Letters from Home

At the beginning of the day, we were told that Day 3 in the clinic tends to be the most difficult...

• Day 1 is super crazy
• By Day 2, the team has found a groove 
• On the final day, the end is in sight and everyone is winding down.

Day 3 can be challenging because there tends to be a loss of momentum. While today seemed to be running pretty well, we all got a huge pick-me-up when we received an envelope with our name on it (some of us received several envelopes/letters). Enclosed were words of love, support, and encouragement from family, friends, co-workers, and church group members. I was so moved while I was reading my letter that I had to stop because I was getting really emotional. Here are people who cared enough about our trip to take time out of their day to send a little note letting us know they are thinking about us and praying for us. Even though they are not physically here, their notes made it feel like they were helping to carry me and our group through the day. It was just what I needed.

Something surprising… one of the Colombian doctors who was involved with the initial trip preparations came to the clinic today to help! It was great to see him working side by side with our doctors. I pray that our presence inspires other doctors in this country to provide assistance to their less fortunate neighbors.

The highlight for today was a case that didn't show up until the very end of the day. Bob spotted a boy (14 years old) in the crowd who looked like he had a golf ball buried in his cheek. From there, Bob arranged for the teenager to be admitted to the clinic and after hitting the triage table, our newest patient ended up in the dental area. Without getting overly technical, this boy had a large abcess caused by an infected tooth and was in a lot of pain. Dr. Bret wanted to remove the tooth but didn't know if he could do it without causing additional pain and suffering. "When someone has an infection that large around the tooth, it's difficult to provide them with adequate anesthesia to get them comfortable," said Dr. Bret.

Typically, we like to close the clinic doors by 4:00pm so that once all the patients are treated, we are able to leave around 5:00pm. With the first two days of clinic, we didn’t leave until well after 6:00pm because of the line of admitted patients still waiting for treatment. Now that we had our routine down, we all thought today was going to be different and we were going to get out on time (even early). Alas, that wasn’t the situation. This golf-ball-in-cheek case (my diagnosis is super technical) wasn’t initiated until close to 4:00pm so time was of the essence. This is where the whole team kicked into high gear. Several of the physician extenders provided assistance by either gathering supplies or holding flashlights (to provide additional light)... many also observed, including our Colombian dentist. Our best team of experts was called in for a consultation; Dr. Nick, Dr. Michael, and Dr. Steve. I think there were a total of 10 people surrounding this boy! It took about 45 minutes for the consultation team to walk through the possible procedures and determine the best course of action. Do we incise and drain the abcess from inside the mouth? This was tried without success. Perhaps we should try to drain it by cutting from the outside? No, we don't want him to have a large scar.  Should we just provide antibiotics and see him tomorrow? He's in a lot of pain now and are we sure he'll return tomorrow? In the end, they opted that instead of surgery, they would pull the tooth today, place the boy on a heavy dose of antibiotics and pain medication, and ask him to return tomorrow for a follow up. Before the extraction, the team paused to pray for God's guidance and that our decision would provide the best outcome for the boy.  Moments later the tooth was out! Minutes later, Dr. Kristen popped in and asked if she could go get meds ready for the patient while Dr. Bret was explaining things to his mother. In the end, the whole case was a reflection of a true team concept. The absolute best part was this boy actually had a smile on his face as he left our clinic.

The whole time the procedure was underway, I kept thinking, “What if we weren’t here to provide our services? What would happen with this boy?” Over the course of our four clinic days, we will treat over 800 people but I know I will be drawn back to this boy. With God’s guidance, he was brought to our doors and with His hand, we treated him. Quite a way to end another hard day of work and service.

Prayer Requests

-          For the Colombian people to know that our love and compassion for them doesn’t stop when the clinic closes