A Trip To A Guatemalan Walk-In Clinic

I am currently reading "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". I think one habit should be "don't fall on your face!" 😄

Yesterday afternoon I was coming home from taking the wee kittens to the vet. I was rushing into the house, trying to fend off overly happy dogs, when I felt something catch against my ankles -- a pole? -- and then I was falling fast. I saw very clearly the wooden stair coming up at my face. BAM!!

There's always that moment after an accident -- and I've had many -- where you're just trying to breathe. Pain was exploding from my right eye. Blood was pouring off my face, and as fast as it was hitting the tile floor, the dogs were licking it up (little savages). I was hyperventilating and just saying "oh" over and over. After a few minutes, my brain started sidestepping around the biggest pain and began assessing other damage. Both knees hurting, both hands hurting, left shoulder hurting but not right. Blood, more blood, running like hot thick tears over my face.

I dug my phone out of my pocket. I called Rob a half a dozen times in a row, no answer. I called Pete, no answer. Iva, no answer. I started again, Rob, Pete, Iva...no answer. Damn. Where is everyone? I was scrolling thru my contact list when Pete called me back with his customary cheerful, "Hey, what's up?" I said, "I'm hurt. I need someone to take me to a hospital or something." Pete, my hero, says without hesitation that he's on his way.

Well, new problem. My front gate is locked and Pete won't be able to get in. So that means I have to get up off the floor and get outside to meet him. It's then that I realize the kittens are sitting next to me in their cat carrier! I was so worried that I had squished them when I fell, but I knew I was in no shape to check on them now so I put them in the bedroom. Then I grabbed a washcloth to press to my aching eyeball and I went out my front gate. Woof, just that short distance made me soooo dizzy! I sat down on the ground outside my gate to wait for Pete.

Just then, my neighbour came strolling out of his house. He took one look at me and said, "Are you okay? Do you need an ambulance?" (In Spanish, of course.) I said that I was okay and my friend was coming. He asked if I fell and I said yes. Then he asked something else about my house and I just repeated that I was okay and my friend was coming. It is really hard to speak a foreign language when you're injured, I tell ya! The nice guy waited next to me until Pete showed up on his bike with his girlfriend, Victoria.

Luckily for us, a tuc-tuc was passing by, which is super rare on my gravel road that goes basically nowhere. We flagged him down and Victoria got in with me to go to the emergency clinic. We had a few moments of confusion when I couldn't remember what it was called, and Pete was saying stuff in Spanish, but soon enough we were bouncing off down the road towards help.

For those in Panajachel who don't know where the walk-in clinic is, here is a map and a streetview of it. It looks like a daycare. There is kids play equipment out front and a rose garden. But there is an attendent on duty 24/7 for medical emergencies. If there is no doctor at the time, they will get you an ambulance up to the hospital in Sololá.

Centro de Salud in Panajachel, Guatemala

Map of Panajachel showing Centro de Salud (emergency clinic)

We walked into the Centro de Salud not knowing what to expect. None of us had been there before. I only knew about it because an American friend had gone there once. There was a small waiting area with chairs and benches. There were only two or three people waiting. In another room was the reception desk. I sat while Pete and Victoria talked to the desk. I think it was less than 10 minutes and we were called in. Wow, short waiting time! We walked into the room where the reception desk was and it turned out that was the exam room and treatment room and records room and everything all in one. Behind a curtain was an exam table, where I gratefully lay down and tried to relax.

Me smiling for a Facebook photo!

Next pleasant surprise, the young doctor spoke English! He set to work cleaning the blood from my wounds while asking simple questions about what happened. He told me I had two bad cuts near my eye. (I helped him with the English words for eyelid and eyebrow.) He said I would need a few stitches.
He started getting his supplies ready when he realized he didn't have the right thread to stitch my eyelid. No worries! He just wrote out what he needed on a piece of paper and sent Pete and Victoria out to the pharmacy to get it! So funny! I found out later that P&V drove all over town looking for the right thread. I guess the doctor wanted disintegrating thread, very thin, for my eyelid, while normal stitches would be suitable for the eyebrow.

Anyway, several needle jabs and a bit of sewing and I was all fixed up! Four stitches in the eyelid (scary!) and three in the eyebrow. As he worked, another man literally held a flashlight to put more light on my face. They also started talking in Spanish about ordering some churrasco -- barbecue. Chicken or beef? It comes with tortillas and salad. Do you want coffee or juice?

When he said we were done, I got up and woozily walked to the counter. The receptionist doled out a pack of painkillers and a big bunch of amoxicillin (antibiotics). The nice doctor asked me my name and my age. Then he wrote the instructions for the pills on a paper for me and explained it to me verbally as well. I thanked him profusely and asked, "How much?" He said, "Free." WHAT??? Free emergency healthcare and meds?? Sweeeeeeet. I said to the doctor, "Gracias! Disfruta tu churrasco!" (Enjoy your barbecue!)

Another tuc-tuc home, a brief visit with the kittens, whom Rob had fed and put in their crate, and then I went straight to bed!

Thank you so much to Pete and Victoria for helping me. I owe you a cake or something! And muchisimas gracias to the great doctor at the clinic!

Scroll down if you want to see a gruesome picture of how I looked this morning!

My lovely face in the early morning light. Ewwww!

P.S. The thing I tripped over was a broom! The dogs had knocked it over and it was wedged across the doorway.