CLINIC REFLECTIONS

So many reflections....
Some problems we encountered....
A man with a giant tonsil abscess.  Had been given several antibiotics, by injection and oral.  Some appropriate, some not.  Needed to be drained.  We had to send him elsewhere.  Hopefully, he went.  We gave many people money for the journey and for the costs of care, as many people choose not to go because they do not have money and fear not being attended. 
Many people coming in with blood sugars of 400 and above.  They come in for other things but casually mention they are diabetic and may or may not be taking their meds.  

A very emaciated man who probably has colon cancer.  He had had some ultrasounds, but they differed in opinion, and thus nothing had been done.  
The little government hospital, 20 Camas, is closed, as there have been NO medicines, (can you imagine?) and the doctors are on strike.  So they sit in the shade, I am told, and attend very few patients.
A typical pt. Told me her story: she is from far away, walked, but said it is easier now, as there is a road.  She has to walk farther and farther to get firewood, carries it on her head.  She has 6 children.  Her husband left her some time ago and has another woman in San Cristobal. She is grateful to God for her blessings.  She has a headache and stomach ache...

A little girl quite hyper..., is up at night too.  mom not quite knowing what to do with her.  Child drinks coffee and bread at night which is very common
Lady who really couldn't swallow. How to proceed?  
Young girl with severe anemia, but with no obvious causes
Man who cut off 2 toes a few weeks ago with his machete....  the wounds looked good, amazingly
Lots of prostate pts., including a very old man who sells popsicles in the park
Lots of patients with chronic gastritis, body pains, UTIs, parasites, cough
Lots of breast patients
Old man and lady, Manuel y Manuela.  She is debilitated with severe arthritis.  He does the wash, takes care of her. They have no money and she cried when we reminded her that the care was free.  Dr. Bills knee injections helped her tremendously.
A BIG lady who eats a kilo of tortillas per day!  (That's 2.2pounds

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RECORDBREAKING CLINIC

Week 2!

This is the TB lady's X-ray

Hi ho hi ho it's off to work we go

Every morning at 7 am we hike the 100 steep steps up and down between the Bible School and the clinic

Eva Alfredos daughter. Love the boots!

Paula, Sebastian s daughter and Eva

Dentist 

So glad to see them,!

Kids next door.  They add a new one each year.  Noe, Jeremiah, Miriam, Yesica, Josue.  Claudia is missing.i bring them apples when I am here

Grateful patient. She cried . How can I tell her how much she means to me?

Penny in a makeshift consulta room. We had so many pts.  Laura helps her translate

Lady with new glasses.  Always a treat!

Chubby cheeks!  Malnutrition is not a problem with him!

Our nurse friends.  They join us every year to help.  Margarita has a tienda in the market too. She brought purses

Naranjo chicken man delivering our last supper!

A treat!  A missionary family plays music for us on our last night.  Lovely spontaneous hymn sing!

Last mornings sunrise devotion on the roof.  We will miss this

Adios for now.  

Time for a day of rest before the next group comes in.  The medical weeks were amazing, intense, but very gratifying.  There were more people than ever working together to provide care.  More sick people han ever, coming farther and farther.  Pablo's loudspeaker announcements around the city was very effective! 

Love from Carolina, Guillermo, Penelope, Bridget, Alicia Harless Stacy Dr. Carlos , Dr Ricardo,and the people of Chiapas

CLINIC WEEK

Wow!   As in the rest of my life, how quickly goes the time!  

Rich went home today.  What a beautiful time we had together.  So many patients, moments, inspirations, hugs and challenges.  So much patience, laughter, skills, and the receiving of gifts and grace so precious.  

A day of rest today.  Reading, swinging in the hammock, sitting in the sun , and later a walk downhill to the town center, the parque. 

The next team arrives tonight 

Here's a few Picts to let you know what's happening!  

The A Team...Carolina, Doc Rich, Doc Bill, Penny

Girl who broke her arm 2 weeks ago

Kids on the steps

Lady with TB. Here's her X-ray...   pretty telling

Beautiful 80 year old lady.  Said she was happy after her husband died!  Maybe he wasn't so nice!

Young boy we have seen for years.  He has osteo chondromas.  Shoulders, knees.  Hopefully it won't develop into a saroma

Yuriana writing her name for me

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MANOS DECRISTO

Well, the groups arrived with narry a snare!     Go figure....

Rich's daughter's suitcase did not arrive with her, but was retrieved 3 days later.  All of our "carry on stuff". arrived unscathed, untouched, and intact.  Everyone got a green light!  The groups brought tremendous amounts of supplies and drugs.  

This is such a blessing to the clinic, and to its budget.  It cuts way down, the amount of money needed to support each Caravan.  We have figured that it takes about $2000 ABOVE what is carried and donated, to support a week of patient care here in the clinic.  

Pero, depende.....    for example, yesterday and today we saw more than 300 patients, nearly double the expected number of people.  This brought down our supplies already!  Muchas gracias to all those who have contributed to this cause, either with supplies, medications, or hard cash!  We could not do this without the support of others.  

