Thursday morning we were able to observe the post-op care of the 14 patients who were given cornea transplants this week. It was a pretty amazing thing to observe the expression of these people who were blind and will soon see clearly. Bolivia doesn’t have an eye bank, so it is a rare opportunity for patients to have the opportunity to have this type of surgery. Dr. Duffin (from the U of U) was able to bring 20 corneas donated from eye banks all over the U.S. and bring the corneas to assist Dr. Moya with the surgeries. Afterwards everyone gave speeches filled with hugs, tears, and kisses.
In the afternoon Jayson and I went with the Calvet family to Ochucalla to celebrate Corpus Criste (the Catholic holiday). Ochucalla is a rural farming community where the Calvet family has a cabin of sorts (nothing like a resort cabin in the U.S.—more like a cabin you would find at a girl’s camp). We were able to enjoy peanuts with sugar cubes as part of the celebration and I also saw my first Bolivian pig!
Friday morning we met with Dr. Barragon (the plastic surgeon Deseret International works with here in Bolivia). We saw the cutest little baby with a cleft lip/palate that was brought in for the first appointment. I was really impressed with the way Dr. Barragon interacted with the patient. This sweet indigenous woman was in tears because she thought the baby was born with a curse to be born and she was to blame. Dr. Barragon very explicitly expressed that it was not her fault and that with surgery the baby would be able to look like any other child. I couldn’t help but cry watching the situation and thinking of the emotional roller coaster this young mother had been experiencing.
Jayson and I also witnessed another sad situation as we went to talk to the doctor at the renal dialysis clinic. There were about twenty patients all squished together in these tiny rooms where they come three times a week for treatment. Most of the patients end up dying because they can’t afford to keep paying the money for the treatments or people die because they can’t pay in the first place. There was one young girl who was an orphan and the resident doctors were paying for her to come have treatment every week. The doctor wanted to meet with us to see if we could help potentially get some more equipment. Most of their machines are outdated and keep breaking down. On our way out of the hospital two of his patients stopped to talk with us. Apparently they had observed us talking with the doctor and wanted to tell us about health care from their perspective. They are both currently out of jobs and unable to pay for their renal dialysis treatment. They told us that the doctors have visions of kidney transplant centers but the patients can’t even afford renal dialysis. They appreciated that we were simply willing to listen.
Friday night we were invited by Franz and Maria (two of the medical residents) to go out on the town. Jayson and I are not quite as familiar with the single lifestyle since being married and especially the single lifestyle outside of “happy valley” USA. First we went and played pool. Although Jayson and I lost each game we blamed it on the size of the holes (Jayson claims they were smaller than the standard US pool table). Maria and Franz asked a lot of questions about the church and expressed some interest—they thought we were kind of weird when they found out that we were married at 22 & 23 and don’t drink coffee, smoke, or drink but Maria said she thinks our religion seems intriguing. At 11:00 Jayson and I were ready to go home and get some zzz’s but Franz and Maria were still up for some fun. The original plan was to go to a coffee shop. Since Franz and Maria already thought we were a little odd for not drinking coffee in the first place we didn’t want to seem even more odd by telling them we wouldn’t be able to go to the coffee shop, so we decided to go. When two of the coffee shops were closed Maria suggested going to this Irish pub. Most of the menu was off limits to Jayson and I but we figured crepes would be a safe bet. Just to be on the safe side Jayson checked with the waitress to make sure there was no alcohol in the crepes. My first bite of crepe was delicious (strawberries and peaches), the second bite I tried the ice-cream. This time I made a sour face and stared at Jayson to see if he had a similar reaction. The dialogue went something like this.
Stephanie--“Jayson, does that ice-cream taste a little funny?”
Jayson—“Yeah, it’s a little different!”
Stephanie—“I swear that’s not how ice-cream is supposed to taste, Maria would you like to try?”
Maria—(after taking a bite) “Oh yeah, it’s rum ice cream—Rum is a drink made from raisins but the alcohol should be cooked”
Whether the alcohol was cooked or not…Rum ice cream does not come highly recommended by me (buy Jayson kind of liked it).
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