MVA Jornada Médico-Dental and...Stuff :)

This is basically just many, many pictures :). 

Full details to come on the Association page!

www.miguelvargasassociation.org

Wednesday, I got back from the most incredible trip yet. 

Two months ago, Dad and I traveled to Guate to form a collaboration with the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. With the Dean's approval, students from STEM majors would be allowed to join us in our non-profit work. 

It's a win-win. Students get cool experiences, exposure, and practice in the field, and we receive much needed help on our trips. 

So that was a success, and laid the ground work for this month's trip. 

October, 2016. With Dad and members of the team, as well as the Dean and members of his team.

Well, let me just share pictures. We planned for 1,000 people, and we saw a bit less than that. There were a few complications, but the team handled it wonderfully! We learned lots and are excited for the next trip. 

I'm working on the epidemiology for all we did, so details up soon on the Association page. LOOK FORWARD TO A VIDEO TOO!!! Stoked about this. 

So happy Nick wanted to come and be a part of this!

YAS, WE'RE PALS 

Dentistry at its finest. YAY DAD, GO DAD. 

Learned how to draw blood! Thanks Damaris, Alejandra, Cinthia for your patient instruction and help!

Cousins and students. 

While I work on the epi for the trip, here's some pictures of April-November of this year. 

"Do blondes, like, do they really have more fun?" -Andi Anderson

Celebrated Mel's 27th in Hogsmeade

Mel and I became members of the United Women Utah Chapter #heforshe

Prince Royce is THE HOTTEST, plus we had killer seats. 

I'll miss ya, Dan. Thanks for being such a great pal, boi. 

Ging and I became roommates! 14 Years in the making. 

Twin got married!!! :)

Being a tía is still the best.

Lots of fun nights at the hospital

I learned to fly a plane!

Turned 1/4 of a century. So old. 

Thanksgiving with the 'rents. 

Fam time.


Zero words. 😍😍😍😍.

AND TWO MORE OF THE TRIP CUZ IT REALLY WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR.

Good times, good times. Here's to 2017. Cheers, all!

<3, Christel. 

Defining Failure

Because we all get crushing news every once in a while. And crappy things happen. So you failed, right?

Yeah, I failed, too.

When I found out I wouldn't be going to med school at the end of this year, my initial reaction was sheer panic.

Not going was not part of the plan!

My whole life since I finished college had been about what I could do next to become a doctor. Delaying school for another year freaked me out, and I remember calling my sister first. I cried a lot. But ever the planner, Melissa told me to write down a list of things I could do to fix the situation.

I couldn't actually FIX the situation. As much as I wished for it, no magical letter was coming. The list helped me to visualize my next steps though. Damage control, as it were.

After a pretty tearful, long prayer, I realized that the Lord had already told me weeks in advance what my next steps were going to be.

D&C 6:23 came to mind:
"Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?"

Although I was completely grateful for the Heavenly answer and comfort, it still sucked... more than just a little bit. Maybe I've had my heart broken before, but it had never felt as crushing as this. 

So, what's failure anyway?

And how come we hear so many success stories, but hardly ever any failure stories?

I realized that my failures are going to shape my success story. I know that I'm learning lessons that Heavenly Father knows I need, and that He believes in me enough to not give me a trial I am not capable of dealing with. I need to remember that I can choose my reaction to my trials. Trials can serve as a reminder that He loves me. I have the potential to do great things, and He knows that, even when I forget.

Here's to the lessons I'm learning, and the ones to come. 

Learn. Learn. Learn. Learn. Learn.

Here's some oldies and newbies to get happy and motivated. 

Dancing and singing along are allowed. 

P.S. Phoenixes are creatures that are said to have risen from their ashes. 

CNA Lessons

So, the past couple of months I've been absent because I was finishing my med school applications and I started working! Working full time is a bit different at this job, because instead of doing Mon.-Fri. 9-5, my schedule is three 12-hr shifts in a week. Now, you may think, "Wow, three on, four off!! That's amazing! She must have so much free fun time!" Yeah, no. I've mostly been working nights, and they ride into the next day. I'm doing nights partly because they pay more, partly because I think the people on the night staff are awesome, and partly because I like the night shift responsibilities a little bit better than the daytime ones. Well, night shifts ride into the next day, so I'm technically working everyday. And when I'm done I'm so tired that I sleep. And then do it all over agin. 

Anyway.

The other day I hit my four-month mark at Intermountain Medical Center. I wanted to work at a hospital since I thought it'd be a good learning experience in preparation for the future. 

After interviewing, I was granted the option of working on either the Cardiology floor, or the Neuro/Medical floor. I'd never done anything cardio related, so that was going to be my choice, until I was on the phone with the recruiter. Something told me that Neuro was the spot, so I just rolled with it. I'm grateful I did!

