Growing in Ways I Did Not Know I Could Grow

This trip has changed my life in so many ways. Each person made an impact on my life. I have learned so much about Guatemala, medicine, and life. There are not enough words in the world to describe how thankful I am for this trip. Throughout the week the team has become my family. I love each and every one of them. We have shared so many different things, including laughs and tears.

As for our medical team, I learned so much from them. Dr. Lauri taught me about pediatrics and how much education is really involved in that. I never really considered going into pediatrics but now I would really like to work with kids. My favorite moment with Dr. Lauri was when she was talking about how the best thing is to reassure the mom that she is doing well. Dr. Lauri showed a mom of this little boy his growth chart and explained through Diana (one of our translators) that the boy was growing at a healthy, steady pace. The mom was overjoyed and the smile on her face was priceless. Dr. Lauri truly showed each patient compassion, which is what I hope to do with my patients.

Dr. Richard taught me to be a detective. Each of his patients seemed to have more than one health issue. He was able to put the pieces together. While spending time with him, I realized how much we take certain tests for granted. For example; in our Guatemalan Clinic, we did not have the luxury of a simple blood test or urine test can take an hour or two to process, as we do in the US. Instead, we had to go by what the patient was telling us and past medical diagnoses. One of the Dr. Richard’s patients who stuck out to me was a patient who had a glucose level of 638 (Normal is 70-100). We figured out that the patient was not taking her medication so Dr. Richard had to make sure the patient understood how serious it was to take her medication. He was able to stress to the patient’s mother that she had to care for her daughter and make sure her medication was taken each day. Dr. Richard helped me to realize that I enjoy being a detective to try to figure out how I can best help the patient.

Kristen and Stephanie are amazing nurses. I learned so many different things from them. I hope to be able to critically think on my feet like they can. They were able to be creative with the materials we had to be able to help the patients as much as possible. Being in triage with them made me realize how much nurses are able to do without the doctor. Dr. Richard said, “Nurses save more lives than doctors do.” This trip has showed me that. One of our patients collapsed on us and before any doctor got there Kristen and Stephanie had him awake and were taking to him. That just amazed me. I was able to use all of my nursing skills and it really confirmed why I want to be a nurse.

Dr. Eric taught me so many things about medications. I learned how to write scripts and the different dosages. I asked him so many questions. I asked him at least one question about every bottle of medication. He is so intelligent. I was able to be exposed to different medications and understand why doctors would prescribe one medication over another if they do the same thing.

Rabbi Abie taught me about life. There is so much in this world to know, you just cannot know it all. He taught me how to listen more than you speak. Every single person has a story and there is so much to be gained from all of those stories. My favorite quote of his is “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.” I found out on this trip that I am meant to care for people and love people. The little things are often the most important things.

Thank you everyone who played a role in helping me grow this week in ways that I did not know I could grow. Thank you for experiences and memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you for your kindness, wisdom, and compassion.