ABC and normal clinic in Chuchipaca

This morning, I rode out to Chuchipaca with Lisa and Kemmel.  We met Manuel, Tomasa, Sandra, Cecy and Cesar out there.  We quickly set up clinic and started seeing patients.

Kemmel, preparing the folders as Cecy and Manuel get the patients ready.

Cesar seeing the ABC Children for their dental check.  He talks to the parents on how to better their dental hygiene.  It has been a very difficult challenge but we have seen some improvement.

Lisa had 19 regular patients and there were about 35 ABC Children.  There was only one that was a little underweight but over all, everyone looked great. 

We had one little girl that told Kemmel she wants to be a Doctor........what an exciting dream for her!

One young girl has a hernia so we will get her set up for surgery.  Since she is part of the ABC Program,  all of the costs will be taken care of by Health Talents.  The patients and parents are very appreciative of the program.  They often tell me what a blessing it is to them

I called one of our cancer patients, Ofelia and she told me that she is very sick in bed.  I will talk to Gaspar and we will look for a day to go and visit her.

It was a good day and it will be a good night to rest :)

Clinic in Panajxit

This morning, I met Martina and Sepela and we headed out to Panajxit.  We met Tomas, Enrique and Aura out there.  There were a few patients waiting and we quickly set up for clinic.

It was a pretty day.  Even though it has been dry, it is still pretty.  In a few short weeks, we will be having some rain and the fields will be prepared for planting corn.

I am not sure why I have been surrounded by so many turkeys the last week.  These two were checking out the ladies!! 

We had 10 medical patients and 15 dental patients.  I asked Aura if her back was bothering her when she finished.  She told be that her back was not bothering her but her arm was.  All of their patients were extractions and eventually it takes a toll on the arm muscles.

We enjoyed a great lunch at Enrique's.  I went in the kitchen to see his wife and helped fan the chicken as it grilled.  We had grilled chicken, spaghetti and tortillas.  As usual, it was wonderful!!

Tomorrow, we will have clinic in Chuchipaca.

Busting clinic in Chuguexa

Enrique and I had a great clinic in Chuguexa today.

Manuel, Tomas and Gaspar headed to the coast to take some supplies.  Lisa, Maury and Cecy headed to La Palma to do an IVAA clinic.

When Enrique and I arrived, the room was full with patients.  It is a good feeling to know that people have confidence in the care that we provide.  Enrique took names and I searched for their files.  Enrique did the vital signs as I saw the patients.  I helped search for medicines and took some of the blood sugars. 

It was a good day with 30 patients.  Most of the diabetic patients were controlled and I am always glad to see that.

I think that Enrique enjoyed the day as much as I did.

Tomorrow, we will all be in Clinic Caris.

Things to be thankful for!

Today is just a quick blog of things to be thankful for.  Yesterday, several people were baptized in Pachitac.  Cecy posted these photos and and I stole them from here Face book.

Baptisms are special events in some one's life.  It is an outward showing of your decision to follow Christ.  At this point, you receive the cleansing of His blood and the hope of salvation. It is a day that your family, the church and the angels in heaven rejoice.

The next celebration is as addition to our family, Mac Kenzie.  This is my brother, Mike, Angie, Paige and my mom and dad.  Mom is holding Mac Kenzie. We are thankful that she is doing well and is healthy.

We were also blessed this week by a donation from Sally and Erv.  They are also missionaries here in Guatemala, with a special interest in midwife education and woman's health.

This week they delivered two truck loads of supplies that we can use here in the highlands and also in the coastal area.  Some of the guys will help by delivering these to Montellano. Enrique is sweeping after Erv and his guys delivered the boxes.

Sally and Erv, thank you!  We will put these supplies to good use!

Check up for babies!

Wow, what a difference in these children!  The parents are so thankful for the medical team that came down for a week of surgery. Some of the children returned to Lemoa for their post-op exam.  They looked wonderful!

