We continue to be a little frustrated by some of the differences in values between richer cultures and poorer cultures. (We find that the Latins and those in Guatemala City have values much more "American" than the Mayans do.) One patient came in pregnant. She's 21, is on her 4th pregnancy and has one living child. Naturally, the question is, "What happened to the other two?" They were breech and died during delivery. Her baby is breech now, too. We asked her if she was going to go to the hospital for delivery in light of the previous two bad experiences. Her answer was that she's afraid of the hospital and pretty unlikely to go.
It's not just her. We hear this from lots of patients in life or death situations. Not all, as one severely pre-eclamptic patient told us that she WOULD go to the hospital. We're not sure the family really understands the gravity of the situation, but they at least acted like they were going to go. But many patients and families are so afraid of the government hospitals that they refuse to go. Some of this stems from stories about how patients can get treated at the government hospitals. We've seen both good and bad treatment of patients there - it kind of comes down to the luck of the draw sometimes. The rest of the fear probably comes from fear of the unknown. Our patients probably average about a kindergarten level of education and don't really understand anything that happens in the hospital. Communication is difficult, especially when patients don't speak much Spanish. And even when they do, the education levels are so different and the hospitals so busy that very few doctors really take the time to explain the situation to patients on a level that they can understand.
Also, we occasionally get stories from patients that make us wonder if the doctors DID try to explain things on a level they can understand. The trick here is to try to guess what the doctor's thought process was so we can take a stab at what the docs think the problem is. For example, if someone tells us that the doctor told them their stomach was too small, what possible medical conditions could possibly be described that way? Fun, huh? Well, it can be!
Today, Heidi had a 13 year old boy come in who had sustained a blow a few years ago to... well... an unfortunate place for a boy. At some point he ended up catherized. Now, the catheter has been removed and he is incontinent. This would be inconvenient for anyone, but a teenage boy? He's completely aghast. We're referring him to Dr. Hoak to see if anything can be done. Heidi deals with female incontinence, but boys are plumbed slightly differently. Maybe she'll get a chance to learn some.
Over the last few weeks, Heidi has been working to teach her translator, Manuela, some medicine. Education is so critical, especially out in the rural areas. If we can take some of the mystery out of health and health issues, people may be more accepting of medical treatment - and more importantly, of the other things we have to say to them (specifically about Jesus). Last week, Heidi taught Manuela some of the basics on ultrasounds - mostly to check and see if there is, in fact, a baby in there. This week was Lesson #1 on how to take blood pressures. Matt had told Manuela last week that if HE can do it, SHE can do it. He was right. She mastered the concept on the first try (see picture). Maybe next week we work on taking blood sugars!
Tomorrow is our clinic in Chicabracan. We're hoping to bring Paul and Lindsey with us. They were very helpful last week and since they'll be covering clinic while we're in the US for Christmas, it's nice for patients to see us working together so they understand that we're all part of the same organization and all have the same goals - demonstrating Christ's love for us by providing medical care to those who often have nowhere else to turn.
Please continue to pray for people seeking God's guidance in their lives. We know of many people (including ourselves) who are contemplating major life changes and simply want God to reveal His will to them. Also, please pray for Baby Sarah. Duane is bringing her to Quiche tomorrow for a check-up as part of her adoption process. As you'll remember, some major prayers have already been answered for her and we continue to ask God to keep His hand on her. Oh, and if you still have prayer time, pray for the work that the community is promising us (to be done on the runway in Saquixpec) to be done well so we can safely fly in there over Thanksgiving.
No comments:
Post a Comment