The reasons for my last-minute decision to go on the Neuro floor have become clearer over time. I'm pretty sure the Lord is giving me a lesson in hardcore patience. 12-hour shifts are nothing compared to the life of a doctor, I know, so I think it's good practice and all. 

Here are a few things I've learned over the past couple of months. 

1. STAY AWAY FROM DRUGS, kids. 

Sometimes we work on the floor and have anywhere from 6 to 14 or 15 patients that we're in charge of, and sometimes we have to stay in a single patient's room. Usually these patients are high-acuity and require special attention. I've had to sit in the rooms of people withdrawing from drugs or alcohol and all I'll say is that it's made me realize that addiction is truly a disease. Withdrawals are awful. For the patient, for the patient's family, and for us as medical staff. Drugs are bad. Say no to drugs. 

I once had a guy give me ten dollars for some heroin. It was kinda funny. But then, he started convulsing. Not funny at all. 

2. We all handle pain and stress in different ways

There's been people that are funny, and those patients are always the best. But, we've had staff kicked, punched, and we've had our fair share of insults and crying. Haha, it's the neuro floor for a reason. 

3. When a medical staff asks you if you need anything else, think about it for a second and respond accordingly. Don't make me walk out of your room, only to get called in five minutes later because you want water, or soda crackers, or to be adjusted just so in bed. 

4. If you're ever at the hospital, recognize that you're not the only patient that is in pain/needs things.

Your pain and comfort is real for us as medical staff, and we want to do our best to ease in a speedy recovery. But the reality of being in the hospital is that you're sick, and that sucks, but so is everybody else at the hospital. That means 30+ people on the floor are in your same situation, so don't be a whiny baby. Also, that means 30+ people need water, and meds, and to go to the bathroom, and when there's 15 patients to one staff member, it's gonna take us a bit to attend to everyone. 

No, we don't forget that you want water/bathroom/meds, and no, we're not ignoring you. But if you call for water, and we have another patient throwing up, throwing punches, or having an episode, I'm not going to feel bad about bringing you water half an hour after you call. You're not going to die of thirst. Sorry that you can't have food because you're having surgery tomorrow. This isn't a third-world country. You will get water. You will get food. Eventually. Relax. That's all. 

5. People matter

In a hospital, everyone matters to someone. Most often, it's families and friends that come to visit, but for that one patient that never has visitors, you matter to us. You matter to me. Maybe I'm just naive and haven't been properly desensitized, or whatever, but I always remember patients. It's a bit harder to care about you if you're demanding, annoying, or rude, but that doesn't take away from the fact that, even if it is just for a night, you are my patient, and I care. 

6. My coworkers are pretty dang great

I'm really not trying to be a suck up, but my coworkers are freakin awesome. I thought medicine was all Grey's Anatomy, and although sometimes it is haha, it's here that I've learned that medicine is a collaborative field. The doctors could not do without us and we couldn't do without the doctors. As staff, we couldn't do without each other. Through the hard days and hard patients, it's the "Is there anything you need help with?"'s from my coworkers that make me realize we've all got each others' backs. If a patient is particularly difficult, we tackle the challenges together. I've truly come to care about these people, and it's because of them that my sometimes 80-hr weeks are bearable and even fun. Taco Tuesdays, Waffle Sundays, and Orange Julius nights ftw. Selfies to come. 

7. I want this. I WANT THIS. 

I've had particularly bad days, when I start to really question whether medicine is the right path for me. This week, for example, I had three patients pass away. Tears were shed. One week, I felt seriously harassed by a patient. Frustration was expressed. To my mom haha, but still. Other days, I get to sit down for literally 20 minutes during the whole time I'm at work. The struggle is real. 

I know medicine is what I want to do, however, because despite all the challenges, I get excited when I think about how one day (hopefully) I'll be able to diagnose and treat these patients myself. I'm not always excited to sleep and go do it all over again, but when I get there it's actually fun. Sometimes, when I hear a physician describing a condition I'm unfamiliar with, I'll go look it up to learn about it.  I'm fascinated by the drugs administered on the floor, and the procedures that are brought up every week. I've become more familiar with patterns of recovery, and I love thinking about how maybe I'll one day be able to more directly aid in this recovery process. It makes me so excited!

All my dreams are riding on what happens in these next couple of months. I'm scared to death. But I'm really hopeful. 

Miguel Vargas Association :)

Our trip to Guatemala this year was dang incredible.

Here's a summary version of everything that we did!

Day 1. We arrived in Guatemala on a Sunday, so we just had a big family dinner, and we worked out with the fam what would happen over the next couple of days. We started assembling the kits we were going to be giving to the children at the two schools, and to the girls we'd be having a chat with. 

Day 2. We showed Brooke and Manuel around Guatemala City. We hit up some historic spots like the National Palace and Cathedral, and showed them where the Guatemala City Temple and the MTC are. At night, the whole fam went out to dinner to celebrate the signing of the official documents for the Association. 

