Two Days in the Life of Chichicastenango...

Well, yesterday and today were fairly routine in terms of clinic patients-- today I actually saw almost exclusively prenatal patients, which has been rare up to this point! The most promising thing about seeing all of them, though, was that almost every one of them actually had received some prenatal care elsewhere also and were essentially here for an ultrasound. It was very encouraging that prenatal care as a general concept continues to catch on, and I gave them all copies of their visit/ultrasound results from today to take back to their other providers in hopes of more continuity of care.

I also saw several more of my own return patients, which I try to take as a good sign that there is growing trust in me and in our care here at the hospital. I was also able to pull several charts from patients that I had seen in May and referred back to Dr. Hoak for various reasons, and was very pleased to see that they had followed through and had their surgeries done.

I think the best and most exciting new yet, though, is what we spent about half of the morning doing today-- When I walked out from seeing my last patient in the stack, I met one of the nurses who was dressed in an OR gown, gloves and mask in the hallway with a broom. Intrigued by her attire, I of course asked what she was working on, and imagine my surprise to find out that she and three others were cleaning out one of the "bodegas" (storerooms). It wasn't actually a bodega, but more like a big hallway behind one of the bodegas that has been filled literally floor to ceiling with "overflow" junk over the years. They were all climbing in there and sorting through things, and actually throwing a large portion of it away! Those of you who know anything about Guatemala know that Guatemalans voluntarily throwing ANYthing away-- especially at this Hospital!-- is nothing short of a minor miracle. So I threw on a pair of gloves and did what I could to encourage their efforts... especially acting as a "consultant" to look at boxes full of junk disguised as donated medical supplies and equipment and determine whether it was anything that we could possibly ever conceivably need to use or not. The project didn't last long, but it did create a small mountain of trash that I think was later burned... The first picture below is thus of the only "surgery" that we did today-- a trash-ectomy!

The second picture is a new Guatemalan classic for me-- I always knew they could and would grow CORN anywhere here, but seeing it in a planter on the roof was another first for me! Just when I thought I had seen it all... But in all fairness, the rest of the world would surely think we were all even crazier for growing tomatoes upside-down on our porches, don't you think?!

The last picture is just something that amused me when I saw it on the Hospital wall today-- a poster advertising a Medical Conference coming up on "Cancer Treatment in the New Millenium". Apparently quite a few international docs are coming down to speak, including three from MD Anderson in Houston. What amused me, though, were the prices-- $250 bucks for docs from outside Guatemala, 400 Quetzales (about $50 bucks!) for Guatemalan docs! Those of you planning any international continuing education conferences any time soon, just be aware you're being gouged... but enjoy nonetheless!

Tomorrow's plans are still up in the air, depending on whether the Fickers are able to fly me out there or not... We will see what God has in store, and if I don't go out there then I may see if I can help Dr. Sherwood Pope and his wife Areli with Agape in Action or at ASELSI on Thursday or something... My father-in-law always tells me, though, "If you ever want to hear God laugh, tell Him about YOUR plans!"...

We will see what HE has in store for me the rest of the week.