Serving At The Crossroads

Needy Patients Try out Medical Network

Our medical network could not have emerged in a more timely manner, as the first referrals from our clinic are already being seen.  We would like for you to meet three of them:

Bryan –He is 9 years old and has not been able to walk since birth.  Originally, he was alleged to have had polio, but that condition needs confirmation and reassessment of the original diagnosis.  He has been accepted as a candidate for an examination and possible corrective procedures, if warranted, at the orthopedic clinic in San Pedro Sula.  Unfortunately, Bryan missed his first scheduled appointment at the clinic which is 2.5 hours away from La Entrada because his father, a tailor, was unable to take him to the city during the Christmas season.  This is the period in which he earns most of the money on which family survival depends for the next 10 – 12 months.  Had the family made this situation known or told clinic staff about the unavailability of transportation, travel arrangements could have been made.    Similar circumstances are likely to occur with other patients.  The current situation points out the need for MA to make available a medi-transport system in the community.  This is a possible future project for SATC.  

Lucila – living high atop a mountain top, she was brought down the muddy slopes by four men carrying her in a makeshift stretcher by foot until they were able to reach a road navigable by vehicle.  The terrain is extremely steep and only 4-wheel vehicles can make it part way to the home.  She had been to the clinic before, but her condition had worsened and now she needed treatment at the hospital, a 1.5 hour ride away.  She lives in a one-room house with her husband and two sons.  The home has dirt floors, no windows to the outside, an unvented wood-burning stove which aggravates her lungs and a contaminated source of drinking water.  Fungi have invaded her body, causing her skin to itch, resulting in external scratching and surface bleeding.  The conditions in her house are similar to what one might expect in propagation houses where mushrooms grow!  Clinic staff arranged to transport Lucila to the hospital and saw to it that her husband was fed.  Daily, he earns only enough money for one meal by cutting and selling wood- this day he brought his wife to the hospital.

Carlos David – this 3-month old child was born with a hair lip and cleft palate – a condition correctable in a 45-minute procedure.  His mother sells fruits and greens in the town’s main market.   This is not the only child in the family - Carlos has four sisters and two brothers. Fortunately, because of our network relationships, this child was evaluated immediately by clinic staff in Tegucigalpa and now has an appointment in early March for life-changing corrective surgery at the Operation Smile Clinic.  At the moment, this youngster is also experiencing visual problems, but they will be attended to as well