I am writing this post from a lounge chair in my backyard with tears in my eyes. I am extremely happy to be home, surrounded by my family and pets, yet I still have a heavy heart. Guatemala was different and more difficult for me than Nicaragua. The heat and humidity in Guatemala was oppressing. The MEDCAPS were held in 3 elementary schools. A breeze was hardly felt in any of the sites. I am not sure if the lack of a breeze was due to how the schools were built. Even though the heat was unbearable, I hardly heard any of the providers complain about the heat. It was something that you had to deal with by drinking lots of water. On some days I became slightly dizzy and had a headache. This was my body telling me to hydrate. I would educate parents on the importance of drinking water, and the consequences of not drinking enough. I had to use my own advice on myself. The heat was not the only factor that made Guatemala different than Nicaragua.
The poverty level was increased and the educational level was decreased. This could have been due to the areas that were selected for the medical sites. Some of the reasons that parents (the majority were mothers) brought their children to be evaluated were the same. They included headaches, not growing well, and the need for parasite medicine. Guatemala was harder for me because I saw sicker children that needed more help than what I (we) could provide. I saw children with failure to thrive and congenital anomalies that had to be referred back to the community for treatment. Not being able to give immediate help was more frustrating to me than the heat. I know that I did the best that I could under the circumstances, but that does not make the sadness of not being able to help go away any easier or faster.
My last patient of the mission was one of these cases. It was a 15-month boy that had had fevers for 7 months; with history of seizure and taking depakene. The parents brought all the imaging and the results of all the exams that had been done prior. I desperately wanted to help this family. He was a healthy 15 months old upon examination. If I had not been told that he had had a fever, I would not have been able to tell. This was a very complicated case. I consulted with 3 physicians about this child. It was decided to draw blood at the site, and run the labs back at the ship. I explained to the parents what we wanted to do, and asked them if they could come back the next day for the lab results. They told me they had left their house at 2 am, arrived at the site at 6 am, (I saw them at 1:30pm). I offered to call them by phone to give them the results. They chose to come back the next day to receive their results in person. I was impressed by how involved the father was in the care of this child. Up to this point I had primarily seen mothers bring in their children. The labs were drawn and I waited till 11:30pm to get the results and get copies to give to the parents the next day. I unfortunately was not scheduled to go out the next day (it would’ve been my 8th straight day) to give the parents the results. All the results came back negative. The parents were told that he probably had drug fever and he should go back to see the neurologist. I was told that the parents were happy with the care their child received. I should be happy that we were able to give the parents some kind of diagnosis for their child. I wish I had some way of following up on this patient to see what happens. I wish I could follow up on all my patients I referred back to the community.
My experiences were not all bad or frustrating. Even though I speak Spanish, I still learned some new words. I learned new Spanish words for milk, baby bottle, candy, junk food, right now, military hospital ship, and diarrhea. I was thanked and blessed by many mothers for taking care of their children. I could see in their eyes how grateful they were for everything we did for them. Even it was just providing reassurance that they were doing things correctly. I could see a mother’s love for her child or children with every child that I saw. A mother’s love is the same in every country. I have met some incredible people on this mission. All the physicians were knowledgeable in their area of expertise, and wanted to share their wealth of experience. I admired the military for everything they do before this trip, now I admire them even more.
I had some sad times, and I had some wonderful times. I might not have been able to fully express my feelings in this post, but it is an experience that I will never forget. I am grateful to FIU and to my job for giving me the opportunity to participate. I have made new friends, learned new things, and visited new places. Participating in Continuing Promise 2011 is a decision that I will never regret.
Now I have to transition to life back on land. My room last night was so quiet it was difficult to sleep. I had not realized how quickly I had gotten accustomed to sleeping with the engine noise. I have not driven a car in over 3 weeks, and now I have to drive in Miami traffic.
I look forward to reading the posts from the next two students.
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