Feliz Cumpleanos a Mateo

In this business, like pretty much every other business, your birthday is no guarantee of a day off. Matt turned 33 yesterday, though he swears he can't be older than 24. Probably some mix-up with the Mayan calendar.

Anyway, we were in Nueva Santa Catarina yesterday, one of our favorite clinics! We even brought brownies to pass out in celebration of Matt's birthday. The first picture is of us sitting at our clinic bench. You can see the little "Feliz Cumpleanos" box on the table!

The second pic is of our first patient of the day. So much for easing into clinic. This little boy is five and the tumor you see on his face started when he was ten days old. He's been to Antigua for surgery and they told him that they couldn't do it "because it was all blood". Using our ultrasound in a way we're completely unaccustomed to showed very little structure within the tumor. We're going to refer him to Dr. Hoak in Chichicastenango (who happens to be in Honduras for a couple weeks) and see if there's anything we can do to help him there. Short of that, we'll be looking for some pediatric plastic surgeons for him.

The third pic is of Matilde (the local pastor who serves as a translator and health promoter) with one of the patients.

And the fourth pic is of Birthday Dinner! That's what happens when you spend six hours in the truck, four hours in clinic, and an hour in a grocery store before you get home. Of course, chicken nuggets and french fries are every birthday boy's dream until he's 12 or so anyway. And who can pass up homemade cheesecake? We have a very funny picture of Jake (our cat) with a small piece, too. Maybe we'll share that later.

Thanks to everyone who emailed on Matt's birthday - his inbox was CRAMMED when we got home. The internet has definitely made us feel like we're not quite so far away.

Tonight is dinner with about 20 members of the SOS Eye Team who is in town from Houston. We'll be going out to Chicabracan with them tomorrow (for us, a regular clinic day - for them, more eye clinics).