These past few days have been some of the most emotional that I have had since coming to Haiti. Emotional in a way that causes you to put everything you have in God because he knows so much better than you do.
It started Wednesday, when I decided to go with Meg to the clinic. It was prenatal day so we saw lots of pregnant women. But then we saw a baby. An eight pound four month old. When her mom moved her she would start coughing, but she slept just like an infant. As Meg talked to the mother, we learned that the baby hadn't been eating for a while, so the mother was feeding her table food to try and get nutrients in her. This was a very sick baby. Meg decided to get the baby girl hooked up to a Lactated Ringer (IV with nutrients in it) so she could get fluids and nutrients. We took the baby back to a bed in the clinic, and Meg started taking the babies clothes off. The mother started to cry as Meg explained to her that her baby was very sick. It was incredibly heart breaking. You could see the baby's chest in and out because her breathing was so distressed. Meg and four other nurses worked to try and get the baby hooked up to the IV. They tried to find veins. The only problem was that this baby was so dehydrated her veins had collapsed. They found a vein in her right arm that they could use, but as soon as they put the IV in, it was no good. So they tried her left arm, it was also no good. Finally they tried her left foot, they got it, and then lost the vein. I prayed hard under my breath for a miracle to keep this baby alive. They had only her right foot left to try, after this, there was not too much more they could do for the baby. The nurses searched and the baby tried to squirm and scream, but she was too weak to make too much of an impact. They found a vein in her right foot, I prayed hard. They were able to inject the antibiotic that she needed for a suspected respiratory infection through the IV. Then they worked to set the IV up the rest of the way. Meg gave the baby Chloroquine for suspected Malaria. And we watched the IV slowly drip, too slowly. Meg and the nurses decided that there was nothing else that they could do for the baby. The IV was too slow, and she was not getting the nutrients that she needed through the veins that we were able to find. We told the mother that she would have to take her baby to Justinian, a hospital about 20 minutes away. The mother cried because she didn't have the money to take her baby there. Meg gave her some money to get the baby checked in... and we prayed.
We never heard anything more about the baby or the eighteen year old girl who was her mother.
Thursday I again decided to go with Meg to the clinic. We saw many patients. But there was one that stood out. He was carried in by his mother. He was seventeen years old. At first, I thought that he was severely malnourished. His arms were stick thin, his knees knobby. As Meg talked with him, she learned that he ate well, and slept well. So he should be healthy. She continued talking to the boy and his elderly mother and found out that up until two years ago, he was perfectly healthy. He then started losing strength in his upper arms and thighs. This was much more serious than malnutrition. As Meg continued talking to him and his mother, she learned that he was adopted from the streets by this woman, so she had no knowledge of his parents at all. This may be a genetic disorder. We also learned that he had been taken to Justinian right before this all started for a blood transfusion due to anemia. This could be syphilis or HIV. We learned that he had been to many different hospitals and clinics trying to find an answer for what had made him lose his strength. Meg decided, based on what she could see, that his condition was irreversible and permanent. She explained to the boy and his mother that even though he has this condition, and that he will probably die from it, that he should not be afraid. He is in God's hands. None of us know when our last day is coming, so everyday we should wake up praising God for giving us another day to praise and serve him. Since the mother was carrying the boy around, Meg and I went to look for a wheelchair. We couldn't find one, so we went back to the room where they were because there was a walker with a seat. Meg gave the walker to the boy and helped the mother get him seated on it. This was she would no longer have to carry the boy around. Meg asked him if he was happy and he shook his head "no." Meg gave him a hug, and has she held him he began to cry. So we prayed over him. By the end we were all crying. I ran back to the house to get some money to give to the boy and his mother so that he could continue to eat well. Meg sent the boy for labs just to be sure that he didn't have anything that they could check for at Bethesda.
Meg said that when she walked by the boy and his mother again, he gave her a big huge smile. Hearing about the smile reminds me that we should praise God no matter what our circumstance and to never take my good health for granted.
It's so sad being in a country where the people are unable to get proper medical attention as soon as they need it. Or answers to health concerns. Or tests to find out exactly what is wrong with them. Or attention when it is critically needed. But God has them all in his hands. He knows them by name, what is wrong with them, and how much longer they have to praise Him.
In more joyous news, I applied for a summer job back home in Erie. It is 23 mornings, Monday through Thursday, from 8:45 to 12:30, working for Carpe Diem, Mercyhurst's new initiative in the inner city school districts in Erie. It pays very, very well.
I got the job, and my own classroom.
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment