Wedding in Paxot II

It was a beautiful day for a wedding in Paxot II. Maury and Gaspar called me this morning to see if they could ride with me to the wedding......Sure, I said!!

We arrived about 0830 and there were quite a few people there. We were served some coffee and bread. I gave my camera to Juan so he could use it to get the photos he wanted. We sat for almost 2 hours and then were served a Coke and some more bread. We found out that there was not going to be a service for all of us. The families were in another part of the house and all of us were seated outside.


Then some people came out and placed a table in front of us. Within a few minutes the bride, Tomasa and the groom, Felipe came out and stood by the table.

The photo below is of Tomas and Pedro. About 6 months ago Tomas was very sick and people gathered in his house to say their final good-byes. He came to clinic last Saturday and told me that God wanted him to live longer and and that is why he is still here. To his left is Pedro from Mactzul VI. I have previously blogged about his son dying and that he and his wife are having a very hard time. A prayer is offered before the family receives gifts. The family of Tomasa gave numerous bundles of gifts to the family of Felipe. As the gifts were presented, Tomas counted them aloud and then they were rebundled. The couple will now live with the groom's family.
There were many, many gifts given. I am sure there were over 200 people there. As I have stated before, the culture is different and I do not understand many things. There was more crying today then at the funeral I attended and it did not seem to be tears of happiness. The bride and groom never smiled and very seldom stood close together.
We were served a traditional wedding lunch of rice, squash and beef with a special sauce and tamalitos. It is amazing the amount of food that these ladies can prepare for larger crowds. It was a very good day and I wish Tomasa and Felipe many years of happiness.

A day of study......

I used today to study and get caught up on cleaning. So, I cleaned one hour and then studied the rest of the day. Cleaning seems to be a waste of time even though I need to do it. It is so dusty right now and as soon as I sweep and mop, I find more to sweep and mop :(

We have another class on Tuesday for the guys I work with. This class will be on different antibiotics and how to give different medicines. I think they will like this class a lot. I like for them to have some understanding of the medicines that we use and I love their questions.

Worship was at 4pm this afternoon......well, it is suppose to begin at 4pm but many people arrive after 4:30. It is just one of those cultural things. A family sat next to me and I could tell the little girl wanted to look at my song book so I held it down to she could see it. I was so glad that I could understand the guy that called the numbers........I did not want her to think, "I am sitting next to a blonde gringa."

The message was a very good one. He talked about different illnesses of the body......cancer, HIV, heart attacks, arthritis........and that they only affect us physically. Then he asked the question, but what illness makes us spiritually sick? The answer he gave was sin. God can not have any relationship with darkness or sin. Sin totally separates us from God unless we are Christians and then we can have forgiveness. He then continued with many scriptures in Acts that tells how people were baptized when they asked what they needed to do to receive salvation. It is only through baptism that we receive the blood of Christ.

This lesson reminded me of a patient that Gaspar and I talked to this week. This patient was not a Christian but was practices costumbre......meaning that she follows the traditions of her family or culture, not the Bible. I also remembered us talking to her last month. She has arthritis in her knees and has a lot of pain. She has been to doctors in the City and has received many injections but they did not help. She is in her late 60's which is older than many of our patients. As we were talking, I told her it was important to remember that only in this life we have physical pain.....that it heaven there will be no pain. This opened the door for Gaspar to talk to this lady more in K'iche' because, I had said ALL I could say :) Gaspar talked to her about heaven and how to become a Christian. I hope that this lady will continue to think about what was said and that she will return to the clinic again.

It is time to study some more and then go to a wedding tomorrow. I was asked to bring my camera so I think that means I will be the photographer :)

Clinic in Mactzul V

Today Mauri, Gaspar and I drove to Mactzul. Juan usually goes with us but his sister is getting married on Monday so he and Mauri traded days of work. He called me last night to ask if they could and I told him I thought it was great. I do not mind at all if they want to trade days.

We had 15 patients in Mactzul today. When we first arrived I thought it would be a real slow day but things changed a little......ok, first, how many people can fit into a truck already loaded with medicine and dental equipment? I will let you know by the end of the blog:)

Our first patient had tonsils the size of apples. She told me that she has not been able to eat for a month. So, I gave her some medicine and asked her to follow-up with us in Lemoa.

We had a sick young man come to the clinic today. His name is Jeremias and his family practically carried him in. They said he had been having problems with his stomach for a month and for 2 days he has had a lot of pain. He was dehydrated and obviously very ill. I asked the family to think about going to the hospital when we were ready to leave.

They talked about it and then decided to take him to the hospital in Chichi. We loaded the truck with all of our equipment and I knew that we did not have very much room for riders. Within a few minutes, many more people arrived and wanted to go. The father was distraught and asked us to pray for his son. We all bowed for a few minutes of prayer and the 18 year old man leaned on his wife for support.

As we started loading the truck I realized everyone was going. Every family member thought there was room for one more. We piled 15 people into that truck! We gave the family the phone number of the clinic so we hope that they will call us on Tuesday to let us know how he is doing.

When I got home, I wanted to go and check on the little lady that fell. I had taken her some ibuprofen and it helped her hand so I wanted to take her some more. When I got close to her house, I saw her outside sweeping! I had not seen her sweeping since December so I knew she was feeling better. I gave her the medicine and some small cakes I brought from the States. She asked me if I liked chocolate and then invited me inside her home!

