From Laurie:

We hit the ground running on a COLD day today!  It even rained a bit this morning.  Nothing can dampen this group’s spirits.  We met for devotions in the game court and Dan restrained himself from hitting the netting above our heads which was coated with water droplets.  I congratulated him on his restraint.

I am really enjoying the new medical records system. It is nice to be able to communicate more clearly as a team and make sure that we have a more accurate inventory of medicines.  I also love the ability to see the previous labs in the record while we are in the visit.  It allows me to have great discussions with the patients while the visit is occurring.  I can see messages from Angela the nurse who does visits in between the twice yearly clinics.  What a great tool!

Today, I was able to see numerous children and encourage them to brush those teeth and keep regular bedtimes. I was able to council a 12 year old with insomnia that drinking coffee at 8 PM was probably not a great idea.  Another patient, a woman who was 4 months pregnant, was struggling with nausea.  We generally treat this with vitamin B6 in my practice in the States.  So, I went to the pharmacy to see if this was available.  Dan informed me that we did not have vitamin B6 but we DID have vitamin B12 and he was willing to cut it in half for me.  I get to live with this every day, folks.  We were able to give the patient ginger for her nausea.  Ginger is a great tool, and probably more effective than ½ tablets of B12.

I saw many patients with diabetes today. This clinic has a diabetes educator and there is a strong follow up program for blood pressure and blood sugar monitoring each month.  I am so proud to be part of this group that is not just doing GOOD but is doing GOOD WELL.  I enjoy being part of expressing God’s deep love for these people.  People on the team are engaged and working hard to give the very best medical care they are capable of as an expression of their love for God and his creation.  Thank you, families, for sharing your loved ones and blessing the team with them!