ASELSI

Yesterday was a busy day at ASELSI. A normal load of patients there is somewhere in the neighborhood of 20. We saw over 30.

Many of our patients there were prenatal patients. This is wonderful because it's something Sharon has been praying for for a long time. If we can get moms to come in while they're pregnant, then come back for well baby checks, we can help with lots of problems, such as cleft palates, club feet, and malnutrition. Sometimes, babies born with a birth defect are simply abandoned or relegated to second-class status. In many of these cases, a surgery can correct the problem but if parents don't know that surgery is available... you see where this goes.

Naturally, we have a few stories from clinic. One was a twelve year old girl who came in with a very severe looking rash on her bottom lip and left cheek. She said she had had it for four years. We treated it as impetigo, which is probably is, but we found out later that the man who had brought her in was not her father (we simply assumed he was). He was her teacher. How neat to have a teacher who cares enough about his students to bring them to a doctor when he sees they need help. This girl was clearly quite poor - her school uniform sweater probably wouldn't qualify for car-rag duty in the U.S. The sleeves had unravelled at least a few inches each and there were holes all throughout. Most of the buttons were missing and at least one set of "button holes" were tied together with string.

She is probably poor beyond our ability to really comprehend, but she's in school. She seems very intelligent and has a teacher who has taken a personal interest in her - not just an academic interest. Please pray that she is able to break the cycle of poverty in her family and that her kids will have new sweaters to wear to school.

One moment that would have been funny had it not been so serious was when about half of the ladies who work at the registration desk came bursting into our clinic room (in the middle of another patient) holding a little lump under a blanket and chattering about 100mph in K'iche. We saw just the little face poking out and it was smaller than your palm. Naturally, our gastritis patient had to wait a minute.

The baby's name is Juan Ernesto Macario Guarcas. He's two months old, more or less, and weighs 4 1/2 pounds. The woman who brought him in is not his mother. Juan had been abandoned, probably for dead. Someone called her one day and told her that if she wanted a baby, she'd better come get him. He was clearly born quite premature and likely doesn't have the greatest chance in the world. He has survived two months, though, and seems to take a bottle well. We sent Juan and his adopted mom to the hospital in Quiche with a note explaining the situation (she doesn't speak Spanish). We'll go down later today to check on them.

And probably the saddest story we've had in a while is the story of Efrain Gregorio Villegas Lopez. He's 50 and lives here in Quiche. His wife brought him to ASELSI because she heard that we sent people to Antigua for surgeries. Efrain is a diabetic and is in probably the early stages of kidney failure. His sugar wasn't too bad (137), but he can barely walk due to the deep ulcers on both feet. He also has one on the back of his leg about the size of a coffee saucer. He's probably not too far from losing both legs.

His wife repeatedly asked if we could write him a note to get him his "dialysis surgery" in Guatemala City. We explained that dialysis is not a surgery, but really a process that will have to continue the rest of his life. She was very kind and caring to him and clearly desperate for help. We referred them to the hospital here in Quiche, too, for them to do some work on his largest ulcer on his leg (we took pictures, but we'll spare you!). We'll work with the Social Work office here at the hospital to see what can be done for him, but it looks like the end of the road isn't too far down.

Thankfully, he is saved and belongs to a church here in Quiche. One of the neat things about working at ASELSI is that they're also a Bible School so we had plenty of folks willing to minister to him and his family (all who speak Spanish as a first language - very helpful).

Sorry this turned out to be so long, but yesterday was a long day. Today we have some follow-up to do on some patients at the hospital and some more work around the house. We're going to buy some supplies to see if we can get our shower converted into a shower-bath for Heidi and the baby!!!!