Some good deeds and some good eats

Monday morning we went to Purok 6 again for visitations. Wendy wanted to visit Cherry Mae and Davin was going to give Hydrotherapy treatments to a patient named Franco. LeAnne and I decided to split up. She took one camera and I took another and we were off!

I went with Davin to see the Hydrotherapy treatment. I was really interested to see a real treatment done because in class its all simulated, so you don't get the full picture. 

Davin and Early, another L.I.G.H.T. missionary who lives in Santiago, found Franco when they were doing visitations in Purok 6. He was a smoker for many years and had finally quit in March of this year. But recently he would have shortness of breath while doing simple activities. Even while getting out of bed in the morning, he would have a difficult time breathing. He was afraid that he may have lung cancer and went for a consultation and learned that he didn't have cancer (hooray!) but still didn't learn what was wrong (boo!) 

Davin decided to put him on a 10-day Chest Fomentation Hydrotherapy Treatment. Fomentation, as we have been learning in class, is the application of a hot, wet cloth or towel to a body part (in this case the chest). Each hot application is usually followed by a brief, cold application to the treated body part. Fomentations benefit the body by: *Increasing the circulation of the germ-fighting white blood cells. *Helping to remove body wastes through the skin by increased sweating. *Relieving pain in the nerves, muscles, joints, and internal organs and *Reducing congestion of the internal organs by increasing blood flow to the skin surface.

Davin's thought was that the hydrotherapy could be used to get all of the wastes out of his system from all the years of smoking and that it would relieve any congestion in his lungs that could be causing his shortness of breath.

At the beginning of every treatment they would take his blood pressure. Like everyone else in the Purok, his blood pressure was very high the first time they started treatment. Every day they saw his B.P. drop. Today, 5 days into treatment, his blood pressure had lowered to a normal 120/70.

It was very interesting being able to see an actual treatment done. There were many things that I noticed that weren't explained as clearly during class as it was to see it being done.

While I was doing hydrotherapy with Davin, Early, and Franco, Wendy and LeAnne were visiting Cherry Mae. They were very excited to see that she was walking again. Though she was still weak, she had been able to walk by herself all weekend. The medicine was making her feel so much better and you could see it in her face. She was also starting to get her appetite back, so that was another plus! 

While visiting, they learned that her younger sister was starting to get sick. So they gave her a little check up while they waited there and learned that she had flu-like symptoms. So they, inspired by our nightly meetings, suggestive some natural remedies to help her feel better.

After our visitations, we were invited over to the missionary house for a "Traditional Jamaican Meal".

Wendy: "What do they eat in Jamaica?"

Me: "I'm not really sure."

Wendy: "Do you think its like a rice and bean type thing?"

lol, We truly had no idea what to expect, but it ended up being a Rice and Bean dish with a ToFu Curry. We were able to help prepare it. Irene, one of the other L.I.G.H.T. missionaries, did most of the cooking. LeAnne and I basically just help chop things for her.

I like to look super fierce while I chop garlic. lol.

Davin, taking time between cooking, to make hammocks.

By the time the food was ready to eat, I was starving....so I forgot to take a picture of it. But it was REALLY good :) It was fun eating lunch with the other missionaries, since most of them were our teachers we were also able to ask them questions that we didn't get around to asking in class. It was a good time.

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

~Hebrews 10: 24-25