The Spice of Life

The thing I love about family practice is the variety of illnesses we see in clinic. Today was a great example. We saw several diabetics, policystic ovarian disease, foot fungus, neumonia (suspicious for H1N1 influenza--referred to the health department), a very large uterine fibroid (about 16 week size), prostatits, cleft lip and palate, and hospital discharge followup of a little boy who had a chest tube for a pleural effusion. I know there is a need for specialty medicine, and I appreciate the work that specialists do. But I feel blessed to be a regular old G.P. because it is such a rush to be the first to see a patient, to diagnose the problem and to see how the patient progresses through treatment. It also gives us endless opportunities to share Christ with people as they confide in us. It was a great day today, and here are some pictures.

Here is a foto of Santos Elias showing off his chest tube scar. He is doing much better, perky and able to eat and play again. His parents were pleased with the care they received in the National Hospital, so that is always a plus!

This is Maria from a town in Huehuetenango about 8 hours away. One of her sons lives in the States, and her daughter-in-law found us on the internet and arranged for her to come see us. She is doing great and today, and Sheri gave her and her sone some pictures that her States-side family sent by email--they were so excited!

Before heading home it started raining--hard. No one wanted to wait around for a minivan back to town, so all six of us crammed into the Super Samarai. Here is a shot of us before Kemmel got in.