Verse of the day: “I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty,
and you gave me something to drink. I
was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me
something to wear. I was sick, and you
cared for me. … Anything you did even
for the least of my people here, you also did for me.” Matthew 26:34-5,40
Today we were set up in the
village of Santa Ines. It is a smaller
village than where we were the last 2 days.
The beginning of the day was very busy and we saw a greater variety of
diagnoses. One of the most touching
patients I saw this morning was a young man born with a genetic disorder that
includes clubbed feet. He had never been
treated before so never had surgery when he was young nor has he ever been
casted for braces that he would greatly benefit from. He only had 1 pair of socks they were very wet and this had a
great effect on his hygiene. All of his
toes were macerated and developing wounds secondary to his primary
diagnosis. Since I am not equipped to
provide the casting or orthotic bracing he needs, I spent most of my time
cleaning his wounds and educating on proper foot hygiene to avoid need for
amputation. I was also able to provide
some generalized leg strengthening exercises to at least reduce the loads he is
placing through his feet when walking.
 |
| Susana performing an eye exam |
We had an odd lull in the middle
of the day and then got very busy after lunch to the point where I almost
didn’t get to see all my patients because our transport was waiting. One of the main reasons for the lull was due
to a large protest that is about to happen tomorrow and each community was in
meetings preparing. But more on that tomorrow.
I was able to download and copy Spanish exercises thanks to
Medbridge! This saves a lot of time and
also saves my patients from having to endure my stick figure art and broken Spanish
instructions ;-)
 |
| Slurping up a chicken foot! |
 |
| Buck, Buck |
 |
| I needed an extra ;-) |
For lunch it was chicken soup el
naturál--head, neck, feet, and all!! I will try anything once and I must say,
it wasn’t as bad as it sounds! On the
sweeter side of trying new things was espumilla. It looks like ice cream, but it is whipped
egg whites mixed with fruit and served on an ice cream cone!
 |
| Espumilla |
Today we were set up in the
village of Santa Ines. It is a smaller
village than where we were the last 2 days.
The beginning of the day was very busy and we saw a greater variety of
diagnoses. One of the most touching
patients I saw this morning was a young man born with a genetic disorder that
includes clubbed feet. He had never been
treated before so never had surgery when he was young nor has he ever been
casted for braces that he would greatly benefit from. He only had 1 pair of socks they were very wet and this had a
great effect on his hygiene. All of his
toes were macerated and developing wounds secondary to his primary
diagnosis. Since I am not equipped to
provide the casting or orthotic bracing he needs, I spent most of my time
cleaning his wounds and educating on proper foot hygiene to avoid need for
amputation. I was also able to provide
some generalized leg strengthening exercises to at least reduce the loads he is
placing through his feet when walking.
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