Day 2 - Guatemala

Dear Evan and Nathan,

      We spent the day treating patients at a mobile clinic that we set up in Noruega, Zacapa.  As a group, we saw 26 patients.  Most had orthopedic complaints, but our team also did a terrific job of identifying patients that were not appropriate for physical therapy who needed to be evaluated by another healthcare professional.  We identified patients with vision disorders, possible Chiari malformation, diabetes (we had her screened by one of the WSU professors who had the equipment available), and appendicitis (taken to the hospital by our group on our way home).  As one of my students put it, "This is as direct as direct access gets."
     We also got to go on two home visits.  One group went to the home of a young man who was in a motorcycle accident a couple days ago and could not walk to the clinic.  They provided basic wound care for a large road rash.  I took a second group to the home of a man who had two strokes - one affecting his right side and one affecting his left side - who was non-ambulatory and could not sit up by himself, but was well cared for by his family. 
     In the same location, a dentist treated patients and a group of students and a professor from WSU screened families for iron deficiency.  If a family member has an iron deficiency, they are given an iron fish to put in their cooking water.  It gives the entire family the iron supplementation it needs for fie years.  This is very important.  Another team is doing lip cleft and palate surgeries.  They screened 100 people on Saturday.  The first three children they screened were not candidates for the life-saving surgery because they had an iron deficiency.
     All of this was done in 100 degree heat.  I am so proud of my students, who worked with such competence and compassion.
     Dad said you went to the batting cages and also did some fielding today.  Sounds like a lot of fun!     
     I miss you so much! 

Love, Mom

This is our clinic in Noruega.  The group on the right is doing the Iron Fish screening.  Our little clinic is on the left.

 

A clos-up of our clinic.

 

Coty and Mercedes teaching a patient how to perform pelvic neutral.  The woman they are treating came in with small ulcers on her feet.  Concerned about the cause of these ulcers, they screened her sensation, looked for trophic changes (skin), and took her blood pressure.  They suspected she had diabetes so we asked one of the professors for the Iron Fish program to screen her.  Thanks to their intervention, she got the education she needed and will hopefully follow-up with a physician in Zacapa.

Our team at the end of the day, just outside the home of one of the gentlemen we visited.  On the left is Yasmin, a Guatemalan-trained PT that worked with us.  Third from the right is Nancy, a PT who is the director of therapy services for Hearts in Motion.