Checkups

It's been a long, long week with lots of meetings and events, little time for blogging.  The highlight of the week was seeing our eye surgery patients arrive in Dra. de Burgos' office for their post-surgery checkups.  I always worry about patients finding the office - I think because it's often hard for me to find places in El Salvador, and because the office is on the 2nd floor of a small building on a very busy street in Santa Tecla.  But no problem for our patients, who either got on the parish bus in San José Villanueva or had the good sense to phone Cecilia, Dra. de Burgos' friendly and capable assistant, for directions.  Everyone got there in good time, and almost all are doing very well.  As usual, a few will need additional laser surgery.

I always enjoy watching the patients connect with each other - there's a cameraderie and cheerfulness that makes me think they are pleased with themselves for having the courage to have surgery and come out with better vision.  The two men in this photo were enjoying telling stories to Elvira Chicas, our volunteer coordinator at San José Villanueva:

One very special note this year: we included Cecilia's grandfather in our surgery list, and he came to the post-op with his daughter, Cecilia's mom, and great-grandson, Cecilia's son David.  Here's all four generations of Cecilia's family:

I'm awestruck by Cecilia: she gets up at 3:30 every morning to get on the bus at 5:30 so she can get to the office by 8:00 - she lives a long way away in Nahuizalco.  Then after the office closes, she reverses the process, getting home by 8 pm to put a quick meal on the table and fall into bed.  Her mom takes care of David and her daughter Camila.  But I can't imagine how she can manage this schedule and be - as she always is - cheerful, helpful, and upbeat.