Clinic in San Jorge

This morning, I met Nick and Andrea in front of Hotel Santo Tomas and we headed to San Jorge.  Nick is a 3rd year medical student and Andrea is an ICU Nurse.  They are here with us for a week and helping out in the clinics.

We stoppped and picked up Martina and Micaela in Sepela and then met Tomas, Enrique and Aura in Quiche.

San Jorge was as hot as usual!  We took turns running to the store across the street to buy Coke, water and Gatorade.

This is Nick with one of the patients.  She is not want to take deep breaths so her mom is on the side coaching her along.

We saw one young lady with a 6/6 heart murmur.  This is the third patient that I have run across this month with a significant murmur.  She was suppose to be seen in the capital a few years ago but never went.  We talked about posibilities, so we will see in May what she and her family thinks.

Before we left the clinic, I noticed that a tire was looking low. I was told the closest place was about 15 minutes back toward Quiche.  We just drove slow and made it there without any problem.  We could not find a reason for the leak so the guy told me that probably someone had played with the stem and let the air out. I guess that is a possibility.........so I gave him the dollar that he wanted and we were on the road again!

As soon as we got back on the road, Micaela passed out.  I think that Aura and Martina just worked her too hard! At least she had a soft shoulder to lay on.

Nick and Andrea will fly back to The States tomorrow.  We pray that they have safe travels and will return for another visit!

Clinic in Chutzurob

We had clinic today in Chutzurob.............and what a clinic it was!

When we arrived, there were 17 patients waiting.  That is a very manageable number so I was not rushing at all.  When I finished with the 17, I had no idea that 10 more patients had arrived..........because of that, my time management skills were very poor today.

We have a new diabetic patient that is only 28 years old.  She was not aware that she has diabetes and had lost 35 pounds since January.  Last month was her first visit with us and her blood sugar was 304 but today it was 112.  I was so excited for her! She has gained a couple of pounds and feels much better!

We had two pregnant ladies that came for check-ups today.  I was a little nervous that one might deliver during the clinic, but whew............she did not :)  She is due in a day or two so she will probably have her new baby with her in May.

This mother brought her baby to clinic today........

They do not get much cuter than this.........

After clinic, we went to Lemoa to unload the truck.  As we arrived in Chichi, we got so excited to see that the pavement was slightly damp!  It had rained a little.  It is something that we need very badly. It smelled so good and the heat was steaming off the pavement.

Tomorrow, I will be in San Jorge.  Sarah will be going to Guatemala City so I will do her clinic :)  We will have a good day and I hope that we have a lot of patients.

Enjoying a Sunday

This morning, I hopped a bus to go to Quiche for worship.  There were close to 50 people in the morning service. 

It is really an encouragement because when I first moved here in 2007, there were only 10-15 people for the morning worship.  In the afternoon, you need to arrive early to be sure to have a seat as it fills up quickly.  They have now purchased land and are planing on rebuilding.  This is always a good problem to have to deal with.

Class and Funeral

This morning, I met with a group at the Chichi Church of Christ to talk to them about English Classes.  Some of the children are struggling with their English Class in school.  So, we are looking at studying once or twice a month to help them improve their grades.

There were 17 students and they were very interested.  They had questions and participated. They will bring their homework and books from school so we will have some direction on what they need to study. It is always a challenge to get the more timid students to talk in class but they all did well.

Yesterday, Lisa told me that Micaela from Mactzul I had died. Lisa had been following her for quite a long time. This afternoon, Kemmel called and told me what time the burial would be so I headed up to Chichi.

When I got to the main road, the family was driving by so they allowed me to ride with them to the cemetery.  There were at least 200 people there.  They had several pickups and a bus.

This is the family of Micaela as they are preparing to enter the cemetery. 

Sebastian from Mactzul V shared some thoughts before the burial.  It was very difficult to hear him since there were 5 ice cream vendors and they were all ringing their bell.  It was very hot so the ice cream sold quickly. 

As Sebastian talked, I thought of.....

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

It is interesting to think of that crowd of witnesses.......the people who are cheering us on to victory. When we first think of it, it may just be a crowd of people with faces unknown to us.  But as we continue through life, those unknown individuals begin to take on a face of someone that we have loved.

We know that Micaela is among that crowd now.  She was a faithful Christian lady who taught her children the importance of Christ in their life. What a reunion we all will have some day!

The School That is No More

Well........this is where the school USE to be!  Today was the second time this week that there has been some serious changes.  I pulled up to the area, looked at the people in the truck and we wondered what was missing.

This is a photo that I "stole" from Lisa and Kemmel's blog.  This is the old school that had been standing here for years.

And after many years, this now is how it lies.

This is a photo of the side of the new school, when we joked about it being the junior high parking lot.

Now, all that is parked here is the tile from the old school building.

We had a good clinic today but it was a small one.

The sky is full smoke from several fires in the area.  We can definitely see four separate fires in the distance.  We are hoping that we get some rain soon.

One of Lisa's patients came that needs surgery.  She will be followed in Chichi for one of her surgeries on Sunday  For the second surgery, she will travel to Antigua.

As I was waiting for more patients this afternoon, I watched this man carry his firewood up the hill.  You can see how dry the fields are. What a struggle for this man.

When I talked to Lisa today, she told me that one of her patients died either yesterday or this morning.  She had been seeing her for several months and from time-to-time we would take medicine to her home. She is a Christian and had suffered a long time. I know that her family is sorrowful but Micaela is now at peace.  Please pray for this family as they deal with their loss.

IVAA/ Pap Clinic in Patzibal

This afternoon, we had an IVAA/ Pap Class in Patzibal.  Sally, a friend of mine lives there and she has a clinic once a week.  She enjoys working with pregnant ladies and teaching the midwifes.

Today was exciting for me because Sandra translated for us into K'iche'.  She was in the ABC program and then continued to study to be a teacher.  She will soon have her teaching license and be able to work as a teacher.  She is also interested in continuing to study to be a dentist.

There were about 16 ladies in the class and before we finished, 11 had signed up for the clinic.  We will look at doing the clinic in August, after Sally and Erv return from visiting their family in The States.

I do not have a photo of us today but this is a photo of Sandra and I last October.  She has done very well and am so proud of her!

Sally and Erv, thank you for the invitation!  Have a great time with your family and when you return, we will sechdule the clinic.  Stay safe on your travels!

Encouraging Clinic in Chuguexa

The clinic area was full when we arrived!! 

Enrique, Cecy and I quickly set up and started seeing patients.  This is the clinic that we have a large population of diabetic patients.  We saw 29 patients and 9 were diabetics.  What is so encouraging is that 11 of those patients were new to the clinic.  The word continues to spread...........

I was very pleased with the blood sugars.  One new patient was 491 last month and today she was 208.  Yes, she needs to improve some more but this is a good start for her.  One patient started a few months ago with a blood sugar of over 500 and today was 97.

We also had another new patient today that has been using a foley catheter for 3 years.  He goes once a month to Solola to have it changed.  He needs to have prostate surgery but the doctor in Solola told him that he is not healthy enough and would die if they attempted surgery.  This is not the best way to live but he is more comfortable. 

This was one of the little girls that we saw.  She did not mind the exam too much but she was ready to go when we finished :)

Tomorrow, we will have an IVAA/Pap class in Patzibal.  Sally, a friend of mine, has a clinic there and she has invited us to present this class. We will see how many ladies sign up for the clinic.