Here are some of our patients from today. They come in all ages, sizes and personalities. You can see our very stylish woman who walked out of clinic pain-free after living with lumbar spurs for years. Next is a 6 year old boy who has a growth hormone deficiency. Lastly, the patient who won the bet!!! (Explanation needed). Both Bac Si Ha and myself got pulled away from clinic to the prosthetics room to treat a patients wound. This leaves 4 patients in a room with our students. As I returned, Jordanis tells me the 2 woman were making a bet on how old I was. One said 50!!! (Ouch) and One said 30 (YAY). So I said to the one, nam muoi??? (50???) and she shook her head yes. I then said to the other, ba muoi??? (30???), and she said yes. I then said Hai Muoi!!!! (20!!!!), which brought laughter and smiles to all!!!
Point being, even though our language barrier exists, it does not stop our team from enjoying and interacting with these patients. They are nothing but appreciative of our services and express their sincerest gratitude in many ways. For many of us, this experience will be short-lived and draining, but my advice to all is to ENJOY EVERY MINUTE! ENJOY EVERY PATIENT! Make the most of the short time you have to experience a different world!! NO REGRETS!
