Post from Luz

Hello everybody it's Luz. I am having trouble logging in and this post is under Randy's name.

Today is Sunday, June 26, 2011, or I am told it is Sunday. The days blend together and I am not quite sure why. I have been onboard the USNS Comfort for one week. I can't believe time has gone by that quickly. We (Kim, Nicole, Randy, and I) have gone out 4 times this week. There were two sites that we would go to see patients. One was a civic center (Centro Civico in San Juan del Sur) and a school (Escuela Humberto Mendez en Rivas). The Nicaraguan people came to be evaluated by professionals in specialties that included general medicine, family medicine, women's health, pediatrics, dental, and optometry. They were truly grateful that we were there to provide them with free services and medicines. I have had some kids that have been wheezing. The 1st thing I wanted to do was find a nebulizer machine and give them a treatment. Here the only thing I had was an Albuterol inhaler, or so I thought. I was taught by the very knowledgeable physicians and nurse practitoners how to make my own aerochamber for the little kids. All I needed was a pair of scissors, a water bottle, tape, and the inhaler. To my complete amazement my makeshift aerochamber worked surprisingly great for my asthmatics. After 2 puffs of teh inhaler my little asthamtics were no longer wheezing. I was so happy that I was to build something so very useful. I was touched by how the parents would dress up their children to come see us. The little girls would be in dresses and the little boys would be in button down shirts and pants. I was saddened by the fact that we couldn't provide all services that were needed. I have found that the Nicaraguan people are sweet and loving. We sail away later today, and I will miss this country (especially the slice of avocado that was heaven sent during one of the MEDCAPs). God Bless Nicaragua.