And the beat goes on

Hello everyone! Sorry that it has taken me so long to blog, but its been rainy and the internet hasn’t been working well. This past week I had my friend Terri here AND a group from Wisconsin! I have felt so blessed to share in ministry with them and to spend time with them. I was definitely sad to see them all go, but we were so busy and so many things happened during their time here. I feel like I have a thousand things to say, so bear with me.

Terri arrived on Sunday and (I think) quickly adjusted to the Haitian weather. Somehow, Zizou and I arrived at the airport a bit early and waited amongst the group of people picking up loved ones and clients. I was so happy to see her face in the crowd. Im sure she noticed me right away......because I had a sunburn on the right side of my body (this is a true story...only burnt on my right side). Why else would I have stood out? We made it back to the car with her things and were on our way to my house. After a quick stop there we went to the orphanage where Terri had her first Haitian meal.....rice, beans, and chicken.  After dragging her around Port-au-Prince awhile longer we went back to my place. It was there that she surprised me with gifts from home! My dear friends at work had sent me love from across the sea. These were the things waiting for me: food(lots), books, toiletries(loofah!), and cards with the most lovely words. I don’t know if they could ever understand what that meant to me. It gave me so much joy. Thank you all SO much. 

Terri and I joined the group that flew in on Monday.  The group came to do a medical clinic and we were ready to work with them! The plan was to leave Tuesday morning for Thomazeau, a town outside of Port-au-Prince, and work there until Friday.  The only problem was the rain. Monday night brought a downpour of rain and there is no constructed road to Thomazeau. Instead, travelers drive on a dirt road. The road is sometimes flat, but mostly contains many pits and grooves. Thomazeau is about 30 miles away from Port-au-Prince. This time it took us 4 hours to get there. Have you ever seen a school bus drive through a bed of mud that is up to your knees? No? Well, neither have I. We were stuck several times. The only way we managed to get through the mud was by the help of the villagers. (Who, promptly asked for cash once we arrived to our destination) The good news was that we arrived! We set up our beds after destroying about 50 wasp nests and tucked in for the night.

The next morning we arose early and set up the clinic. After the doctors arrived we began seeing patients. My job was doing lab tests. I also took my ultrasound machine along. My first ultrasound in Thomazeau was on an infant. She had a growth on the right side of her neck that stretched up to her right cheek. The growth also began to invade her mouth and push her tongue to the side. It looked like a classic congenital defect that you learn about in school. Terri and I both agreed that she appeared to have a cystic hygroma. The doctor wanted me to take a look by ultrasound to see its consistency. If it was liquid, he would drain it. If it was solid, he would send her to a doctor in PAP. Either way, she needed care. She looked miserable and you could hear the mass cutting off her air supply. After looking by ultrasound we came to the consensus that there was some fluid in the mass. Dr. Felix drained over 30 cc of dark red fluid from it and sent the family to the hospital with money from the group. That night the grandfather stopped by the clinic to tell us that the hospital had turned them away. We told them to come back to the hospital the next morning to talk with the doctor again. The next morning when they arrived we figured out that they went to the private hospital only for the rich and that is why they were turned away. We encouraged them to go back. We didn’t see them again and we can only hope that they received care. If not, the baby will not survive. 

On Thursday morning a man carried a screaming woman into the clinic. She was complaining of cramping and vaginal bleeding. She had not had a period in 2 months. Upon ultrasound examination I saw only what I can describe as a ball of tissue exiting her uterus. I could not see a gestational sac. Wide eyed and shoulders shrugged I made the call of inevitable abortion or miscarriage. The doctor seemed to agree and wanted to check her cervix. While three of us held her down, Dr. Felix checked her and helped her to pass the “ball of tissue” that would’ve been a beautiful Haitian baby. In the best creole I could muster I told her over and over that I was sorry while Terri lovingly rubbed her arms. She was silent. 

Later that night after clinic was closed down and people were preparing for bed, Terri and I sat in the back of the hospital chatting about the day and preparing to pray together. Three motorcycles full of people pulled up to the door and began scurrying around a pregnant woman. They were telling us that the woman was about to have her baby and that they needed help. I tried to explain to them that we had no doctor and that none of us had ever delivered a baby before. They offered up a woman who they said was midwife. At that point I was growing more and more confused. Was something really wrong with her? Why did they bring her here if they had a midwife? How did they KNOW she about to have the baby? They said that her water had not broken, but the baby was coming and she could not leave how she was. So, I went and woke up Cyndy, our VERY experienced nurse. She had not worked in OB for years, but she agreed to check the girl. We put her in stirrups and gave Cyndy the flashlight-she was crowning and THE BABY WAS COMING! We quickly went and gathered the hodge podge of supplies we had not packed and returned to broken water. The midwife started talking sternly to the girl and slapping her thighs. She was awesome. I positioned myself at the end of the bed with Cyndy at my side waiting with clean towels and water. After only three screams the head was out. The midwife helped pull the baby out the rest of the way. It was a beautiful baby boy. After the mother passed the placenta they cut the cord. The midwife then put some of the cord blood in the baby’s mouth and tied the cord with pieces of the mothers scarf. I was in awe. It was hands down the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I can’t describe the beauty. The entire ordeal only lasted one hour. After cleaning up the mother and wrapping the baby they all hopped on a motorcycle and drove home. (Yes, even the mother)

After Terri and I stopped staring at each other with a look of “did that just happen?”, she made an interesting point. She said how ironic it was that we saw a miscarriage and a birth all on the same day. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. No amount of births could ever take away that mother’s grief for her child, that baby can never be replaced. That is hers. But, there is life. The joy in seeing that baby take it’s first breath took the edge off of some of the pain from earlier. I know there will always be pain in loss, but it was a stunning picture of God’s goodness and how He is the redeemer. We left the next morning with an estimate 230 patients in two clinic days. 

Terri left on Saturday and the group left this morning. It was so great to have them, but now I need to begin a schedule and remain busy. Im sorry if I scared some of you with my last post. It has been a hard transition, but I trust that the Lord has laid amazing things in front of me. I must fix my eyes firmly on Him, my prize. I have to stop looking back and keep looking ahead. God will use this year in my life. So, pray for me friends. Remember always that I am sweating and that my arms are getting tanner.