Arthritis clinic had us wearing our skates.........

What a clinic we had today! Word got out, as it was suppose to, that we had a rheumatologist in Lemoa today. Dr. Ricardo Alvillar is here visiting us for two days and we kept him very busy.

When we first arrived at the clinic, it was obvious that we were going to have a crowd. We prepared as well as we could, setting up three exam rooms. We would take a history from the patient, do an exam and then he would circulate through the rooms.

These photos were taken before clinic began.


After I took this photo, I recognized the lady in the front wearing the pink sweater. I met her last week in Choacaman IV when she came for a consult with her husband. Today she brought 3-4 of her friends and they all seemed pleased with the consult.

We had 35 patients for Dr. Alvillar, 33 patients for regular clinic, 17 dental patients, 2 patients for dental cleaning and 2 patients wanted glasses.

Kemmel examined the patients using a focometer and then he was able to design the glasses. Both patients were very excited. That is a smile of a happy customer.

It was a long day but that is ok. Kemmel, Lisa, Ricardo and I had dinner about 8pm and then it was time to shift gears.

These clinics are a powerful tool to reach out to people. When people are hurting physically it is very difficult to talk to them about their spiritual needs. We want to develop a relationship with them so they continue to trust in us and allow the members of The Church to follow-up with them. We will see many of these patients again in our regular community clinics and hopefully we will get some positive feedback.

Tomorrow morning, Dr. Alvillar and I will drive to Antigua and meet the group who just finished a week of surgery in Montellano. I apologize I did not get a photo of him today, but we were running so fast, the photo would have been blurred :) I will get one tomorrow.

Please keep the group in your prayers for safe travel as they return to The States on Saturday. I will be returning to Chichi with Fran, who will be visiting with us for one week.