This second week, I went to San Jose on Friday and Saturday mornings for three hours each day. To be honest, it was not as eventful as last week, but I still had the opportunity to help and learn. On Friday, they assigned me to the optometry wing of the clinic. The two optometrists present were supervising four optometry students that were actually attending the patients. Some of the students spoke some Spanish, so they did not so much of my help trying to communicate with the patients. However, some of them needed a little help with fully understanding the patients' background history. One thing that I noticed last week is the great number of patients that suffered from diabetes and its great range of symptoms. On Friday, three of the patients that I talked to suffered from glaucoma or cataracts that were a direct result of diabetes. I was not aware of the full effects that diabetes had on people, so it was very interesting to see real cases of the extend of the disease. Most of my time, however, I was seating down next to the medical assistant handling paperwork or answering any questions from the patients. Even though it wasn't a very productive day at San Jose for me, I still enjoyed it since it allowed me to see another branch of medicine that I had not experienced before.
San Jose opens one Saturday out of the month, so early yesterday morning I went into the medical wing to help doctors with translating. They had assigned me with an endocrinologist. It was a real pleasure to meet him because when we were not in a room talking to a patient or he was not getting ready for the next patient in a clinic office, he was very available and open to answer my questions about medical school. Due to some lack of patients, I also was able to meet some other volunteers. We talked about our reasons for being there and what our future plans were. It was nice to talk to new people that are going through similar things that I'm going through. The first three patients that the doctor saw did not need a translator but they allowed me to stay and observe the process. Many of the patients that the doctor saw, had problems with the thyroid gland. One of the ladies that went, had cancer in her thyroid and parathyroid and was going to have surgery to remove the glands in the next week or two. Another man went to see the doctor for a yearly checkup. But the case that really got to me and was very emotional to hear, was this old lady that told us her heartbreaking story. To start off, my first impression of her was that she seemed very kind, loving grandmother (she reminded me of mine). Then she told me to translate for the doctor that she needed a prescription of anti-depressants along with her diabetes medications. She told me about all the horrible things that have happened to her in the span of one year. Crying, she mentioned that she lost both her parents, one son, her house, and her husband, all in the span of this year. Since, she is originally from El Salvador, she is never able to see her family, except for the son that she lives with here. She said that she gets very depressed and does not want to do anything except to wait for her to die. This really hit me deep, and I got a little bit emotional because her personality and her situation, although not as severe, resemble my grandmother's very closely.
I enjoy going to San Jose because I get to be in very close contact with people, and I feel that I can contribute to their well-being.
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