This is going to be a short blog as I have been off the ship at med sites for the past two days and on again tomorrow, and exhausted. The days are long, extremely hot, dusty and did I mention hot??
The people we are seeing in Guatemala are very different than those in Nicaragua, there is a higher poverty rate, people appear to be in more need. The chief complaints are very similar, nutrition, weight concerns, parasites, everyone seems to have a belly ache and headache, especially after school. Most of the children are chronically dehydrated and truly have no idea about the importance of hydration, this is a catch twenty-two though, the water probably isn’t clean & most probably contributes to the GI complaints, yet dehydration introduces new problems. I have been talking to the families about boiling the water, but for most families it is not practical.
Interesting day yesterday... the locals brought a cow to the center of the area we were, slaughtered it, and prepared it to be cooked... cooked it and most people enjoyed a meal. I did not, I chose to eat chicken, I assume plucked off the street somewhere and cooked, but 24 hours later I am here, no issues. Local food is a part of the experience and learning the culture.
I saw a child yesterday who has all symptoms pointing to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, the unfortunate thing is that I believe his mom had some handicap herself and truly did not understand the condition that he may have. I fear that he will not get the follow up and care I recommended for the best outcomes.
Today was long but I didn’t have a case that sticks out though, could just be related to my exhaustion but between all of the providers we did see several derm cases, unfortunately dermatology was not on-site today so some were asked to come back for consult with dermatology.
Well, I am off to the evening brief and probably bed, yes it is only 7:15.
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