As I said, we approached the clinic bright and early Monday morning, and found the waiting room  FULL with those already registered, and a line out the door to sign in. Many had been there since 4 AM.  The word was out!  

We stopped the action, and called for silence, and the pastor assigned for the week, led us in prayer. 

 There were many voices praying along, some quiet folks, and some with raised hands.  Pretty sweet start.  

Our team, being the veterans, friends, professionals, and servant minded, filled-with-humor-and-grace people that we are... went to work!  We have so many dedicated native folks who help, who come to each Caravan to work alongside us.  Many hands, literally, make the work light.  

We have delighted in having Dr. Rich Silver, from the Village Church, Obstetrician and Gynecologist extraordinaire, here with us this week.  He lends such expertise, flexibility and warmth that we have afforded him the congeniality award!  

The women have flocked to see this specialist!  AND, a colleague donated to Dr. Bill, a wonderful portable ultrasound!  Something we have been wishing for, for some time.  We have used it repeatedly, and Dr. Rich will instruct the clinic professionals to use it when we are gone. 

We also thoroughly enjoyed having Rich's daughter, Marie and her boyfriend, Otto, join us for a few days. 

 Marie is a children's immigration lawyer in Chicago, and Otto is a musician, who lives in Tuxtla.  Marie has spent time in Tuxtla during her law school years.  She is fluent in Spanish and we really enjoyed learning about her work, so important, and timely these days.  Marie translated and Otto entertained the kids with his music and puppets!  

We finish exhausted, but not dead... at 4 PM, and thoroughly enjoy a hot (or cold,,) shower, a nap, a chat, a walk.   It is blessed down time.  

We have already seen some patients with significant infirmities.  Ah, they are so grateful, so needy.  

More about them later....

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COMITAN'

Comitan

Well, what a wonderful 3 day respite Jan and I had!  It is such a blessing to be able to trek the area and experience the various people groups, towns, natural wonders, and geography of Chiapas, outside of Ocosingo and the clinic and a few designated villages.  Neither Jan nor I could or would be able to do this without the other.   I encourage her, she supports me! 

Comitan is larger than Ocosingo, not as colonial/touristy as San Cristobal.

 It is higher in elevation than Ocosingo, at about 5100 feet above sea level.  We took 2 combi's (15 passenger vans that make the various runs over the mountains from town to town)  for a total of 3 hours.  Jan and Sharon have been often to the jail here. I've not been.  

The weather has been excellent.  Cool breeze, hot sun, maybe a few clouds.  Cooler up higher, but lovely for walking (uphill..).  

We stayed in a cute , little baaasic hotel with 8 rooms, 4 each facing a little parking lot/ courtyard right off the street.

  2 beds, 2 wooden chairs, a little desk, one overhead light bulb.  A giant step up led to the bathroom.  Hot shower, but the water only came out of about 6 streams...  not bad.  It suited us well.  Price was $20 per night.  

The main parque was 6 blocks up, with a lot of little shops and restaurants, which we frequented our first day.  

Even a little art museum with weird art

One of the main reasons we went was to experience the stunning falls, named Chiflon about an hour out of Comitan (another Combi..).  There is a park and cabanas and a natural iguana

habitat and a walkway/stone steps all the way up to the highest falls.  The trail was. 1000 meters high, and worth the strenuous trek.

Whew

  The trail is the woods but with do-able paths, walkways, etc.  it followed the gorgeous river and there were  spots to eat, pray, love!   We rested a lot on the way up, and waded and sat by the river and read, on the way down.  

We LOVED being there.  

We took the long way home through San Cristobal (the road blocks were reported to be gone..)   We stopped in Amatenango, an area known for pottery.  These are another group of Tzeltal.  The pottery shops were to die for!  They went on and on, along the road.  

Jan also had a mission in mind.  A former worker, Luci , who was known to All of us travelers, lives in the area, makes pottery.  Jan has not seen her for about 5 years.  Jan randomly asked one of the pottery shop attendants if she knew her...She did and offered to lead us up the hill to the community behind the shops to Luci's house.   Luci's sister was home, and went down the hill to fetch her...the result being this sweet Reunion.  

Definitely one of those  Chiapas God moments.  We had a good visit, they served us peach nectar, and gave us each a small hand thrown, hand painted jaguar.  

Dragging our pottery purchases, we made the final 3 hour Combi ride up, over, down the mounts back home a little after dark.  It was a great little getaway. 

As now the hard part begins!  

We spent the day at the Bible School where the team will eat, pray, and sleep.  We cleaned floors, tables, beds, and washed every piece of plastic ware in bleach water.  Pablo is meeting with Doc Israel to fill him in .  It will be his first Caravan.  Hope he can handle the likes of us!  Medications are ordered and in place.  The word is out, the Gringo doctors are here.  Come to Manos de Cristo!   

We await the team's arrival late tomorrow.  

Please pray, however...Randy, our Hebron President has had to cancel his trip tomorrow as his wife is quite ill with a severe bone infection.  We will miss him and pray the best for Leslie.  

Yours,

Carolina in Chiapas

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