Nurse Deborah was called into action again as Semoko returned from his trip to Labasa with a large festering boil on his back. Like most Fijians, I think, he is not so big on doctors or hospitals and instead prefers self-treatment. While visiting his family in Labasa he enlisted their help in treating the boil, which he of course can’t reach. But apparently the children, including the youngest niece (aka The Monkey), were keen to be involved and ended up doing more harm than good.
I think all three of us cringed as Deborah tried to clean out the oozing wound with cotton balls dipped in hot water. Then she used a hot compress, followed by an application of the same medicinal leaves we used to treat his cut finger. The leaves were left covering the boil and held in place by a covering dressing. This procedure will no doubt be repeated each day until the ugly boil is sufficiently healed. Deborah also gave Semoko some Advil we had brought with us (haven’t found it here) to dull the pain so he can sleep. It’s too bad you can’t just gather Advil in the forest like you can the therapeutic leaves.
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