Day 3. We wanted to give Manuel and Brooke a good sense of the country without going too far, so we took them to see the ruins of Iximche', which are pretty close to Lake Atitlan and the awesome city of Panajachel. We ended up getting lost on the way, so we didn't get to spend much time at the lake, but we loved the ruins. We learned a lot about history and our guide's explanations about the culture were so close to what we've learned from the Book of Mormon that we had our testimonies strengthened.

Day 4. We took off to Cahabon bright and early. We arrived in Coban at around 1 pm, and we picked up the rest of our crew. By this point, we had 12 people in the van: all of us, plus two other dentists, and three volunteers. We were pretty cramped with all the equipment that we had to carry, so the next fourths hours in a cramped van on an unpaved road were a tad uncomfortable, but we made the best of it.

Day 5. Our work began! We woke up early and went to the health center, where we would be doing the dental portion of the project. We had to figure out what to do because it'd rained quite a bit the night before, and there was no power! With the help of our volunteers the clinic was set up, and Dad decided that since there was no power, they'd only do extractions that day. That set things back a bit, since there were people waiting in line since 5 am, and many that were there for fillings were asked to come back the next day.

The education team left to go to the first school, while the dental team stayed at the health center. The first school was about an hour's travel by car out of the village, and there were 160 children. This was an adventure as well, as the river had overflowed into the dirt road. We had to wait for a while for the current to go down. When we finally got to the school, we did a small presentation where we taught them the importance of oral health and the importance of staying in school and gaining an education. We delivered the school kits to the children and they all loved them!! They were so happy to receive an incentive to do the things we'd taught them. 

When we came back from education trip one, we went to help at the health center. Melissa, Manuel, and I joined Dad and the two other dentists, and we helped to anesthetize and do a few extractions. 

Day 6. This one was by far the hardest day. The education team left pretty early. We did about at hour ride by car, and then about a 40 minute hike up a mountain to reach the school. It was really hard because it was really steep and it was muddy, and we were carrying all the supplies for the school. We truly gained an appreciation for the sacrifices that these students make every day to reach their school. Our community contact, their teacher, told us that many parents walk to school with their children, since there's jaguars out early that could harm the kids. JAGUARS!!!! 

We did oral health and education talk and then gave them their school supplies pouches and sang songs and played games with the 16 children. We taught them "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and played Red Rover and Duck, Duck, Goose. For these 16 children we also brought ponchos for the rain. The teacher had asked for these specifically. Since the children have a hard walk up to school everyday, anything that could make that trip easier helps. Many of them get really wet when coming to school, since the area is pretty rainy.

To thank us for the supplies and our time, the parents pulled all their resources to make us the traditional Cackic and calá with fresh tortillas and cacao drink. 

We made plans to come back and help them with a few other things; two of the little girls have eye problems, so we want to have them properly diagnosed and provide them with eyeglasses. 

That afternoon, Brooke, Melissa, Mom, and I did a conference for young ladies ages 15-18. We talked to them about being united and kind. We chose that topic because we were told that there's animosity between the native Mayan girls, and the mixed race girls (ladinas). We wanted them to know that no matter our race, as women we are all sisters and we should all build each other up. Brooke talked to them about Malala Yousafzai, and about how she overcame great odds to become a help for her people and for women all over the world. 

We gave the girls personal care kits. Each kit had lotion, shampoo, body wash, hair ties, nail polish, lip gloss, and a bracelet. Most, if not all of the items in each kit were donated by Relief Society women in our wards. The girls loved the kits and were so grateful!

Day 7. The dental team did a half day at the clinic and we closed shop. They worked so hard! In the two and a half days there they logged in about 25 hours and were able to help about 150 patients. They were resourceful and truly showed their versatility by working with little power to no power at times, in a cramped, very hot and humid room. They would've all liked to help more people, and we were so sad that we had to turn away many because of lack of time.

We thanked our family in Cahabón that were so kind to host us, as well as all the community contacts that helped us realize the project. 

At night we traveled to Semuc Champey. We went straight to sleep so we could go adventuring the next day. These pictures are the team that worked so hard with us, as well as our family's helper, that cooked for us and helped us with anything that we needed, especially getting dressed up in the traditional huipiles. Cecilia was the best!!! 

Day 8. We woke up and went to the pools of Champey. They were gorgeous!!! Who needs Bali, when you have Guatemala :). At night we traveled back to the city. 

Day 9. We were pretty beat from the adventuring and driving, so we used our last day to be tourists in Antigua and have dinner with the fam. 

We are so thankful for the money, supplies, and time that were donated to help us with our first trip as an official organization. My parents and the community worked so hard to have it all be possible, so thank you for all the help!!!! We know that what we can do for now is small and maybe insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but we have high hopes and dreams for the organization in the years to come. 

For more information about our organization or to get involved, send us an e-mail! 

coronadohumanitarianoutreach@gmail.com