Photo Essay Part 2

Here's a photographic recap of week 3!

Our humble exam room.  Note absence of stirrups on bed (those extra sheets are used in place to prop patients up), curtains on windows, throw away exam table paper to change with each patient, and (if you could see higher) walls that go up to the ceiling.  Note presence of single patient gown, large bottle of hand sanitizer, vinegar bought from the market, light that mostly likes to point directly down, and system of file folders.  The functioning sink was a HUGE step up from the two prior weeks. 

 

Don’t see goiters like this in the US!  We actually did a fine needle aspiration of it in our hotel room and made slides to take back to Toledo.  Apparently it’s been there for 20+ years, but growing more rapidly in the last 5.  Not surprisingly, it’s getting harder to breathe, swallow, etc.  

  

My Guatemalan Valentine - David, who works in the lab.  Brought me a candy and everything!

Apparently people bring chickens into the waiting room.  This one pecked at me as I walked out of the lab.  I jumped and let out a little squeal.  The whole waiting room of patients laughed at me.  

Very official staining set up for the cytology lab in Poptun – these are the actual containers they use to stain their pap smear slides in the official lab, not the temporary ones we brought for our trip. 

 Mani doing some teaching with one of the cytotechs, even though they couldn’t speak each other’s language.  Note the fancy double-headed microscope they brought from Toledo for this purpose!  This woman is (from what I understand) one of two cytotechs in all of the Peten. 

Just a typical day being swarmed by patients looking for results.

Me and Puja - hard at work taking histories, setting up stuff in the exam room, and taking slides to the lab.

 

 

Chetti (week 3 and 4 cytotech) as the lone person to make it on time to breakfast.  She was nice enough not to eat all of our food. 

 

Typical Guatemalan breakfast – huevos, platanos, frijoles, queso fresco, crema, and pan.  The hotel made the bread fresh daily and it was delicious.  Once we got smart (thanks to Chetti) we started getting an extra roll for PB&J or PB&honey sandwiches.  Much better than granola bars!

Shower in Poptun.  I know I shouldn’t be complaining since we actually had hot water here, but if you look closely you will see that is because the showerhead (term used loosely) has been rigged with electrical wiring.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it undesirable to run an electric current through water that you are then running over your body? 

Also, I can’t fully comment on the presence of hot water because I never truly mastered the art of turning the water on just right.  It involved a lot of fine tuning and paying attention to the flickering of the bathroom lights to know if you had it right.  I’m not kidding.

Beautiful spot where we ate most of our meals (there was a cafeteria-style kitchen where you get your food).  This is also where we frustratingly stared at the computer trying to will the internet to work. 

Baby horse!  The hotel / hostel seemed pretty great with hiking, a lake, horseback riding, etc.  Unfortunately, we mostly saw the clinic and the road to the clinic!

Our hospital surgery room.  Above the door, it indicates this room (two small exam areas) is for gynecology, prenatal care, and traumas. 

Very official hospital set up for LEEPs.

This is the part that scared me most.  Not sure if you can read it, but the blue package is labeled “hysterectomy set,” just in case things went terribly wrong with the LEEP and we needed to do a hysterectomy.  I may be a good surgical assistant, but I know I’m not that good.  Luckily it remained neatly wrapped. 

Hotel room complete with mosquito netting – a good reminder that there’s a reason we’re taking chloroquine weekly.