La Providencia Health Post Story, October 2016

Nurse Miguel reports:

At 9:00 pm on October 18th, family members of a 57-year-old woman arrived at the Health Post asking me to go to the home to exam her as she was very ill.

When I arrived at the home I encountered the patient in bed, very weak, and very pale. On examination, her blood pressure was very low; her blood sugar was extremely high. The family said she had been sick for days but she refused to go to hospital. On further examination she had a distended abdomen, infected tonsils, and a urinary tract infection, and was dehydrated.

I started an IV of Normal Saline and arranged for the patient to be transferred by private car to the big hospital in the city of Cobán. She was kept in hospital for 5 days and started on treatment for diabetes.

She returned home and was enrolled in the ASOSAP Chronic Patient Program for the diabetes. I visit her regularly to monitor her health status. She is slowly recuperating but remains in delicate health.