After becoming acquainted with Hospital HG yesterday, our team was able to get started on surgeries much sooner today. Everyone has their legs under them now and is working tirelessly to get through as many cases as we can this week. I’ll share a few of the stories that we’ve heard today in this post.
One of our patients today named Elmer owns a tienda (shop) similar to an American convienent store. He had a lipoma (fatty mass) in his right shoulder that had grown so large that it began cause him pain in his day-to-day life and actions. This morning, Dr. Balduf removed that lipoma from his shoulder very carefully and efficiently, and he has been recovering quickly since then.
Another patient had a hernia for the past thirty years that had become increasingly more painful as it progressed. This left him unable to work due to the pain it caused. He used to work loading and unloading tractors of corn, digging holes, and carrying corn, but his hernia left him unable to work without suffering unbearable pain. Now, after his operation, his hernia is repaired and will no longer cause him any pain. Thank God!
Carlos is a young man from Chiapas who took a bus to get to Hospital HG here in Retalhuleu to have his gallbladder removed. He has a very large gall stone that’s been causing him a lot of pain, and our team has been able to help him!
It has been such a blessing to be serving here in Guatemala, and we hope that the second half of our trip is even more productive than the first half. Pastor Jon Hurley has been praying the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish with patients in the wards and in Pre-Op, and it has been inspiring to hear time after time, “Lord, your will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.” Let it be so.
