I just got off the phone with Tricia. I took notes this time so I could pass on some information other than “she’s having fun.”
Today was the first clinic day and it was crazy. She said it is “true family practice.” Her first patient was a 1 year old. Then some adults, more kids, and a pregnant lady. That was just the morning!!
The way the clinic works is this – Tricia speaks in English to an American nurse who volunteers at the clinic (her husband is Guatemalan and they live there with their 9-month-old daughter). The nurse speaks in Spanish to the full-time clinic nurse who then translates into the local dialect for the patient. The patient answers, the full-time nurse translates to Spanish for the American nurse, who translates to English for Tricia. Think back to your last doctor visit and how many questions were asked and now try to imagine that with FOUR MORE INTERACTIONS between the question being asked and then answered! It took a while to take care of everyone.
Now, some paraphrased stuff from Tricia with a specific story. Comments in parentheses are me:
“After clinic was over, we finished at 2:30/3:00pm (clinic is supposed to end at 1pm), we took a three-wheeled car to other city where the rest of the team was building the house. When we got there, I met the man they were building the house for. He has angina (blockages in the heart causing lots of pain). It was waking him up at night (VERY bad). I knew about it ahead of time and brought medication, anticipating a problem. He has unstable angina (NOT good at all). I gave him Aspirin and he started crying. He said “I don’t want to die, I have 9 children to take care of.” I was in a house with no electricity, dirt floors, total third world – it was unbelievable. Then, he asked if I would look at his granddaughter. She was a 2-month-old with fever. She was retracting (having so much trouble breathing that her ribs were visible – this is VERY bad for a 2-month-old). She had consolidation in her lungs (this means that part of her lungs were so infected that they were full of fluid. Lung with fluid in it can’t transport oxygen which is bad. Most likely, this child has pneumonia). I told the man she needs antibiotics. The pharmacy was closed but we got them to open it. We bought some Amoxicillin for the baby and gave her the first dose. We left them with a 2 week supply but I don’t know how the baby will do. In the US, she would have been admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics.”
It’s stuff like that, apparently – over and over. She sounds like she is doing well, but is emotionally taxed. I can’t even begin to imagine. Tricia did say that she is able to do more than she thought she would be able to, so that’s something.
Keep her in your prayers as she continues to use her gift.
More updates as they come,
J
What a difficult situation to be in for one whose heart is so large and loving. . . I can only imagine her frustration. Praise God that she is able to do more than she thought she would. She is in my prayers. Thanks for the update.
Wow! Double Wow! I knew there would be stories, and so far this is really a winner! Thank you so much for the update