Monday

We had a busy day at the Puesto de Salud (health post) today. Several new patients and an impressive hand laceration on an 11 year old kid. One patient, a man in his 60s came in and asked me if I am a doctor. I said yes, and he said, " well maybe you have some experience with illnesses." He showed me a skin problem that is probably a fungal infection, and then asked if his drinking was causing the rash. I didn't think so, but it gave me a good opportunity to talk to him about his drinking problem. We talked about ways to avoid tempation and strategies to help get him out when he found himself with friends/family who are drinking. I also talked to him about asking God to help him with this problem and he thought that was a good idea. He thanked me and gave me a sack of apples from his trees. He will come back in a few weeks and let me know how he is doing. Keep him in your prayers that he will begin to put his faith in God and that I will have words to guide him.

The 11 year old had a laceration extending from palm at the base of the fingers to past the wrist. He was play-fighting with his friend at school and got pushed against a nail sticking out of a board. Luckily it wasn't terribly deep, and I had just enough lidocaine to inject the length of the wound. He took it like an 11 year old and screamed the whole time. Meanwhile his two younger sisters sat in the waiting room and cried for him. I'm glad I saved him for last! We finally got him stitched up and vaccinated and packed off with a note to his teacher excusing him from missing his final exams today. Everybody loves an excuse note!

Kemmel is hanging out in the sterilization room in the OR at Clinica Ezell. They were pretty busy the first day, but things went smoothly. No word yet today, which means they are busy still. Surgery week is such a busy and exhausting time, but we always get such nice comments from patients about how much they appreciate the care they receive. We pray with all of the patients before they go into the OR and many times as they are recovering. Last month during surgery week, we saw a patient praying with another patient waiting to go back for surgery! What a good feeling to see people caring for each other as they have been cared for.

God bless, and have a good night.