A COUPLE MORE STORIES FROM MEXICO

I am so excited!  Paul comes home tomorrow.  We have all missed him so much.  Here are a couple more experiences he has written about.  To read about others, click here.  So Neat!

9/6/11 "Today was the busiest day yet. We saw 1414 patients. It was also the hottest day, 110 degrees. I saw a 12 year old who was a -7.00 who had never had glasses, another 10 year old who was a -5.00 who also had never had glasses. Perhaps the most touching was a 53 year old lady who had been led around like a blind person her entire life who was a -15.00 and got glasses for the first time. She now has freedom that she never thought she would have. The doors to the clinic close at about 3:00 because it takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours for a person to go to every station and wait in all the long lines. That way we can leave by about 6:00. Well, there was a lady who arrived with her handicapped son at 3:20, they had been on a bus for 3 1/2 hours to get there, and had arrived late. She pleaded that we see her son because she didn't have money for bus fare tomorrow. Of course we helped them! She was so grateful and happy."

"The people here have been great. We've all made friends with each other. It doesn't matter who sits by who at dinner or on the bus. My roommate Alfonso and I have become friends. He's quite the linguist. He knows Spanish, English, Italian, and a little German."

8/7/11 "It's getting harder because our selection of glasses prescriptions is getting lower and lower with each day that passes. I feel bad sometimes because the best we have is maybe 50% of what they really need. I didn't have any heart warming stories today, but I did see a ptyrigium ( the white thing that starts on the white of the eye and grows towards the pupil) that was so bad it blocked all but about 10% of the pupils of both this lady's eyes. I should have taken a picture. I hope she gets the surgery she needs soon."

"The governor came to see the clinic today as well. You could tell that the local volunteers were a little nervous. Tomorrow another doctor and I are staying at the hotel for a few hours in the morning to check all the hotel staff's eyes. It should be interesting because we only have some of our equipment to do so."

8/8/11  "Today another Dr. and I stayed behind at the start of the day to see what the hotel said would be about 20 people. We saw 57. The battery died on the handheld auto refractor and we have to finish the last nine tomorrow at 6:30 am. We then immediately had someone pick us up and take us to the clinic site. Clinic was crazy today. There were so many people that they stopped accepting them by lunch time because we had already reached our allotment for the day. I assume we saw more than 1500 today."


I know that Paul has been grateful for such an amazing opportunity.  The other people have been asking him if he is going to do another "mission".  It has always been a dream of mine to do service trips like this and I think as our children become teens it would be life-changing for us to do this as a family.  I would love for them to see outside of our privileged society and truly understand the difference between wants and needs.  I also want them to understand that because we are so blessed, we have an obligation to help others.  I hope and pray that we will be able to enjoy some opportunities like this together.

Paul in Mexico

Paul has had the opportunity to go to Hermosillo, Mexico for 12 days on what they call a mission in order to give eye exams.  He is having a wonderful experience and has been able to help many, many people.  We are so proud of him and pray for him every day.  I thought I would post some excerpts from his emails.  There are some great stories he tells and I am sure many more he hasn't had time to relate.

7/30/11 "Starting tomorrow we leave for clinic at 7:00 am each day and work all day. We are going to try and see about 1200 people a day."  "The clinic is in an open gymnasium. It is pretty hot in there. I hope my new bandanas work. I'm looking forward to seeing patients tomorrow."

7/31/11 "We work in different stations of the clinic. I worked in dilation (making sure the people who should or shouldn't get dilated do so), and in the doctor health check area. It is not air conditioned. There are fans blowing, but that's all. We have plenty of water to drink and they provide a nice lunch for us. There are 6 docs from the states, 1 from England, and 4 local doctors helping out. Along with about 25 other people on this mission as well as about 20 local helpers. Today we finishaed at about 5:00, but I hear that on some days we won't get done until 6:30."

8/1/11 "Today clinic was very busy.  We rotate stations, and today I was at the computer trying to determine the best match for the patients to the galsses that we have.  We had to shut down early because a huge thunderstrom came that actually was blowing rain into the clinic and onto the equipment.  It also knocked power out at the hotel for about 2 hours.  Luckily it happened right at the end of the day so not too many people were affected.  The non doctor people here are opticians, frame reps, factory workers, etc.  There's plenty of work for everyone."

8/2/11 "Just got back from clinic. It was very busy today. We saw about 950 patients today. Tomorrow should be even busier since it's Saturday.  I have seen lots of weird stuff. I keep seeing patients with diabetic eye disease that don't know they have diabetes. I've seen cataracts so bad that no light can get through. One guy with a +19.00 in one eye and a -4.00 in the other. Lots of kids with lazy eye. One guy who had brain surgery and now both his eyes turn out at the same time.  Today my neck and back are sore from bending to look in so many people's eyes with the ophthalmoscope. It's an ibuprophen night for sure."

8/3/11 "Today at clinic we saw 1312 people, whew.  It was busy, but awesome.  I did scoping all day.  I saw 7 of the worst cataracts I have ever seen today.  They were so dense that no light even got through them.  We also had a 21 year old girl who had never had glasses who was a -19.00 in both eyes.  She was able to really see for the first time in her life with her new glasses.  She had tears in her eyes when she said, "You have changed my life."  I wish Ihad been there when she got her glasses and said that, but I wasn't in that section."  "Today we had an auction and raised over $4000."  (Everyone on the mission was asked to bring something to auction.)

Paul has been gone for 7 days now, another 6 to go!  I don't know how people who have spouses gone out of town all the time keep their sanity.  I miss my other half.  The other half of my life, the other half of my brain, and the other half of my heart.  I am glad he has this chance to help so many people.  That is one of the main reasons he chose his profession was so that he could help and serve others.  I look forward to the day when we can go together on service missions.  I would love to take my children.  I think it would be a very eye opening experience that would change their perspectives and their lives.  I know my mission in Guatemala did for me.  I also look forward to serving full time missions with Paul.  For now, my mission is here, teaching the future.
Love you, Paul.  I am proud of you for following through on your desire to do this despite all that you left up in the air at home.  Be safe, work hard, we love you!