Picture Post

I'm still in the US, really enjoying time with my family and friends. I'm blessed to be surrounded by so many incredible people! I've done some talking at church and my old high school's Spanish club, meeting with some doctors, and catching up with friends and donors. It's really been great!

In the meantime, I don't have much to post so I'm going to post some pictures that I don't think ever made the blog. 

Enjoy. Sorry I'm boring these days.

Most grande game of pato pato ganzo (duck duck goose) I've ever seen! With some basketball on the side.. During the summer with one of our short term groups.

Awesome picture of an x-ray reading in a window in the El Porvenir clinic. Neither the nurse, Pati, nor I are technically qualified to do that. Just a normal day in my life.

Family Thanksgiving!

Serving with our teens at the hospital in Santa Rosa! They were so excited and did an awesome job.

Psalm 19, "The skies are telling the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands."

Update about nothing, really.

I haven't been blogging at all and am sure my devoted followers are heartbroken (sarcasm) so I will write a quick little update.

Katie and our very interesting guide at the Mayan Ruins

My last couple of weeks in Honduras were great but super busy. Between preparing for two months out of the country with my patients and the house, packing, etc. there was obviously a lot happening.

The week before I left, my friend, Katie Meek, visited. She is a good friend, former roommate, and she's a nurse as well. It was so much fun to have her there! It was incredibly encouraging, since she is a great encourager by nature, but also because it was uplifting to have an old friend there with me to see what I do, AND understand what I see from the medical standpoint.

Now I'm back in the states, and it has been great to see everyone! I'm so blessed that I was able to spend Thanksgiving with my family, to spend time with my best friend (Becky) before her (and Drew's) wedding, and that I'm getting to stay through Christmas!

Thanksgiving with the family:) And Milo, the cat.

The love, support and encouragement I have received from everyone has been humbling and overwhelming, so thank you for that! I certainly had no shortage of blessings to talk about at Thanksgiving this year.

Hospital Service Project

Last night, instead of our normal youth group gathering, the teens participated in their first service project. The youth group has grown quite a lot recently, and the teens have been requesting to do more together than the normal Saturday devotionals, so yesterday began the planned service projects. 

First stop: my favorite place, the hospital. 

We set up a table in the inner courtyard of the hospital, and the teens served soup and coffee to family members who would be sitting outside for most of the night. 

They talked with people, prayed with patients and family members, and I never heard a single complaint. They were all excited, and served with smiles on their faces for about 3 hours. Those of us who volunteer with the youth group were proud and excited to see how much they love to serve.

Here in Honduras, it's getting to be "winter-time," which means it will be raining more than not. Today, for example, it's 68 degrees, but it does seem to feel a bit cooler than that, and Hondurans tend to think if you don't wear a jacket you will catch a cold and die. With that being said, many of the people our teens served last night said that a warm bowl of soup and cup of coffee lifted their spirits, as some of them huddled up to share blankets with people who were previously strangers. 

Sidenote: this is why I say sarcastically, "My favorite place." Loose needles, syringes, etc.  on the ground in the courtyard of the hospital.

Grace's Birthday!

Well, I am sad that I’m not in the U.S. for this semi-momentous occasion (let’s be honest, it’s all downhill from here:); Little Miller (aka Grace, for anyone that doesn't know) is turning 22! I’m celebrating with you from Honduras. I love you, miss you, and can’t wait until we’re reunited(LESS THAN A MONTH)! Here’s to GracesFaces, and having one of the funniest people I know as a sister.

Diva Pants.

  

Sorry, G, about the random assortment of pictures.

Overdue Update

The last several weeks have been busy, as always, but pretty uneventful--in a good way. I worked at the hospital in Gracias, once again delivering babies, once again with God probably laughing about how often I do things I said I would never do. I’ve been working to get my office/our pharmacy organized with Stacy’s help. She is an organizing genius, and has created a nifty little map of where I have all of our meds and supplies. There have been a monton of appointments with patients, and I have had a handful of meetings to plan for next brigade season and to keep the team updated on the current standings of the conditions of the patients whose cases we are overseeing.

I FINALLY moved into the safe house, which is named Dulce Refugio, for future references (means “Sweet Refuge”). Yes, I was in the Waldron’s house for 4 months… Which is sort of a productivity fail on my part, but I like to think that busy brigade season and the times that I have stayed with Laura while her parents have been gone were big parts of it…. Also, there were a lot of maintenance issues. Technically, my bathroom door still doesn’t close, which is interesting since it’s outside. (Excuses, I know.) Anyway, I’m glad to finally be out of the nomad phase, which has been the theme of my life for the last 10 months.

Oh, Laura and I both came back from San Manuel with lice. That was an actual nightmare. Oh well, I made it 24 years without ever having lice, so I suppose that's a pretty good run. We knew while we were sitting at that health fair with children leaning all over us that it was going to happen, so at least we were at a health fair doing something helpful (and being the first gringos they had ever seen in person), and at least we had to deal with it together. Here's to hoping it's a long time before we have to deal with that again..Woof.

