Long Clinic Day

First of all, a quick HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of my favorite Moms out there... Hope you got a little more pampering than we did today! ;-)

Today was a great day, but quite long-- started out to market around 8 or so after going to bed around 8 last night, so at least we started out well-rested! Monica got to experience the market for the first time, and Pat was there to faithfully help shepherd her through and give her the personal shopping experience that only Pat can... Then we hopped up to Church at the Hotel, which was another great service as always. Then it was off to the races when we arrived to a "standing room only" waiting room at the hospital!

We saw a little over 20 patients today, which won't sound like many to some of you but it took us almost 8 hours... We write up pretty full histories and physical exams on them all and try to make sure they all leave feeling like it was worth their while to wait the 8 hours to see us, which is sometimes more challenging than others of course! Either way, it was more than I've ever seen in a day at this clinic by at least 25%, and we turned many away to come back tomorrow. So there's no telling what tomorrow will bring, but God will provide for whatever He sends our way...

So speaking of what He is sending, our most interesting patient of the day was the 9th one we saw-- she was the first patient we saw that literally had no complaints-- she just wanted an ultrasound to make sure everything was OK "before I get any complaints from anything". She literally repeated and harped on the fact that she had no complaints until Monica learned that word quite well in Spanish! So we figured this one would at least be quick and easy and we could give her what she wanted as we walked over to the ultrasound room. It got less quick and easy when we diagnosed an ovarian mass the size of a small orange (she is post-menopausal so this is particularly concerning) and set her up for surgery tomorrow! I am now quite suspicious after reviewing some blood work that she may have ovarian cancer. If she does, though, it will be picked up early and maybe even cured without further treatment. Those of you who know anything about ovarian cancer know that this is rarely the case, so praise God for sending her today! I do not think she knows Christ personally yet, so please pray that we can really use this opportunity to minister to her and lead her to Him.

Please also pray for a young lady-- in her 40's, I think-- who has inoperable cervical cancer and likely only a few months or so to live. There is nothing I can do for her but hug her, pray with her, cry with her and her husband, and give her some pain medication. As a physician, those are some of the hardest times. As a Christian, though, it was a huge relief to know that she knows The Lord and is planning to spend eternity with Him in His kingdom. We will see her there someday and it will be a joyful reunion.

If any of our old regular readers remember the young lady that we tried so hard to help with her breast cancer a few years back (Maria was diagnosed while both pregnant and breastfeeding-- no-showed her mastectomy, tried some "faith healers" and such then finally did go to The City to get treatment but way too late...), we saw her family in the market today and they seem to be doing well. The first picture is a picture that I took of her husband's cell phone-- He has her picture as his home screen, which I thought was a beautiful reminder of her this Mother's Day. I get to see one of her daughters and her husband almost every time I come down, which is a great privilege in my travels here to have such continuity with a family.

We also scheduled several vaginal hysterectomies for prolapse, and a bladder evaluation (cystoscopy) for a lady with no prolapse but lots of bladder complaints and blood in her urine that is unexplained. I'll save some of the other clinic details for tomorrow or the next day; I guess y'all get the gist of it by now... the other pictures are some of the ladies we will be operating on this week, and the last one is just for fun, showing the "glamorous" side of gynecology which Monica snapped when I had stepped out to wash some speculums!

I did have at least three patients today that I had given appointments to come back and see me myself, which is always exciting-- one post-op from February and two other follow-ups for an abnormal pap smear and fibroid uterus. It is always wonderful to start those relationships and be able to provide continuing care, even when you're only here every three months! What a privilege, and what a wonderful way for God to prove just once again how good He is...