Thursday, July 28, 2011

If I could pick patients, they would be Native American Guatemalans

Spent a sweaty week operating in a hilltop Hospital Nacional in Guatemala a while back.
A patient gave me a hat in thanks for her surgery. It’s a full-brimmed canvas safari number – I’m sure Hemingway shot a rhino in one. I’m just mature enough now to value sun protection and always grateful, sometimes to the point of pain, for gifts from those who have almost nothing. I was also given a painting of the neighboring volcano, a tee-shirt depicting a local politician, two kisses, many back-breaking hugs, and endless expressions of muchisimas graciasplus the quiche version of same.
The biggest gift of all, though, was the respect our patients gave us.
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