We have seen more severely ill people on this trip than before. One woman age 55 who looks 75 has a growth the size of a cantelope hanging pendulous lay from her lower abdomen. They can't do the "free" surgery until she has 50 dollars worth of blood and urine tests. We did a couple of the tests then gave her the money for transportation to Panajachel where a private and only lab is located. We gave transportation money to a woman with a growth the size of a large grape in her mouth under her tongue, to get to the hospital about 90 minutes away. We are doing a home visit on a family that came in yesterday with the most malnourished kids I have ever seen here. They were dirty, skinny and sad. She is 20 and has four kids she obviously can't feed. We have paid for an 8 year old to have two rotten teeth pulled and I have begged the mom to go to a real dentist to find out the cost to repair the rest of his rotten teeth. His teacher initially brought him in because he was in so much tooth pain. A man came who needs a hernia repair but the "free" surgery can't be done until he comes up with $100 to pay for the mesh to use to do the repair. We have treated multiple urinary tract infections, colds, ear infections, headaches and body aches, gastritis and heartburn, done prenatal and well baby checks. One man told us about his 27 year old brother completely disabled since having meningitis at age 5 months. He sleeps in a crib so we are buying him a new bed that they can get for $150.  Since we opened the clinic last week we have treated over 400 patients in our village and three others.
Katie