Thursday, May 2, 2013

Chapter 20

“Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. 
You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.”  
~J.M. Barrie

Reynosa, Mexico.

A city directly across the border of Hidalgo, Texas.

The common point that linked seven teenage boys that otherwise were complete strangers to one another.

Some were from Ecuador, others from El Salvador and Guatemala.

Although their origins varied, their mission were the same: to reach the USA.

However for six of them, they only got as far as crossing the border. One actually made it all the way to the Northeast and was about to begin high school when "La Migra" aka U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement caught him and took him away from his family.

I was working the night shift in the ER when the attending said "They're sending another van load of the boys to get their XRays." Out of curiosity, I asked where are these boys coming from and why are they going to the ER just for XRays. It was explained to me that there's a safe haven organization not too far from the hospital that predominantly houses boys that have unsuccessfully crossed the border into the US and serves as a transition home during the family reunification process. Many of these young boys had positive PPDs (positive tuberculin skin test) so in order to rule out TB we had to do a history, physical exam and Chest XRay.

I was glad to have been in the ER that night because there weren't any Spanish speaking physicians around so I would be able to speak Spanish to the patients. However, serving as a translator exposed me to the saddest stories I've ever listened to.

One of the key questions to ask if suspecting tuberculosis is noticing any weight loss or if their clothes fit differently. One slim teen stated he was in the desert for 22 days with only one meal and he approximated about a 30 pound weight loss. Another teen couldn't begin to imagine how much weight he lost because he's never been this thin. Amongst the rest of the teens, similar stories repeated. The longer the journey, the less amount of food. This wasn't the response I was expecting.

Many didn't know what cities they were in. Some didn't know how many days they traveled since leaving their home but they all knew that Reynosa, Mexico was the last stop before crossing the desert into Texas.

I had to take a mental break.

I just had one of the most powerful experiences in my young medical career from simply listening.

My whole definition of sacrifice was shattered. Standing in front of me were living proof of corporal and mental sacrifices. Standing in front of me were young men who left their families behind, paid a stranger and blindly entrusted this person to lead them to "Los Estados Unidos", the land of opportunities. Standing in front of me were survivors of physiologic defiance when people otherwise die before reaching the U.S. because their dehydration was so severe that a clot went to their brain.  Standing in front of me were the most courageous young men I've ever met.

There I stood, a spoiled, gluttonous American who constantly complained of first world problems never questioning my next meal or expensive bottle of water. There I stood emotionally vulnerable because all I can offer was the native tongue my parents taught me to speak. There I stood wanting to give more of me and help these seven boys become the future of United States. There I stood rewriting my blueprint so when I do receive my M.D. degree I will be donating my time to immigrant health. There I stood.

Lesson Learned: Many of our goals and sacrifices may seem like leaps of faith but we should try not to question our current position/situation as it may be a part of the grand scheme. We know where we started from and what we want the end result to be but what builds our character is the journey in between.