Today was an interesting day… on my travels to and from the hospital/clinic I visited, I was able to enjoy some 80s music. I can’t get over how many people love 80s music here. The driver this morning and afternoon was playing loads of it, including some Kool and the Gang (personal favorite), Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Simply Red, Michael Bolton (3 times in a row, I almost jumped out of the car), Cyndi Lauper, etc.

During the day, I reviewed some dosing for some pediatric patients and talked to the pharmacists about adherence. Then I went briefly to an HIV orphanage, kids are placed there after they are abandoned at birth or after their parents die. The home is the Cyril Ross Nursery and houses ~40 HIV positive kids between 3 years old and 22 years old. I took one look at the medication room which was organized perfectly and talked to a couple staff members. They seem to run a very tight ship there and the kids seem to do quite well. Apparently all of the kids can tell you the names and doses of all of their HIV medications, pretty impressive, as many of the adult patients at home cannot do the same. Meds are administered twice daily and most of the kids are taking tablets instead of syrups. During the day the kids go to school with the “regular” kids and then come home for dinner and activities. They have a very dedicated staff and seem to be cared for very well. There were three kids who were not a school today and they generally looked very well. One little girl, who was maybe three, seemed like she was not as developed as appropriate for her age. Her muscle tone appeared pretty weak and I don’t think she was walking yet, just crawling. She crawled over to me and we played for a bit. I asked her to find her ears, her nose, her eyes, her hair, etc… she loved the attention and smiled a lot. The boys who were home were content to watch “Stuart Little’ and had little use for me. I was very impressed with the place and saddened at the same time. I think I am going to gather some stuff when I get home and send them a box, apparently the kids are in need to clothes and other necessities. Let me know if you want to kick in a package of underwear or something.

To make this a sandwich post “uplifting-sad-uplifting”, “80s music-HIV orphans-monday night football”, I will end by saying the Bills will be playing the Browns on Monday Night Football this season. We should get some tickets for the game and plan a good tailgate party at Ralph Wilson.