Lice treatment twins.. Womp Womp.

In other news, two of my favorite people, Josue Santamaria and Angie Rivas got married! They are such a great couple, and they have set a great example of a Godly relationship for me and for the girls and guys here (to whom they spend so much time ministering). 

Poor Alejandro, in a sea of women.. At a bachelorette party..
All men would feel this way, little man.

We had a surprise bachelorette party for Angie, which was hilarious.  I love hanging out with the Hondureñas in laid-back settings like that, and it’s always funny to see their competitive natures come out through games, etc. I’m thankful that my Spanish has gotten to the point that I can understand the majority of what is being said, and can joke around now.. Thank God, literally.

Their wedding was the first I have attended outside of the U.S. It was very different. It was great fun, Angie looked beautiful, and the food was muy rico. Laura was a bridesmaid, and at 15 she is well on her way to taking over my job as a professional bridesmaid when I am ready to retire. :) Weddings in Honduras are much longer than weddings in the U.S. They can be so long, the wedding party and the bride and groom sit down. They sign the paperwork during the ceremony, and there is usually a sermon as well. 

With Angie after her wedding.  

That’s really all that has happened that is worthy of a blog post. The next couple of weeks are filled with appointments, meetings, planning for next year’s brigades, and assessments of patients’ cases. God is good; life is good; I can’t complain!

Adventures in San Manuel

The view from 6600 ft. San Sebastian, outside of San Manuel

I spent the last two weeks in probably the most peaceful, quaint village that I have spent time in thus far, San Manuel, Colohete. My trusty bodyguard, Richard, and I drove the 2.5 hours there and stayed so that I could work in their women's clinic, and learn about all of the other aspects of their health system. I DID miss hot water, and actually drinking water since there didn't seem to be much for sale there, and I ate enough corn tortillas to fill me up for the next two months, but other than that it was an incredible experience. The weather is BEAUTIFUL, and even though we got shamelessly stared at every minute of every day, the people were very friendly. (They were definitely not used to seeing gringos.) I'm pretty sure we know the majority of the population of San Manuel, and some of the surrounding villages as well. 

San Manuel is basically the headquarters of the "health community" of that area. There are 4 "municipalities" and 15 health communities, which means there are 15 villages whose clinics are supervised by the doctors and licensiadas (registered nurses) that I was working with. Some have "cesar" clinics and others have "cesamo" clinics. Cesars, I learned, are attended solely by a nurse and are in very small villages, while cesamos are attended by physicians as well. San Manuel is the only village in that area with a labor and delivery/women's clinic. 

Auditing Honduran charts with Licensiadas Gloria (right) and Katherine (middle)

I learned a LOT in those two weeks, and was able to work in so many different areas. Everyone was so very friendly and SO patient with my Spanish (which, I believe, got a lot better during those two weeks)! I went with the other two licensiadas to audit charts and supervise, I worked in the clinics doing exams on pregnant women and gave consults when it was needed, we drove emergencies to the hospital, I worked in the labor and delivery, and I went with them to two of their brigade/health fairs that they hold once a year in each community... You name it, pretty much I was able to do it. They were so accommodating and wonderful, I learned a lot, and loved almost every minute of those two weeks.

I've REALLY learned to never say never. God must have been having quite a laugh when I said things like, "I will NEVER do labor and delivery. Gross," or, "I will never do pediatrics. I don't like children that much." I wonder what God was thinking when I was trying to give away my patients in my labor and delivery clinicals during nursing school.. Those things make up at least 80% of what I'm doing now. I learn something every day, and I really am enjoying doing a little bit of everything. I must say, though, that labor and delivery is still not my favorite area of nursing. 

Auxiliary nurse, Lorvi, Licensiadas Gloria and Katherine, on our way out to the Cesar in Corante to do some supervising.

El Porvenir

Cristina working on some paperwork. The folders are the charts.

This week I worked in the clinic in a village called El Porvenir with the auxiliary nurse (like an LPN in the US), Pati, and the nursing student, Cristina. 

There are no doctors at this clinic, so when Pati comes across something she is unsure of or when a consult with a doctor is necessary, she writes a referral to a clinic in another village. In El Porvenir she can give away things like Tylenol, vitamins, parasite medications, and antibiotics. She can do breathing treatments when she has the medications, which is not all of the time. 

Pati checking her first blood sugar.

I really enjoyed spending the week there. Pati and I shared a lot of knowledge. She taught me how to do stitches, and I taught her how to take blood sugars with the glucometers we donated. She taught me about how they do pre-natal care, and I taught her some "basic" information that we learned in nursing school. 

I'm pretty sure we took everyone in the entire village's blood sugar. We did a LOT of teaching about Diabetes, and I also was able to teach Pati some pretty handy facts that she didn't know. We also talked a lot about family planning. 

Next week: "camping out" in San Manuel... Hope Richard the bodyguard and I can communicate with everyone:)

Cindy

A year ago, Phil and Donna met a little girl named Cindy Mendez. She lives with her siblings in Choluteca, and has never been very mobile. She was born with clubbed feet, and had "corrective surgery" when she was very young. Phil began visiting the 11 yr old Cindy to evaluate her case.

