Specific People Who Touched Me

Examining a wrist with Fidel, my interpreter looking on, during a group session.
Photo by Barb Bigelow 

                If you are still reading this, I hope this isn’t too boring. I want to tell you about several specific patients who stand out in my mind. The pictures are only representative of the patients described, as I couldn't pull out my camera and take their pictures at the time of seeing them.

                My first day, I saw a man in his 60’s who had a “fungal infection” on his scrotum. We went to the private tarp-walled room, and when he showed me his scrotum, he had 3 or 4 raised red open sores and one that was more linear and raised, but not ulcerated. I have never seen anything like this, so I asked Dra. Angela, a local “doctor” who was in her last year of medical training, if she thought it was secondary syphilis, and she thought it was too. I gave him 2 g of Zithromax and set him up for an RPR through his regular clinic. When I got back to the retreat, I looked it up, and it looked just like the picture on Medscape of syphilis.

Dra. Angela working on a woman who really needs a biopsy.
Photo by Barb Bigelow 

                Also, on the first day, I saw one of the clinic volunteers who started crying when I asked her about depression. I started her on Elavil and I saw her several times throughout the week, looking OK. I was sorry I never had the chance to see if she was tolerating the medicine well, but when she saw me, she smiled broadly at me. I took that as a good sign.

Photo by Barb Bigelow 

                After the first day, my mind was numb. It boggled my mind that so many people had sub-acute problems. I finally realized that they were trying to guess what it was that they needed to say to get the medicine and although it was the wrong thing, it worked anyway. This exaggeration was not at all evident with the kids. I wonder how much had to do with the fact that they got their appointments so long in advance and they wanted something to justify the long wait.

                On the second day, one of the first patients was the 1^st grade teacher. She was around 35, very energetic, wearing stylish eye glasses, and a nice hair-do. Her skin was fair, and she exuded confidence. She had allergies, and I started her on Claritin. She saw me every day after that and made a point of telling me how much better she felt.

                There was an 82 year old gentleman who said, “My thoughts are fine, but, you know (looking down), I just have a hard time.” We realized he was having erectile dysfunction, and he spoke so loudly, even the people waiting behind him chuckled. I had to explain that we didn’t have any Viagra to give him, but he could buy it OTC. I wrote the name out for him once I figured he didn’t have any heart disease.

Photo by Barb Bigelow 

                Another patient was a 30 year old woman with chest pain for several months. It was sharp and pleuritic (hurt to breath), but her doctor wanted an EKG. We hooked her up to our 3 lead and got leads II and III, printed it out for her and told her that this little part of the EKG looked good, and I didn’t really think she needed more.

                I saw an 86 year old with DJD of the knees, carrying a machete. When asked why he needs it, he said it was for protection.

Photo by Barb Bigelow 

                There was a 70 + year old woman brought in by her grandson. She was on Coumadin and prednisone, although after a lot of questioning, it looked like she had stopped it about a week before. She also was anemic. I couldn’t get more information from the son about why she was on these meds, so I just sent her off with vitamins, like everyone else got. She then went to get glasses, and passed out. She was brought back and given IV fluids and sent to the hospital.

Photo by Barb Bigelow 

                After finishing with patients for the day, I walked out of the room to see if there were others to be seen. Only Padre Mario was standing there, chatting with some others, so I said, “Do you want to be seen?” He said that his stomach is bothering him and he is on Prilosec or Prevacid for this. Half joking, I asked if he drinks alcohol and coffee to which he replied, “3  cups of coffee per day at least, and several drinks of alcohol at night.” He also used Motrin. After telling him that he should cut down on these things, he thanked me and then, for a quid pro quo, said that he can now take my confession. I laughed, telling him that, as a Jew, I only need to confess once a year, on Yom Kippur! He thought this was grand, and gave me a hug. I said, “Vaya con dios.” One of the people next to him said, “He already GOES with god!”

Padre Mario and me

               

Father Mario impressed me as a warm caring human being. His booming voice demanded respect and those around him gave it to him. On the last day, while I was kicking a soccer ball around with some kids, a drunk man came up to me, and gave me a hug and started asking me for some medicine. Not being able to help him, I found the padre and he put his arm around this man’s shoulder and led him away.

                Briefly, we saw a man in a cowboy hat who was excited to tell me that he has been to Chicago, LA, and all over the US. He was a hoot. He called himself a cowboy.

Photo by Barb Bigelow 

                There were a couple of baby stories. One was a woman who had a 1 year old in her arms during the history part of the consult. I had to do an exam on her, and as she passed the baby to Fidel she remarked how she couldn’t believe she would be getting an exam!

Photo by Barb Bigelow 

                Another woman was breast feeding her baby. When it came time to do a belly exam, even though I was careful not to disturb her; the baby started crying in protection of mom…perhaps.

Photo by Barb Bigelow 

                The priest at our retreat home, who must have been over 75 years old, had a swollen cheek on the left side. He started Amoxicillin on his own the day prior, but wanted to have a doctor’s opinion. When looking at him, I noted a swelling at the angle of the jaw on the left. His teeth looked OK, but there still could be an infection that can be detected by tapping on each tooth. We were in the kitchen, so I asked for a butter knife to be my tapping tool. He jokingly asked me if I was using it to cut him open.

                I was seeing an 11 year old and her mom. The 11 year old girl was first, and everything she said was very animated. She basically had a cold, and when I told her not to kiss any boys, she opened her eyes wide open and said, “No, I don’t do that!” then laughed. Then, while seeing her mom, the mom’s cell phone rang. The 11 year old sprang up and grabbed the phone, looked at it and yelled, “Pappy!” She started telling him in a very excited tone all about our consultation.

Photo by Barb Bigelow 

                The other funny thing about this girl was that she couldn’t understand me. My Spanish is not great, but her mom and Fidel got it, and she would look at me like I was talking Japanese, saying she doesn’t understand English, even though I was TRYING to speak Spanish. I thought she may have hearing problems, so I asked her if she used earphones to listen to music. She told me that her neighbors played it loud enough that she doesn’t need her own. Not only that, but sometimes when her favorite songs come on, she dances!

Photo by Barb Bigelow

                There was a 19 year old girl wearing a nice 2 piece top of light and dark green. Her face was long and slender, almost Asian in appearance. She was tired and I asked her if she slept well. She told me she slept about 3-4 hours per day. She repaired shoes picking them up early in the morning, and finishing them by the afternoon. She then picks up another batch of shoes that she returns late at night. She works 18-19 hours per day, and she has to do this to support the family. I later saw her mom, telling her that if her daughter kept this up, she would fall apart. She understood, and said she would try to change this. Later in the day, I saw her in the court yard, happily playing with the little kids. Watching her, I couldn’t help but think that she was still a kid, shouldering much of the financial responsibility for the family. That day, for just a few hours, she was allowed to be a kid again.