All in the Family

Family is one of the most important things to the people in San Lucas. Families who come with their loved ones, receiving an operation, wait outside the hospital for hours and sometime almost all day, until they know they are okay. Coming from a big, close-knit family, it warms my heart to be immersed in a culture where family is valued.

Our Medical Mission team has been blessed this year by the service of the Miller Family. The Miller family, including Mark, his wife Jeanette and their two daughters Sarah Grace and Lois, have been wonderful to get to know and work with this week. This is their first medical mission trip as a family, and our patients have found it comforting to see a mother and daughter, a father and a daughter, working together to help end their pain.

Mark, a nurse anesthetist and his daughter Sarah Grace, a nurse anesthetist student, have been working countless hours with short lunch breaks to ensure our patients’ surgeries run smoothly. Lois and Jeanette connect with patients before their surgeries in pre-operation. Patients love their kind spirits and abilities to make patients laugh.

Tereso came today with a large lipoma and severe pain that prevented him from lying on his back for 15 years! While waiting for his surgery, Jeanette and he talked for about an hour, despite not being able to speak the same language. When it was Tereso’s turn for a picture, he asked to take it with his with Jeanette and wanted her name on his frame so he could never forget.

It’s stories like the Miller’s family that remind us why we are here. By donating their time as a family, they have been able to change so many lives this week. “It’s surreal, it’s magical, and I feel blessed. It’s really a gift I get to see them do this, a perfect gift from God” Jeanette told me about her time this week serving alongside her family.