beautiful

When I ask my patients how far away they live, usually I expect to hear 15 minutes, 2 hours perhaps, but 3 days, that was a first.  Her initial visit to the hospital, Gladys and a family member walked 3 days from a jungle area to arrive at Hospital Vozandes!  She is a beautiful 19 year old who has Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis... a very, very rare type of blood cell disorder.  She's been in and out of the hospital for about 8 months.  I went in to change her bandages today and we chatted, she smiled the entire time.  Her prognosis is pretty good with the proper chemotherapy treatment, which she's receiving at our hospital.  I've posted a picture of her with Carolina, another one of the interns.  (and one with me)...And yes, Gladys smiles like this ALL the time!  

The other picture is my little town, Shell, with the towering Andes draped in clouds as the backdrop.  Hopefully on a clear day I'll be able to get a picture of the snow-capped volcano that can be seen occasionally on the horizon.