A Good Kind of Tired

Children of the Americas surgical team members recognize the "look" (left). This volunteer's face radiates a mixture of heat exhaustion and physical fatigue during our recent medical/surgical and dental team to Retalhuleu,
Guatemala. When one gets this tired, the only thing keeping the body going is grit and determination and the kind of fortitude that makes someone sign up to volunteer for a team to Guatemala.

At the end of our week in Guatemala, even our patients are tired. They have often waited several days for our services.The women and children we donate medical care and surgery for know that if they don't wait their turn, the chance for restored health may not come their way again. So they wait, so patiently that it inspires us to push ourselves even harder. We perform surgery, pull diseased teeth, dispense a truck load of crutches and wheelchairs, see masses of clinic patients and dispense more medicines than we thought we could possibly do, so that the last patient in line gets cared for.

At the end of the week we go home to loved ones, and hug them a little tighter. We appreciate the ease of life in the United States just a bit more than we usually do. We complain less, stand in lines at the grocery more patiently, and are profoundly grateful for good medical care the next time we are sick. Gratitude for the abundance of necessities in our country is foremost in our minds when we return to the states.
During quiet moments, we think of the patients that touched our hearts while we were in Guatemala. There are always those special ones that we know we were meant to be in Guatemala for; the clefts that would not have survived, the children who might not have ever walked, the women who would have struggled with unresolved surgical needs. Gratitude: for the chance to both travel with COTA and return home...very tired.

(photo credits:David Horner)