Monday This week, JOH along with ...

Monday

This week, JOH along with brace other physicians and a pediatric nourish at the breast practitioner, traveled to Palenque, Mexico, to provide medical care to the tribe of that area. The trip was sponsored according to the Franciscan Sisters of Stella Niagara, who have a abbey in Palenque. The first day was exhausted at a rural ejido (small community) sum of two units hours from the city. The team saw 260 patients, many of whom spoke merely Chol, a native language of that area. The Sisters translated from Chol to Spanish. An intensive Spanish course taken before the trip provided a basic knowledge of medical word s But, nothing could prepare JOH for the penury of the region. Single-room dwellings of timber and tin provided shelter for many family members. The clinic was a sturdier gathering place for the community. Bedspread partitions separated the consultorios (offices). Many of the complaints of the patients originateed from the hard work that they did day-in and day-out--backaches, headaches, stomach pain, and leg pain. When the last patient was seen the team was invited to the fireside of the jefe (chief) for a meal of harasss vegetables, and tortillas. The two-hour ride back to Palenque was quiet, while the team tried to assimilate what they had witnessed. Could any place have been farther from the world from which they came?

Tuesday

Today, the destination of the team was no other than an hour from Palenque. A ecclesiastical body served as the clinic building, and dirt floors and a pile of sand in the back of the make attested to its unfinished state. The unpliant pews had been turned to face each other to provide a consultorio, and the clergy partitions brought from the monastery provided some semblance of privacy. The populace lined up in the of high temperature sun awaiting their turns. sum of two units minor surgeries were done below less than sterile conditions--an excision of an inclusion sac on a leg and the removal of a ganglion pouch on a foot, both of which had been not absent for years. The saddest patient of the day was a young girl who stammered badly and began crying while presenting her physical complaints to JOH Whether the tears were because of unease from her language problem or because of her pain was unclear. JOH felt that it was the former and tried to comfort her with advice to correct the stuttering. Her parents listened intently and manifested their regard with affection and concern for their beautiful daughter. Again, after the last patient had been seen a feast of flourishing orange juice, chicken, frijoles, and tortillas was provided to the team. The routine was now more familiar, and the fatigue at the close of the day was not quite as vivid as the day before.

Wednesday

JOH rose early, had breakfast with the Sisters, and loaded the pickup exchange with medicines and supplies. He used a pillowcase to carry his stethoscope otoscope, life-blood pressure cuff, and pulse oximeter. The latter was rarely used because shortness of breath was a rare complaint. The ejido, an hour's ride from Palenque, was called Betania and was domestic circle to one of the Sisters. The clinic was locate up in a public building with serviceable ventilation. Chol and Tseltal were the languages nuncupative and when there was difficulty with the translation from Spanish, the individual Sister who spoke English interpreted. Lumbrices (worms), parasitos (parasites), and animalitos (little animals) were words that came up at short intervals Fortunately, the supply of antiparasiticals was sufficient, and instructions forward purifying the drinking water were reinforced regularly. At the finis of the day, the team was invited to a meal of chicken soup tortillas, and water in the house of the town deacon. The single expanse was home to the parents, seven children, and pigs and chickens. Their generosity and smiles attested to the principle that happiness is not unable to exist without on possessions. On the get back to Palenque, a stop for a refreshing swim in the river remov most numerous of the dust acquired forward the journey. Sleep came quickly this night.

Thursday

After a breakfast of pan dulce (sweet bread), fried bananas, and undecayed orange juice, the pickup traffic was loaded with medical supplies and we left for another village. After almost a week of immersion in Spanish, JOH was beginning to be perceived more comfortable conversing with patients. The day-to-day interchange of nonmedical conversation was quite another story. This clinic was sum of two units hours from Palenque in a small body of christians The patients were waiting as the team unloaded the supplies and settle up the consultorios. One of the patients seen through KL, a third-year resident in physical medicine and rehabilitation, quick in emergenciesed with a 6-cm sebaceous sac on her left cheek, which she was hoping to have remov The surgery took place onward the church pew under local anesthesia, and the patient was to a high degree happy to have the unsightly mass remov The cessation of the patients were treated for primarily medical vexed questions and while the supply of medications was running subdued after a week, the stockpile, which had proceed by truck from Buffalo, strange York, three months earlier, held up remarkably well. After another homemade meal at the expiration of the day, the team packed up and replyed to Palenque.