Where do I begin. It must be Haiti. The power went back off at 6:00 this morning so I was the flashlight boy for the breakfast line so they could see what they were dishing up. Maybe I should have left it off :-) So they powered the little generator for the hospital. We went up around 7:30 for 1/2 hr with the Haitians again singing and reading in St John about Christ being the Good Shepherd and giving his life for the sheep. As we headed up the rocky road (it's about 1/4 mile hilly hike to the medical buildings) the venders were already laying their wares out on tarps along our path. Sheila told them 12:00, which means 5 hrs prior to that in Haiti. After all, you wouldn't want to miss out on a potential sales lead!
I'm going to short hand our team into 3 groups; the California crew, the midwest girls & me, for ease. As I type in the dim light, I have to swat off a pesky mosquito every few minutes (I guess not enough lizards!)
This morning seems like a week ago. The rest headed off to their respective medical tasks as usual and I started the work day with my usual routine of seeing where everyone settles in and taking a few photos. This morning I spent some time swapping out some retired equipment (wheel chairs, transport chairs, walkers & crutches). I repaired some and pulled some new ones out of storage. Of course in the process I had to do some wheel chair riding with my little friend Gene, a young boy who hurt his ankle playing soccer. In the mean time, I also checked out the "depot". Nothing like the Home Depot or Office Depot. It's the storage shed for all the non drug supplies...actually fairly well packed in shelves of totes. By the way, don't bother buying the rubbermaid "recycled plastic" 18 gallon totes. I didn't realize the difference and mine had 3 cracks in it before it even reached the airport baggage handlers. There is a difference in plastics and recycled apparently isn't good.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
More Wednesday eve
As I was closing down for the night, a young 9 yr old girl started crying in the ER behind me. Come to find out she has sickle cell anemia and is in a lot of pain. So sad.
I'll also mention the weather has been perfect for enjoyment. Feels like upper 70's with a breeze. Oh, and Jeana found out this evening that she is an aunt again! Her sister had a little girl, Lexie. Also, the midwest girls were able to see that mid-sized tarantula tonight :-)
Wednesday eve
I should have mentioned that all of the team members were able to watch the hip surgery yesterday eve(except Jennifer) and Jeana even took 100 pictures(17 actually)! She also has several other surgery pics for those who care to see things like "cheese slicers" cutting skin off for a graft :-(( Her latest tally is 378 photos + video...too bad we can't share some yet.
This morning after breakfast we headed back to the hospital for checkups again. I started a project of repairing wheel chairs and then went to put the spare tire back on the Toyota. But the tire they said was ready was in 6 pieces on the shop floor so I repaired a gate and went back for it. When I went back there was a Haitian standing on the tire asking me how much I was going to pay him to help me put it on. I told him I just came for the tire and when I turned around there were 2 others asking for payment to help me. How many does it take to put a spare tire back under a truck?? Then Sheila asked me to take Joe, the maintenance man down to the reservoir to clean some seaweed out...quite the road. When we got there 3 other natives joined us (It amazes me. They were all walking the mountain trails and we were driving, but we all arrived the same time??) Two of them slid down the bank into the water and started swimming the seaweed out. They decided to come back in the morning to do some more when the water level is lower.
About 9:00 Joe informed us that the power was going to go out around 2 pm and back on at 6 pm for the evening lights, but it was off by 10:30 already. 2 or 10:30, whats the difference? The team had just finished a surgery so it was no big deal and the generator came on fairly soon so they could continue.
Oh, how cute. There is a 5" lizard on the ceiling above me and he just ate a misquito, nice. Glad he likes them.
We had pumpkin soup for lunch. It was pretty good. Bethann said that she didn't really like the first meal, but now she likes pretty much everything we had so she's not sure what changed :-) Maybe she got hungry.
There was a change of pace this afternoon. We went to a funeral service of one of the former hospital employees. He worked there more than 30 years and his wife still does. It was fairly large (maybe 500). We only stayed maybe 1/2 hour of the 2 hour service and went back to the guest house roof to read Psalm 39 (in English) that they read at the funeral, but it started to sprinkle. We all quickly grabbed the laundry and ran it inside. Then Noah and Max arrived back from the funeral so we got Jennifer from PT (she was the only one who worked the afternoon) and drove down to the market, which is every Wednesday. It was the tail end, so we didn't end up getting out much, but was still interesting. On the way back to the guest house, we passed the funeral procession on the way to the cemetery.
When we got back, we decided to take a hike up "Doctor's Mountain", which is about a 15 minute walk behind the compound. Beautiful scenery.
After that, the midwest girls sang several songs on the porch while Noah, Ruben, Max & Jennifer went to visit one of the translators mother (who had carpel tunnel surgery before) and then on to Jimmy's house to see his honey bees, etc.
For the evening meal, we had pizza (thick Haitian style) and cole slaw, fruit... Then Noah, Ruben, Rudolph & Jennifer went back to the hosp. for evening rounds and the rest of us had an hour bible study on Psalm 39 in the living room before we went up and helped a little and checked email.
Wednesday
There hasn't been any power all day today. It's supposed to come back on around 6:00 pm tonight. As of 4:30 this afternoon, the group was just getting ready to go out on a hike. Hoping to post more later. . . .
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tuesday
I had mentioned that we lost water Monday eve. However, the guest house has a large tank on the roof so that when we lose water to the house (sinks, toilets...) there is a separate valve in the bathrooms that will still give us water to the showers, but nothing else. The loss of power ended up being caused by someone closing a 12" valve in the line that directs the water from a few local springs down the mountain to a hydro-power plant. Because we are in a dry season, the outlet that normally provides spill-off for the community isn't running water. So I don't know if they closed the valve to cause back pressure to supply the community or to close the electric plant for whatever reason or who knows. Because the community spill-off was dry, someone busted a hole in the top of the 12" plastic pipe to get water and the maintenance crew had just put a cement cap over it. I must say even with an interpreter, it was a challenge figuring out. They would say, "Both valves are closed right now. Both valves are open right now. No, one valve is open and one is closed. No, the other one is open and this one closed. And after 15 min of changing stories, you figure it out yourself!"
After Sheila & I arrived back from the water investigation. We spent most of the morning doing more inventory and unpacking tubs of supplies. I think between us, Jeana & Heather, they're caught up. I'm not sure how many surgeries they did today, I think Dr Rudolph said 11 total, but that seems high. Sherice will be impressed, I got to watch a hip surgery today (10 minutes was enough for me!!) They had to remove the metal ball from a 93 yr old man because they found it actually protruding out the back of him when they rolled him over in bed! Wow, that was a first for Dr Weiss. Another little 3 mos old baby was brought in, yesterday actually, who was born with a band of skin just above the ankle. Normally this is an emergency surgery after birth to save the foot, but not much you can do after 3 mos., but amputate when the baby is a little older. Jennifer had another busy day in PT. At about 5:30 she saw a 104 yr old! lady who I saw lying on a floor mat in the lobby all day. She ended up having a severe fractured femur that needs immediate attention tomorrow. If they would have known today, they may have tried to fit her in. If Jennifer would have known, she would have processed her much quicker. Communication and triage is a real challenge sometimes. The midwest girls did more recovery room PT and Bethann, Amy & I even had an afternoon Creole lesson. After our evening meal, the midwest girls, Sheila & I went up to the hospital and sang hymns for about an hour to the various wards. Some of the Haitians even joined us. One wing of the clinic burst into song on their own! It sure is fun singing with this group! