We started the day with a devotional from Father Lahart. During his devotional, Father brought up looking at the positives in life. We are often consumed by our negative thoughts making us think that life is unfair or that we deserve better then what we currently have; entitlement. The thing is, there are a lot of people in the world who are much worse off than we are. In the US, we have access to multiple health providers that take care of all our medical needs. In Guatemala, people do not have access to the same providers and they often rely on people on medical missions to help them. These people often live with unbearable pain for years before they have an opportunity to get care. We need to appreciate the life God has given us and think about what we can to help those who are currently suffering.
The operating room was quite busy today as we had 15 cases scheduled. The interesting thing is that there were 3 leg amputations scheduled in one room. In Guatemala, the living conditions are not the best and people often get severe infections due to dirt and other bacterias in their wounds. Unlike the US, Guatemalans do not have the same access to medication that help fight these infections and sometimes they have to resort to amputating the limb before it affects the rest of the body. This a very serious surgery that changes the life of a patient forever. The good news is that Faith in Practice has a policy that no one loses a leg without receiving a prosthetic leg. If they decide not go through surgery, they could risk the infection getting worse where it can be fatal at times. They don’t want to lose their limb, but they can lose their life if we don’t do it. They trust us and they know that we are not trying to make their life harder, we are only trying to help them relieve their pain and give them a better quality of life.
I was able to spend some time earlier today with the wheelchair team as they set up wheelchairs for new patients. It was nice to be in a different part of the hospital for bit and help build wheelchairs for those who are not able to walk. The highlight of my day taking some of the wheelchairs out to the “Chicken Bus” that was there to pick up the patients. These patients come from different parts of the country to seek proper medical help because there are not able to receive it in the small towns and villages where they live. Even though they may be tired from traveling such a long way, they are always so thankful and appreciative of what we are able to do for them. This reminds me of a bible quote from Galatians 3:28 “ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female , for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. It is our duty to help those in need because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
-Ryan Foss
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