The Story Of The Conductor Who’s Life Is Different Because Of Health & Help

This is the story about one of our regular patients whose life has positively changed due to Health & Help.

His name is Juan Torrez, and he is 42 years old (the name and the age of the patient in the text were slightly changed due to privacy reasons). No one would ever guess that he has a chronic disease since he looks like a typical person at his age. 

He first visited our clinic in Guatemala and had classic diabetes complaints: dryness in the mouth, frequent trips to the bathroom, occasional blurry vision, and feeling unwell in general. Doctors at the Health & Help clinic did Juan’s blood tests, and the results showed high Hemoglobin A1c (the one showing blood sugar level for the past three months). Without any more doubts, Juan had diabetes.

The great thing about Juan is his willingness to get better. He follows all the prescriptions the doctors give him and takes his medications. At our clinic, he receives insulin and insulin pens. Using regular insulin syringes is still an option, although it can be a bit involved and requires a certain type of focus. Therefore, we try to ease the insulin administration process for our patients and provide them with insulin pens. The only drawback with pens is their premium cost. Insulin pens are three times the price of regular syringes and are harder to purchase. Nevertheless, the comfort of our patients is our main priority, so we either buy insulin pens in another state or import them as donations. 

Juan works as a bus conductor and goes to work at 4 am daily. He cannot afford to lose his job, since he has a wife and three kids to support.

He is now stable and doesn’t have any complaints. Juan visits our clinic monthly, where he gets examined and prescribed his insulin medications. However, the only thing that concerns our doctors is that Juan likes to drink coke and eat chips regularly. These are, without a doubt, popular types of snacks in Guatemala. Therefore, doctors at the Health & Help clinic do their best to explain to Juan what changes he can make in his diet and why they are essential.

At the Health & Help clinics, we have a lot of patients with diabetes. Each of them receives a regular check-up and medications, which is made possible through our project. We have many more other patients who depend on our clinic. The Health & Help project makes it possible for people to access emergency services near their house for free or with a small donation. Basic medical education is essential, so we organize workshops for our patients at the clinics. We cover different topics so we can answer all the concerning questions and help to prevent many health issues.

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