Cindy's ankles had wounds that were so open and deep that you could see clear to the bone. She spent most of her time sitting in the house watching and playing with her nephews. It was arranged for Cindy to go to Shriner's Hospital in Tampa, Florida, with the Waldrons. Within minutes during her first consultation, the physician told her she had osteomyelitis and both of her legs needed to be amputated, or the infection would eventually kill her.

It's been a year now since her surgery. She has been in the U.S. living with a family in Tampa for her recovery process. She was able to go to school there, and now speaks English just like a little gringa. Cindy is about to be 13 years old, and is one of the happiest, funniest, most light-hearted little girls I've ever met. She has such an incredible attitude, and is a good reminder that I have nothing to complain about!

Last week, Phil and Donna returned to Tampa to bring Cindy home. Laura and I met them in San Pedro Sula to take her home with them. I was able to do some teaching with Cindy's family about self-catheterization, her prostheses, etc., and we were able to discuss her education with the director of the school there. She is great with the prostheses, and is going to be able to keep up with the other kids for the first time in her life!

Donna, Cindy, and the lion.

She was SO excited to go home and see her family! It was such a happy day for everyone. Although, it seemed like it was going to take her a day or two to get used to being without air conditioning again!

Visitors

Well, this has been a pretty crazy month. Wonderful, but crazy!

First, my family came to visit for some international "Miller time." We had a really great week getting to catch up and spend time together. The Stacy family and I took them to the Mayan ruins, they got to see a lot of Honduras, and all sorts of other things. Only once did I think that I lost them when I left them at a coffee shop while I went to the hospital... For the record, they were not lost.


The next week, Paul and Leah came to stay with us! MiMi came to visit as well and stayed with the Stacy's. It was so great to have to of my best friends here and to be able to show them around. They helped a LOT in organizing my new pharmacy (since we're moving offices), and they also helped a lot with Alejandro since we were taking care of him for most of the week. 

The week Paul and Leah were here was crazy. I was visiting patients in two different hospitals here, and even stayed there one night. Paul put together some shelves, we organized, we made some first aid kits for some schools, etc. 

I was sad to see all of our visitors go, but it was SO great to have them all here! I'm already excited to see them again, and everyone else, in November when I come home for a visit!

I need new heavy-box carriers.

Well, the summer is officially over here. It was busy, fun, and occasionally a tad stressful; full of laughter, new experiences, and not quite enough sleep. God has blessed us tremendously. It seems that the end of the summer was made official yesterday when the interns left with our last group, and we have a couple of other friends that are leaving Santa Rosa today. I'm really going to miss them all, and not just because I won't have the interns to carry around my heavy things anymore.. Although that is one of the reasons..

I hate saying goodbye, and I really don’t like change. I am so glad that I’ve had the chance to get to know everyone. Because of my faith, I believe that I will see these friends again; if not during this lifetime, then after, and that is something to be thankful for. Now, we all have the chance to catch up on sleep, and it's time to get back into more of a routine.

These verses came to mind while saying goodbye to everyone over the last couple of days. It's maybe a little long, but I'm including the whole thing.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.”
Philippians 1:3-11 

Research

Seeing as this week we have a construction group and I’m staying as uninvolved as possible (mostly joking), this week has begun what I like to call my “research phase.” I’ve known all along that my post-brigade-season role will be different than it has been while we’ve had groups every week. There is so much need in so many different places that I could get lost in doing random task after random task, and I don’t want to do that. After many prayers and discussions, I’ve decided that the best way to understand the ways in which I will be of the most use will be to immerse myself in the medical culture here before my distractions consume me and I feel like I don’t have time. So, I spent the week visiting clinics, meeting nurses, and making plans to return for longer periods of time.

I’m extremely nerdy-nurse excited about the next few months. I’m going to spend 1-2 weeks each working with the clinics in the surrounding villages. I’ll work with the nurses, health promoters in the one clinic that has them, and hopefully learn more about the rural Honduran medical system, and the patients that are seen in each clinic. Then, I’ll visit other organizations that have medical outreach programs and see what they do. After this research phase, we'll be able to make more educated decisions while our medical outreach program develops.

This is the clinic in El Por Venir. The nurse that runs it would basically be an LPN in the U.S. She writes prescriptions or can refer her patients to a doctor that is somewhat nearby. 

This is the clinic in San Manuel, Colohete. It is well organized, has doctors and even health promotors that walk around and do education in other villages. I'll be staying there in September for a couple of weeks to work with them, and I can't wait!

This board shows how long it takes to walk to the clinic from each community, and their populations. Can you imagine walking 12-14 hours to get to a health clinic? They have a great "labor and delivery" area, so people walk here to give birth. (San Manuel, again). 

I'm so excited!! It's going to be a very interesting couple of months.

This week in photos.

VBS at Montessori

Fransisco leading a prayer at one of the schools

We are tired!

Photo-op. This one isn't really relevant, I just wanted to add it. Stacy took it!