Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Haiti Update 5

Tuesday in Port-au-Prince. God's timing is perfect, as usual:

Sak Paze?
This means "what's up" in creole.

Two dollars and a plate of beans:

Yesterday was a little less chaotic which allowed me to stand back and observe more and soak in the stories. God provides these stories in our lives but we are often too busy to enjoy them. Is this the will of God?


Nearly the minute I got into triage, an elderly man came to me in respiratory distress. Obviously uncomfortable, and barely able to breath on his own, we attended to him immediately. His oxygen level was 80%, very low, near intubation low if the trend worsened. Yet his lungs were clear. No swelling. No chest pain. Heart rate in the low 100's - not too concerning. What was wrong with this guy? Finger stick -180 after he had a coffee with sugar in it, so not suggestive of diabetic ketoacidosis. What was wrong with this guy? Gave him oxygen, our one source of oxygen, and he did not respond as we would have liked. Labs showed no evidence of infection or anemia. He had no chest pain, no wheezing. Did he have a pulmonary embolism? I felt helpless and at a loss. He had to be transferred to a higher level of care. We didn't even have Xray running at the time. Yet the family had no money and the patient could not even walk fifty feet without laboring severely. I had two American dollars in my pocket and asked my translator to flag down a taxi for me. We went into the street and the very first car was a taxi. "How much to transport one patient and his two family members to general hospital?" He told us three dollars. I told him I would give him two dollars. He said "no, three dollars." Remembering that I had not yet eaten lunch, a large, tasty plate of rice and beans, I asked "how about two american dollars and a large plate of rice and beans?" Deal! This thin cab driver, before we could get the patient in the car with an IV still in his arm, had inhaled my lunch and had the greatest grin on his face. This is the story of two dollars and a plate of rice and beans. He willingly transferred my patient to general hospital, where hopefully my patient was afforded the proper medical care. I prayed for him this morning as well as the taxi driver - one very sick, the other very hungry. God bless them both.

Timing is everything:

I was asked to evaluate a girl who was carried in by her mom. The child couldn't walk. Mom had been carrying this child around for four years and wanted to know what was wrong with her. It was quickly evident that she suffered from cerebral palsy with mental retardation. Not a good prognosis, especially in light of the current conditions of the country. She needed a wheelchair and physical therapy at least for the family to be able to move on to some kind of normalcy. You could tell that mom was tired and at a loss for what to do. But as God has shown me over and over again, He provides the timing for incredible things. As she was waiting for the physical therapist to evaluate her, we received an enormous shipment of materials from Mexico - unannounced. I walked back behind the hospital where the supplies were being inventoried when I saw a row of 10 new wheelchairs. Wow. "Who do I ask if I can have a wheelchair for this girl?" In my brief tenure, I had been given the authority to make such decisions, and this one was easy. Wheeling this little girl out to her car, where her father was waiting, placing her in the car and folding the wheelchair so that it just barely fit into the trunk of this tiny car is a moment I will hold on to forever. They drove away with huge smiles on their face. Timing is everything. Thank you Mexico for giving this child a chance at independence and giving a mother rest for her back.

Brief observations
The ride home is a dichotomy of extreme poverty with the background of beautiful green mountains
People seem to know that we are here for them and thus treat us with that respect.
All my translators want me to sponsor them in the US to study - they know this is a way out. I think I might. Her name is Myriam.
Slowly people at the hospital are improving. This is good.



Wow........God is SO good! Thank you for your prayers. 

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