communication

At Alhambra the majority of the patients don't speak any English. So it comes as no suprise that none of my patients spoke any English. 1 Spanish, 1 Cantonese and 1 Mandarin. The Cantonese patient has Alzheimers so I get the Hx for my progress note from him. Unfortunately he doesn't speak any English either. So today, I called the translator and after the Hx I let her go as I did my PE. I forgot to ask the son about how the patient had slept the night before. So I mimed sleeping and gave a thumbs up with a questioning look in my face. He tried to say something in Cantonese. He knew I couldn't understand. He stood there for a minute and said, "Poquito." It was so funny I laughed out loud and we both nodded in understanding. CONTACT! We finally communicated with that one word.