Today started out with Matt's very generous offer to go and do the clinic in Chinique with Paul and Lindsey in order to free up Heidi to go to Chichicastenango and be with Maria Suy Chan as she got her breast biopsy. This gave Paul and Lindsey a chance to get back in the swing of things with the clinic, spend more time learning our computer record-keeping system, and overall preparing to run the clinics while we're gone in December. Matt also had a chance to practice a lot more Spanish, AND got invited to go sit in with Paul's friends as they get together to play some music tonight. The tough part was that we saw about 50% more patients than we usually do there today! Ooops... Sorry Matt, Paul, and Lindsey! They did a really fantastic job, by all accounts.
Meanwhile, Heidi was having her own (mis-) adventures on her way to Chichi... It seems that the truck didn't QUITE want to make it all the way there, so it stopped in the middle of the road instead! God is good, though, and his angels were really looking out for us today. The truck died literally right in front of the biggest, cleanest, nicest gas station we know of... AND on the straightest stretch of road between here and Chichi where visibility from both sides is good and no one was going to blindly stumble upon a truck parked in the middle of the road... AND, literally, right between two "tumulos" (speed-bumps) to further decrease the risk of at least a high-speed collision. The boys at the gas station were a huge help, and it wasn't long before Heidi was on her way again to the hospital. (We're pretty sure we need to check/repair/replace the alternator, but that's no big deal considering how much worse that could have been!)
Dr. Hoak was nice enough to see Maria and add her on to his already very busy surgical schedule for today. We did her biopsy late this afternoon, and will both be very, very surprised if the pathologist tells us anything other than that she has cancer. (The first part of her story was posted yesterday, if you're reading these out of order, by the way...) We will follow-up on the results, of course, and continue to work to help her and her family in any way that we can. Please pray for her! This one hits Heidi especially close to home, as many of you know. Tomorrow it will be 23 years since her mother passed away from metastatic breast cancer at age 38.
Also on a more personal note, we're happy to report how we realize daily that we make a very good team. God really knew what He was doing when He got the two of us together to come down here! (We know, He's pretty much well-known for being on top of these things... but it's nice to stop and really think about them every once in a while) Matt has learned so much Spanish and Medicine that he was really able to "step up" today so that Heidi could be with the breast cancer patient and continue to build that relationship... AND he could diagnose the truck's problem over the phone in between patients! Heidi, unfortunately, has NOT picked up any of Matt's musical skills (still pretty tone-deaf...), but couldn't even begin to imagine trying to do anything at all down here without Matt's help and support.
"Two people are better than one because together they have a good reward for their hard work. If one falls, the other can help his friend get up... Though one person may be overpowered by another, two people can resist one opponent. A triple-braided rope is not easily broken." --Ecclesiastes 4:9,10,12
1 comment:
You are a fantastic pair, and you can be proud of what your are able to do together. You are also two fantastic individuals who complement each other in the skills you bring to the tasks God has given you. You're right, God does know whats He's doing and He has certainly blessed you both.
Love yah! Dad
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