Per the Cambridge Dictionary, one definition of potpourri is:
"an unusual or interesting mixture of things."
For this post, I selected a random clinic day (Monday, two weeks ago) to give readers a sampling of the potpourri of patients and pathologies that our team cares for on any given day at our center in rural Guatemala.
-Multiple patients with uncontrolled diabetes. Of note, in our practice setting, "uncontrolled diabetes" tends to be less of the "my A1C isn't quite optimized" uncontrolled diabetes, and more the "glucometer reads 'HI' and appears ready to spontaneously combust" uncontrolled diabetes.
-Several patients with febrile illness. Currently, that group is largely suffering from Dengue Fever.
-Several patients with masses of varying cause for concern in various locations (neck, hand, foot, breast)
-One child for follow-up of malnutrition.
-One patient with symptoms related to a large prostate.
-One patient with presumed STI.
-Several patients with dysmenorrhea and/or irregular menses.
-One pregnant patient seeking OB ultrasound.
-One very itchy patient with scabies.
-A handful of patients with abdominal pain and/or diarrhea. In our context, those folks are typically suffering from symptoms related to gastrointestinal infection from contaminated food and/or water.
-One patient with newly diagnosed renal failure.
Total patient visits for the day: 37
The above list is not exhaustive, but it is quite representative of a typical day at our center. A spectrum that ranges from scabies to Dengue Fever to renal failure and much in between- a true potpourri of patients and pathologies.
With your support, we are privileged to be able to positively impact the lives of our neighbors during the brief moment in time when our lives intersect.
Thank you for being an indispensable coconspirator in ensuring hope is not a limited resource!
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash