Week 12

21/11/10 (2330)

Whew, I have to start going to bed earlier! But I've had a refreshing weekend and I'm ready for another work week. We did rounds this morning- dressing changes and fixed antiobiotic orders. I was so happy that I got a breakfast from the kitchen today, Noodle soup! I took a nap, finally finished updating my blog, and typed up the census. I got pulled into a couple other medical things that needed done. One of the hospital workers ended up having seizures, but they were able to stop them.

And we had a 10-year old girl come in with a possible bone infection after an IO (intraosseous) IV was left in too long. An IO IV is started when the person is so dehydrated you cannot find a vein and the person needs fluid resusication (this girl had cholera earlier in the week). They said the cholera was over and she did not need special precautions, but the mom was still scared. I wish I could have comforted her more. Everyone was pouring bleach all around her bed after she had one bowel movement.

I got to speak with my family and I spent 45 minutes speaking to some of the patients in Kreyol. It was so fun! The guy was asking me to take him back to U.S and he would be my maid. I brought my computer and we listened to music. Sondy, the 12-year old boy who has been here since September, has a roomate again. And her mom stays there so now Sondy has a mom to take care of him again. I'll have to keep an extra eye on him now that Elinor is leaving tomorrow (she was pretty much being his mom). All the patients are going to miss her because they keep asking about her today.

I need to keep up with studying Kreyol every night. Things get busy and I don't do that! I forgot to mention we all cooked together last night and played a game. I enjoy the little family we have formed here. Even though things get a little crazy here at times, we are supportive of one another. I'm glad for that. We laugh and have fun all the time.

22/11/10 (1300)

I am so glad for a calmer monday! I am able to take time with patients and enjoy them. And to enjoy talking with the CBM crew (the physical therapy group). And Jessica is working with me to teach me the ropes because she leaves in December before Christmas. I'm possibly thinking of staying 3 extra months here if there would be a need for me and I had the funds to do it. I'd like to have more time to learn the language. But in due time God will show me if that is what He wants.

I love all the long term patients. It's nice to get to know your patients and interact with them for awhile. As well as see their progress. Metelo walked down the hallway for the first time today in one month. I was so happy to see that and I had to get a picture! Well, time to head to work.

23/11/10 (2310)

Our heavenly Father is the most perfect Father that any of us can ask for. Even though my parents are not perfect (because no one is), I feel fortunate to have loving, nonabusive parents that often go above and beyond for me! And to have siblings that will be there for me if needed no matter our differences or if we haven't talked in awhile. I need to care for and honor my parents! As well as care for my siblings. There are many practical ways to do that and I need to implement them. Sometimes I get so busy here that I don't call or check up on them as much as I should.

Today was another relaxed day, although the hospital is overflowing with medical patients. There are 4 German patients with Dengue Fever. So we had to move Jonas, the AKA patient leaving tomorrow, out into the hallway to sleep on the cot tonight because we needed his room. We have other patients downstairs in the hallway too.

Dr. Dietrich and his wife are nice! He's willing to teach me things, he's calm, and takes his time with patietns. He's been working mostly with her in the clinic, but I told him to let me know if there is something he wants me to do. I had a patient, a 22 year old male, today who spoke English. It was nice to be able to fully communicate with him and at first I missed the aspect of being able to completely communicate with my patients. He had a bunch of abrasions on his face so I was cleaning them off (because he broke one wrist and the other forearm so he couldn't use his arms) and putting ointment on them. But then when I asked him if he wanted some on his lips (which were banged up), he said "No, but you can take care of that yourself." So I decided, I'm glad to have a 6-month break from fully understanding my patients, lol! Oh, and another time I overheard a Haitian male say to a translator (in English), "I like the way she walks" when I was walking towards them. The translator quickly and quietly said "Oh no, she's a Chrisitan." I'm super glad that's my reputation around here. Glad they know that and respect that.

The patients I really love talking to are the children...and females! We have 2 long term peds patients now- Sondy and Wendia. They are so adorable! I have fun sitting in their room and chatting. And I love it when Wendia plays with my hair! Tonight, I also visited with Jonas and his wife since he is leaving tomorrow. It's a good time to practice my Kreyol and connect with the patients. I cooked sphagetti tonight and shared some with nurse Onaphee.

I fit in a run with Audra and a Kreyol session with Mac. And I spoke with Wilshaw- wow it's been a good day! Audra is a 2^nd year pediatric resident doing a rotation here for one month. She is great! We ran outside of the compound at the Adventist University Campus- no problems, just lots of stares!

24/11/10 (0912)

Lord, I think the devil messes with our emotions to try to distract us! I think when I'm sleepy it's even worse. I think I'm still catching up from last week's craziness. We sent home 2 of our long term motorcycle accident patients, Jonas and Metelo. Sad, but happy to see them go. I changed my first wound vac today with Sondy. I think, I mean I know, he knew how to change it better than me! Kids are the best to learn on though- well if they don't have overbearing parents. But that's not a problem here. Parents here basically tell their kids to stop crying and let us to our thing. They know what we are doing is helping their kid even if we are causing temporary pain to get the kid better.

Today, my bible study was about taking 2^nd place. Even though I wouldn't say that I'm a very competitive person, it is hard to control the feelings of rejection, envy, and hate at times. I need to be close to You so that my self worth is from You and not what the world gives. Because the world won't always respect me or I won't always get what I think I deserve. So every moment of every day I need to actively seek You. You will give me my self worth and purpose.

I was just thinking of happy Sondy- how he has parents who really don't come visit him and when they do, they barely give him any money for food (I've been told his dad works a lot to support his wife). I don't know the reason why (I think it's a difficult/complicated family situation), but it's sad to see a 12-year old boy have no one to give him food and wash his clothes when he has parents that are alive and capable. The patients here get fed once a day here, but laundry is not done. We were talking last night and he told me his clothes were "sal", dirty. For a 12-year old boy to tell you his clothes are dirty, they are way beyond needing cleaning. And his sheets hadn't been changed in a long time. And if it wasn't for his previous roomate's parents feeding him, he would only be eating once a day. Yet despite all this, he is always happy. The only time I saw him sad was when he was left alone in his room on his birthday. He never complains of pain, only grate (itchiness!). Instead of crying or yelling when his leg hurts (when we change the wound vac), he just starts giggling. It's so cute.

I am so thankful for the wonderful support system I have back home. Their emails and words have touched me so much. I don't know all of their situations, but I lift them up to You. I praise You for all the wonderful people You have provided in my life.

26/11/10 (2310)

I had an excellent thanksgiving day! Sometimes I think it's thanksgiving days like these that make you realize all that you have and all the reasons you have to be thankful. We worked half a day and then we cooked. Well I guess I didn't really help cook, I went out shopping with Audra, Azaria, and Mac. The market was fun except they were trying to charge me to much, so we waited outside and had Mac buy the food for us. We had almost everything except a turkey (stuffing with veggie meat, mashed potatoes and gravy, string bean casserole, yams, cranberries). And it was great that it was all made with 3 hot pads and the prostetika oven (the oven used to mold prothesis legs). And it was just a blessing to sit down with a new formed family to say grace, sing a song of thanksgiving, and share a wonderful meal. I love how Dr. Dietrich will start a song after we pray. And Marc had put little thankful sayings on pieces of paper below the plates. It just felt like this thanksgiving meant so much more than usual because I wasn't expecting all of that. It was also my first day in 10 weeks that I didn't eat rice and beans. I realized what a priveledge it is to be able to eat a variety of foods. Rice and beans is the cheapest meal here in Haiti and some people have no other choice. I miss tacos and pad thai the most!

I got to speak to Jenny and see Manuelito on skype. I miss them and it was so exciting that he could count to ten in Spanish and English. I also got to say hello to my family and Grandma. Then, Audra and I worked on making the cherry pie while everyone else played games. That was fun just listening to music and talking with her. And making pie without all the tools necessary. Being here in Haiti has taught me to learn to make do when you don't have all that you think you need. The pie ended up being delicious!

Then, this morning Audra and I got up for a 5:30 am run and abd workout. It's nice running with her and then we could run off campus. We worked another half day. We don't have anesthesia this week so we couldn't do many surgeries. He did a few necessary ones with the Haitian anesthesiologist. The hospital is kind of split between the orthopedic service and everything else. The orthopedic service is all free, so that is why it has been run by volunteers. CURE is paying for all the orthopedic care. So if they need a Haitian anesthesiologist they have to pay them, so they only do that if it's urgent and we don't have a volunteer anesthesiologist. The hospital doesn't make any money off of the orthopedic patients, so they don't like if we take up too much room. Understable though because the hospital does need money to function. And of course the Haitian doctors are not going to work for free- they don't make the amount of money doctors do back home (of course I know they don't have as many students loans...but once those loans are paid off, doctors in America make a good amount more than experienced doctors here- even accounting for the difference in cost of living). We were told the Haitian General surgeon that comes here to do surgeries makes about the equivalent of $60 USD for each surgery that he does. And he has to travel a long way to get here to do a surgery so it's really not that much profit. They are in the process of trying to have enough money to hire him as a full time staff.

So the orthopedic census is low this week, but I'm not complaining because I needed a slower week. So this afternoon we went to the hotel nearby to eat, swim, and relax. I got a coke and plantans. Then I sat by the pool to practice my Kreyol. Mac found me a Kreyol dictionary for 35 goudes so that'd been nice to have.

On our way back home (around sunset), Audra needed to stop at the delimart. So Brian, Marc, and I waited outside. While we were waiting, a political parade started up down the middle of the street. Marc overheard the Haitian men behind us say "Let's get out of here because we don't want to be near the blancs." So Marc got Audra and we left. Marc said some Haitians don't like the NGO's (they think the NGO's are taking profit from Haiti or something along those lines), so any foreigner is a possible target during election time. People were driving extra crazy! But we arrived safely back home.

We cooked a delicious meal and I spoke to Wilshaw. I need to make a better effort to keep our relationship strong. It's hard at times because I try to do so much and sometimes I don't feel like I don't even do everything I wanted. But that's life no matter where you are! But, today, I made sure Sondy's clothes and sheets were washed. Then tonight I hung out with Sondy, Wendia, Andre, and Wendia's mom. They sang in French and prayed to start the sabbath. Then we just had fun talking. It was nice having the dictinoary because then we could look up words if I didn't understand.

27/11/10 (1450)

I am so thankful for God's grace and mercy. Whenever I stir away from Him, He always takes me back. I would be eternally condemend if not for Jesus sacrifice. I think what starts out as good intentions (being busy helping others, studying Kreyol, making time for Wilshaw and other friendships) keeps me occupied and pulls me away from much needed time with God to keep building a stronger relationship. I think sometimes I get tricked into thinking that I'm not serving God if I'm not helping others. But really in order to be a witness of God, I need to know God personally. So I shouldn't feel unfruitful for spending however long I need to understand His word better. For what I learn and meditate on will change me to be more like God so I can shine God's love to others. And nothing I do matters in the end if I do not know Jesus as a personal Savior and friend. I need to make a solid time to study deeper the scriptures, meditate on them, and spend more time in pray. Not as a ritual, but as a way to know God more and grow closer to Him.

I really appreciate all the other Christians here and the support they provide, but that I know that never replaces your own relationship with God. It's also nice to have Nathan, Brian, and Dr. Dietrich as male Christian leaders here. I really respect these brothers in Christ and all that they are teaching me. And seeing their close relationship with You and the time they give to studying Your word is a good leadership example I need. I really appreciate their leadership in bible study, prayers, talks, and decisions. I'm not against women being leaders too, but there is something right about having the males be the ultimate leaders and not having the women overpower the Godly lead men (God does ask the male to be the leader and I can see why...it works well that way if they are men seeking to follow God). But, let me tell you, the females here are teaching me so much too! Everyone is wonderful and we all add our spice to the pot!

It dawned on me today as I was sitting in the French/Kreyol service today with Sondy and Wendia, that they are the next generation of Haitians. I pray deeply for them because they are going to face lots of challenges in their lifetime. I pray that they will continue to choose Your path for them and they will be the salt and light to their country.

I was so glad they had a 20-30 minutes teaching session on cholera in between Sabbath school and divine service today. I could understand a fair amount, especially because they had a powerpoint presentation, and the information was detailed and good. I could understand some of the sermon, but not enough to get the main gist yet. In time, I will be able to hopefully. I am so glad that God is providing me the ability to learn the language.

So, now, I am just using this day to rest, study, and keep my thoughts on God. I know I always want to get out and do things, visit friends, etc, but sometimes it's good to take the time to study and grow. I am really enjoying this book on "love and respect." It's true as women, we don't realize how we say and do things can be very disrespectful towards our boyfriends or husbands. I'll admit to it! We don't mean it as disrespect most of the time (we usually mean it out of love because we know they need to change, etc) but it doesn't make it right.

Well, it's time to pray! I have lots of praises and prayer requests in Jesus name!