Her terrace is beautiful! She has over 50 flowering plants and everything is so well manicured. She walked me though and told me the name of everyone and what colors they are when they have flowers on them. We went into her kitchen and she gave me some chocolate wafers to make hot chocolate with! She said that she had bought them special for Semana Santa, their Holy Week. She then reached under a table and uncovered huge loaves of bread. She packed one for me with my chocolate as she continued to thank me for the medicine. It was one of those special moments!

OK, home for the UNC ball game.........Go Heels!

Clinic in Paxot II

OK, the question from last night was.....how much did I pay for a bag of radishes, 2 avocados, a 100w light bulb and a pineapple? I paid Q7 which is a little less than a dollar!

Marcos and Aura picked me up near my house and we made our way to Paxot II without any problems. We began our clinic with prayer and then we started taking names of patients. The porch was full of patients and I could tell it was going to be a wonderful day.

The first patient came with a complaint about her eye. From her record, I could see that she had a consult in November 2007 with something in her eye then. They had given her antibiotic drops and suggested that she come to Clinica Carris if the eye drops did not help. I remember being told about this patient but never remembered seeing her. Well, I found the small black object hiding in the corner of her eye that had been there since November.

I tried very hard to get it out but it looks like there is growth over the top of it. I hope that she will follow-up with Josefina or go to the other clinic. I just did not feel comfortable doing any more. She asked us to pray for her because her husband drinks a lot, she does not work and does not have any money.

We ended up with 16 medical patients and 8 dental patients. We were served a very good lunch of soup and tamalitos.

The photo below is of when my mom and dad visited this clinic with me. This day was one of my dad's favorite days. He got a lot of attention since he was lacking something on top.........I do not think I have seen very many bald Guatemalan men.

Today, Juan and I took photos of a patient that is crippled. Juan is helping him get a wheelchair and they need photos for the process. A wheelchair would help this young man a lot.

Thanks to everyone who reads the blog and leaves comments. I enjoy doing the blog and giving a glimpse of the work being done.

Clinic in Lemoa

Today we had a busy clinic and it was a good day!

We had 14 dental patients and 15 medical patients. Tomasa, the lady that needs surgery in April, had brought her lab work to the clinic. The results are within range so the plan is for her to have surgery the week of April 13th. Her mother came to the clinic today with more numbers that we needed and she also needed to sign a paper. Out of habit, I started to hand her my pen and then remembered that many patients are not able to sign their name....so we got the black ink pad and she made a stamp with their thumb. We completed the papers so she is set!

I also received an email from Dr. Phillip that he can do surgery on the boy with the cleft lip in La Palma. I am so excited because I know this will really change this boys life.

Today Gaspar refilled the medicines that he keeps in his home and we prepared medicines for Juan. This is a very important aspect of the work being done. The goal is that all health care promoters will keep medicines in their home so they can help their community when there is a need and the patient can not wait until the next scheduled clinic. This shows the promoters have increased their knowledge and I feel that this also shows our confidence in their skills.

When I got home this afternoon, I grabbed my change and went out into the street to buy a few things. I always try to walk around town a little and not get into the habit of starting the computer right away. I saw several people in the street that I knew and we chatted a little. I also saw one of our regular patients that was with his family.

This is what I bought in the market: a bag of radishes, 2 avocados, a 100w light bulb and a pineapple. Can you guess how much I paid for everything??? I will let you know tomorrow because right now I have to check on the UNC ballgame. It is tournament and I need to be cheering the boys on to victory!!

Tomorrow we go to Paxot II, Juan's community..........

Clinic in Las Trampas

Marcos and Aura picked me up today and we drove to Chichi for Gaspar and Juan. We ended up having to sit for an hour since the road was closed due to construction. Usually, I am not tired but as soon as we stopped, I fell asleep. The truck was warm, everyone was quiet and I think we all slept a little.

It was a great clinic! Marcos had 18 dental patients and there were 11 medical patients. One of the men from the Church helped me with the K'iche' speaking patients. I really like to involve the people from the congregation so they help me with translation and then also pray with the patients.

I received a call today from Josefina and the boy with the cleft lip in La Palma returned to clinic today with his father to discuss surgery. I really hope we can help this child. He is 11 years old and I think that he gets teased a lot in school.

I also received an email about my friend Mary who has lymphoma. Her PET scan showed that the tumor has been reduced by 50%..........I am so thankful to God for this! Please remember her and her family in your prayers.

Tomorrow we have clinic in Lemoa.........another day, another adventure!

Back in Guatemala Safe!

I am back in Guatemala Safe.....Gracias a Dios. We had quite a bumpy landing after the pilot had warned us that it might be bad. I looked across the aisle and a lady had her hands clasped in prayer. It seems that Guatemalans are more comfortable with praying in public.....that is something to think about.

My flight to Houston was interesting. The flight attendant had been a nurse in her previous career. I am trying to encourage her to visiting Guatemala for a surgical clinic. The lady that sat across from me was in the process of moving after meeting her fiancee. She was very open about telling us how many times she had been engaged but never married.........can you count to eight???

Alex picked me up from the airport and the drive home was uneventful. The road construction continues outside of the City. I had forgot many things last week. I forgot how close road construction can take place to the lane that has the right-of-way.

This photo shows the depth of the interstate and that much of the labor is done by hand.
Now, this man has the right idea!!
Tomorrow we have a medical and dental clinic in Las Trampas. Gaspar called me tonight and we just chatted to make sure we are prepared for tomorrow. I hope that we have a huge crowd of patients!