--the house could not be repaired. If the wood looked as bad elsewhere in the house, then it would be better to demolish it. Immediately following that consent, our working orders changed. We were now to sift debris and search for sentimental items. Debris was to be removed only if it was directly in the way of our search. We dug through the back room, pulling up all we could in hopes of finding a coin collection that used to be in a box. All we could find were handfuls of Mardi Gras doubloons, with the occasional collectible doubloon turning up.

But we did not find the collection before it was time to leave. We returned to Camp Rowley in the middle of the afternoon to pick up another assignment before the end of the day, and to drop me off with the person who had noticed the condition of my eye. Chuck told me that I didn't have to shower and change just to visit the clinic, so I went as I was. After trying to find out which entrance was the correct entrance for the clinic, we arrived at the right place. What usually took "at least three hours" for people who'd visited the clinic before, took a little over an hour. And that time was spent inside a building with air-conditioning. I filled out my paperwork, then I was examined, I was asked about my symptoms, and then given anti-inflammatory eye drops, antibiotic eye drops, an anti-inflammatory shot in one hip, and an antibiotic shot in the other hip. I was also handed a prescription for Ciprofloxacin (antibiotic pills).

On our way out, we met the youth group leader from California and one of his teenagers. She had cut her hand and would only need a few stitches. We left them at the clinic and returned to Camp Rowley. After I'd showered and changed, I searched for Brendan. When I found him, I asked him where I could help out. He referred me to the kitchen, since dinner was almost ready. I arrived just in time to help carry food to the Cafeteria, and then I was allowed to eat and prepare for the evening devotional. Unfortunately, the food prepared for the group was not enough for everybody. Some people ate leftovers, and I think some never even showed up for dinner.

After the devotional, Chuck took me to the Walgreen's pharmacy to submit my prescription. One of the California volunteers came with us to buy batteries for his digital camera. The prescription would be ready to pick up in the morning tomorrow.