Of course, there was a knock on the door, but it was after we were already up. Manuela, the woman we feared had the molar pregnancy actually DID show back up at the hospital. They admitted her and when we went to go check on her during visiting hours, her husband was still here and had actually been sent to the store to get a towel and some toilet paper (they don't supply those here at the hospital).
We went and picked up her lab results at 4pm and the good news is that she doesn't have a molar pregnancy. The bad news is that she had a spontaneous abortion a few months back and will probably need a minor surgery to clean out her uterus. More good news, though. We met Dr. Maria Perez, a Mayan (dressed in traje under her lab coat) OB/GYN who will be taking care of her. We did not know about Dr. Perez and were very excited to meet her!
Also during visiting hours (really, we should say visiting HOUR - it's only from 2pm-3pm), we checked on baby Lesly. She has been moved from the nutrition area to the pediatric "intensive care" area and put on an IV for nutrition. She is still not eating well, is still losing weight, and still has diarrhea. The outlook is not good. (See her picture below.)
On the positive side, though, she had five family members here to see her, including an uncle who speaks excellent Spanish. He practically begged us to go ask the doctors what else they can do for her. He said that the doctors will never listen to him, but they would listen to us. We explained that it looked like they were doing everything they could. We even told him that Matt had seen one of the doctors in the gym yesterday and talked to him about Lesly there. We told him that we are praying for her and that their family should, too. He said they were and will continue to. Our "regalito" (little gift) for her today was some disposable diapers. The hospital provides cloth diapers for the moms, but her mom really did want some disposable ones (remember, she has diarrhea - not so fun for Mom).
We also had a chance to talk to Ceritas (the local nuns) today about some things we're working on together, with Eliseo (the pastor in San Pedro) about a woman in his community with Bell's Palsy (who we'll probably go visit on Friday), with Dr. Hoak about a woman with some "female" problems, and with Sharon at ASELSI about our Thanksgiving plans for tomorrow!
One last story for you before we say goodnight. Last night, we were hanging out on the couch, enjoying the heat from our portable heater (it's been in the 40s here at night - ouch!) and Heidi spotted a mouse walking - not running - walking across our floor. We woke Jake up and literally threw him at the mouse, which he finally took care of, after playing with it for a few minutes. What a life HE has!
Tomorrow is clinic at ASELSI, then Thanksgiving dinner in Chichicastenango with some other missionary families. Thanksgiving is not a holiday here. They didn't call their gringos "pilgrims", they called them "conquistadors". Subtle yet important difference.
1 comment:
Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you.
A Blessed Thanksgiving to all the American missionaries who are so generous with their talents and time.
We're counting days until you are home.
Love and prayers, Mom
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