thursday clinic

thursday, today we woke up easily as it is to here with the time change i guess. julie and i headed to the lounge for a bowl of cereal and got the speakers to work on the computer so we can listen to the praise and worship music i bought for her birthday. it's the lakewood choir from houston that we are used to hearing every sunday on the radio as we drive to church back home. i thought it would be great for her to have it, since she is moving to birmingham for residency and won't have the same radio station that will play these songs. anyway, we are blessed by the words and the music. i french braided her hair so it would be away from her face. i haven't done that since freshman or sophomore year of high school. wow, it's still in me. it is like riding a bike, she says. it was decent, not the most even double french braid, but it was functional for the hot weather we have here. we went to clinic at 8:45 and slowly but surely, i saw dr. tom making his way from his house to the clinic around the tennis courts with his newly pulled hamstring. i admire his persistence and passion for serving others. it is a joy to work with him and his family.
clinic- was great. it wasn't too busy today, so i could take in the time with each patient. i saw a patient who was an elderly man with skin fungal infections on his feet and legs. he was a follow up visit from a month ago given griseofulvan, so we just added a moderate corticosteroid cream to his regimen since he was not improving. i made more of an effort today to truly speak some thai to the patients. i wanted to engage in more conversation and not just "do business." you see, they get to go to evangelism in the clinic that the thai girls do (well, julie and i will do it, too, about two times each this month). however, i want them to constantly see christian caring not just at a designated hour. that was my purpose and it was fun trying to work in ways to communicate with them outside of medicine. my next patient was a woman around 37 y.o. who had lower back pain for 2 years and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. she reinjured it 3 days ago while helping her elderly mother get up off the floor after she had fallen. we continued her pain meds and muscle relaxants. i had some other great patients as well, but i'll save the details. the special part about clinic today was bonding with the nurses and nurse aids. they have unique and amazing stories about how they became Christians, which is such a minority in this country. one girl told me how southern thailand is so different from northern thailand. i knew i could fit in somewhere and sure enough, they thought i looked like i could be from southern thailand b/c girls there have larger eyes. they were intrigued by my heritage and i had to point to my eyes, eye brows, skin and hair and say "persian or my dad" and then point to my nose and say, "american, my mom." it was cute. one girl told me she became a christian when she was 9 y.o. but still doubted if it was really true or just stories. she said finally when she was in her twenties God proved to her over and over again that it is true. she said it is so hard for her parents to understand when they are so accustomed to buddhist tradition, which does not relate. she says you have to be patient and keep praying. so she is patiently waiting. wow.
clinic brought a refreshing light on what others go through. again, it was great.