Today I had fun being in Dr. Bryan's office with him. Doctors here are known by their first name. Brianna, a 17 year old from Pennsylvania here temporarily, watched the boys from 8am to noon so that I could help Doctora Bryan in the clinic.
I got to sit in the room with the patients, doctor and translator, which I can never do in the US. It was neat to see Bryan in action and see the care and concern he has for his patients. I also got to see and hear him speak a lot of Spanish. I enjoyed spending time with Bryan's interpreter, Guildy (Gwildy) too. My task for the morning was to take people to their next step - to the lab to get blood drawn or urine samples taken or to the pastor if they were done. From there they went to the pharmacy or paid before leaving. Everyone goes to see a pastor before they can leave. It is great to know that a fellow Honduran can tell them about Christ and his work through Loma de Luz Hospital and the workers here.
We saw a handful of patients including (1) an older lady with new diabetes, (2) another older lady with a trygliceride problem (too much fat in her blood), (3) a very sick baby, (4) a 4 year old boy who's not eating well, (5) an older man with a possible colon problem and (6) a young man with an esophagus problem that doesn't allow him to eat solids. The patient that struck me the most was the 13 month old baby girl. She is the youngest of 9 children and her mom was very tiny - probably a little over 4 feet tall. The baby girl and her mom had traveled 3 hours over the mountains and down the road to get to the clinic. The girl had a fever and hasn't been eating for twenty-some days, along with diarrhea. The baby has an ear infection and probably girardia causing diarrhea. She needed antibiotics and other meds and needs to be seen again tomorrow to make sure that the baby improves. In order to save them the 6 hour journey, Bryan admitted them to the hospital overnight. I am praying she gets better.
Another sad sick child is Joshua (ho-sway), our neighbor boy in staff housing. He is the son of nurse Nelsy, a nurse here. he is quite sick and may require hospitalization for rotovirus causing him diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration. The really sad part of the story is that he has been gone for a week with friend/caretaker, Bessy, and her daughter, Marisela, to La Ceiba to see grandparents and Joshua's sister, Jenny. Marisela (3) was sick last week and now is better but Joshua (almost 2) is now sick. They haven't been able to return here because it has been too difficult for them to travel with sick kids. Nelsy stayed here to work but we are praying with her for Joshua to be able to return soon and not be hospitalized in La Ceiba because of the expense there. Joshua and Marisela became fast friends with Jaden and Clay the first week we were here but now they have been gone for a week and half. The boys have been praying for their little friends too. (An update, Joshua is getting better, no hospitalization needed, but they aren't returning till Tuesday, so we might not get to see them before we leave, sad.)
From my time in the clinic with Bryan, I soon realized that he has been enjoying it here so much because he gets to sit in air conditioning all day in his office. It was a nice break from the heat for me. Maybe that is why he is the last one to leave the clinic.
Today the boys and I also joined in on a backyard Bible club in a neighboring town taught by missionary Judy and a few mission kids. It was fun to watch the boys play and interact with Honduran boys even though they can't communicate with them verbally.
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