First Mobile Clinic and First Food Poisoning

Wednesday, June 30, 2010
I’m at home right now, skipping work because I got sick last night. Macie got sick the night before with food poisoning, and she felt a lot worse than I did. I only vomited once but my stomach was all cramped up for a long time beforehand. But before I got sick, I had a good day at my first mobile clinic! I got to go to Samayac with Dr. Walter Sierra.

We drove 45 minutes to get to Samayac around 9 a.m., and there were already about 50 people there who had been waiting in line since 7:30 a.m. They each had a number. Dr. Sierra set up in a small room in the church there. I helped Valentin, the Health Promoter, find each person’s chart and get their information. I got to take and record each person’s blood pressure and pulse before they saw the doctor. With babies and small kids, I weighed them instead of taking their blood pressure. I took them out back and hung them from a scale!

The waiting room was full of sick Guatemalan people. Lots of women holding their babies and some men. Tons of flies everywhere! The women had washcloths that they wore on their shoulders. I wondered what they were for, but soon found out they were for constantly swatting the flies.

I had warned people that I may pass out because I have fainted during my first day back in the hospital setting every summer. I didn’t actually pass out, but I while I was taking everyone’s blood pressure, I felt very light-headed and dizzy. So I took my own blood pressure. It was 85/56 with pulse of 72. (Normal is 120/80.) Ugh. I had eaten a HUGE breakfast that morning and had stayed seated all morning, trying to avoid a drop in a pressure. Guess that didn’t help. My pressure just drops a lot when I am nervous or anxious about being in a new situation.

Once the initial work had been done on all the patients, I got to sit in with Dr. Sierra while he diagnosed the patients. He would say to them in Spanish, “How are we doing? Tell us.” And then the patients would proceed to ramble off their story, which I could only catch bits and pieces of. We saw several intestinal parasites, an eyelid cyst, psoriasis, tonsillitis, fungus, and urinary tract infections. I learned many new Spanish medical terms while there. After a while, Dr. Sierra said to me, “Okay, now the next patient is all yours.” What?! I could barely understand their full story in Spanish, and I didn’t have all the medical knowledge to make a good diagnosis! Yet he put the chart in front of me and gave me the pen. When the patients entered, I listened intently to them. Thank goodness, Dr. Sierra still asked the patients questions. But then he would turn to me and say, “What do you think?” He would either confirm or question what I said, and then I would write the diagnosis and treatment down on the chart, as he helped tell me what to write.

Once, a young girl about my age entered the room with her mom and with her baby nursing at her breast. She was small, thin, and looked very young to me. She was complaining of lower stomach pains. She was embarrassed to get up on the table for us to feel around on her stomach. There definitely was something hard in her stomach. Dr. Sierra asked me what I think. I said, “I think she might be pregnant.” When he questioned the girl, she and her mom defiantly said there was no way she could be pregnant. Nevertheless, the doctor ordered a pregnancy test. She came back 15 minutes later with her chart in hand. The test result: “positivo.” When we told her, she was in denial. She said she hadn’t had her period for 3 months, but she didn’t have a husband or boyfriend. When we questioned her about her sexual activity, she wouldn’t give us a straight answer. She just said, “No,” and shook her head. I don’t think she was going to admit anything with her mom in the room. Wow, what an experience.

For lunch, my host mom had packed me the same food that Macie and I think made Macie deathly ill the night before, so I didn’t eat it. Instead, I ate the rest of my packed lunch: lots of strawberries and a big strawberry slush and tortillas. Soon after, I felt really crumby (maybe too many strawberries?). I just wanted to get back home and lie down. When I finally made it home, I lied down in the dark in my room. Papa Pedro, sweet thing, tried to help. Eventually, my whole family came in to check on me, and they prayed for me. I was grateful for all their concern and help, but all I wanted to do was lie in the dark and be able to throw up. My mom Angelica called the other doctor from the clinic, Dr. Lux, so he came to visit me. He gave me an antibiotic and rehydrating salts to drink. He was a younger guy and was very kind.

So I skipped work today and have been sleeping all day off and on. Angelica has been so kind, going out to buy me Gatorades, mixing and preparing my rehydrating drinks, waking me up to take my pills on time, emptying my throw up bucket, and checking on me a lot. We talked, and in the future, instead of meat, potatoes, and beans for my lunch, she agreed to make me jelly sandwiches. Much safer, I think.

I really appreciate your prayers, and I ask that right now, you especially pray that God would help me to feel better (no drops in blood pressure, no fainting, no throwing up, no missing back home), so that I can enjoy this experience more and be used by God here.