This is Jose Luis after he had his palate repaired.  His surgery was sponsored by Don and Jessie from Morganton.

This is Randy, before his surgery a few months ago.  His surgery is sponsored by Terry.

This is Randy, two weeks after his surgery!

This is Eleazor before his lip repair.  His surgery is sponsored by Danny in Morganton.

This is Eleazor, 2 weeks after his surgery.  And as you can see, the mother is so excited for her child!

We are very thankful to Julie and the team that was down here.  Their work is very appreciated and will be remembered for a long time!

After clinic, I went to Xepocol to speak to the ladies about IVAA/Pap and having a pajama party.  Yes, you read correctly, a pajama party.  I have been thinking of ways to get the young ladies involved more in activities.  The guys have soccer and other sports but there are not a lot of activities for the young ladies.

Sandra, who was my ABC Daughter translated for me.  I had been wanting to do a class here for a long time but it never has worked out.........so today was my opportunity!  I hit them full force with 3 topics.

I can not express how good it was!  The singing was wonderful and full of enthusiasm. Sandra did not seem nervous and we just rolled with the topics.

So now, I will wait to see if they want the IVAA/ PAP clinic and if they would enjoy a pajama party. It is not something that is done here in Guatemala but I think we would really enjoy the night together.

After Xepocol, Maury and I went to visit a lady who had a c-section a few days ago.  They just wanted to be sure that things were progressing as they should be.  It was a good visit.  Her incision looks good and the baby is doing well. 

Life continues to be good and full of adventure, here in Guatemala!

Days of Classes

On Friday, we went to Mactzul VI for a ladies class.  Cecy translated for me and the class was on, "Who am I?"  The ladies seemed to enjoy the study and we talked about it more on the ride back to Chichi.

The dream of leaning to speak K'iche' continues to fade.  There is just not enough time to focus on that while continuing with clinics, classes and other activities in the communities.  Cecy mentioned there will be several baptisms on Monday when I am clinic.  I asked her to take photos so I will be able to share those with you.

On Saturday, I did a short class in Quiche on IVAA/ PAP for the ladies.  I did not realize it was a 6 hours special program about fasting.  They started at 8 am and then at 1 pm, asked me to talk about the clinic.

It went well even though it was a shortened version.  They already have 22 ladies signed up for the clinic so we will work on getting that scheduled.

Busting Clinic and Pallitive Care!

Today was a good day and a very busy one.

We were in Clinic Caris and had 32 medical patients.  There was a wide variety of patients with several needing surgery.

This man has a very severe case of gout.  All of his extremities are affected.  Here, you can see the accumulation of uric acid crystals.  He is in extreme pain but the medicine does give him some relief.

We had two sisters who just found out that they they are diabetics.  Their blood sugars were over 450 and they also have a brother who is diabetic.

One lady has a small growth behind her ear so I referred her to Lisa during the Mactzul I clinic.

Gaspar had called a lady who has cervical cancer and we planned on visiting her in the afternoon.  It was about 11 am when I realized that I still had more than half of the patients to see.  In about 20 minutes, Lisa called me.  She had heard about the number of patients that we had and offered to come and help!  Thank you, Lisa.  Usually, I would not mind the large number of patients but did not want to keep the lady in Xatinap I waiting.

When we arrived in Xatinap I, Ofelia met us in the road. She told us that after Gaspar had called, her husband had left to start drinking again. 

We sat in their home talking about different things and then in about 15 minutes, her husband returned.  I found it very interesting that he returned.  He was curious about why we were there to visit his wife.

She has been ill for many years but has improved some.  We talked about different scriptures and then prayed with them.  I invited her to go with me on Sunday to worship in Quiche.  They do not live far from there.  We left medicine with her and hope that she has good results with pain control.

Gaspar and I returned to clinic to help finish up.  Lisa had done an ultrasound on a pregnant lady and then referred her to the hospital.

It was a good day...........I look forward to following up on Monday with several of the patients that we saw today.

Lisa, thank you for your help!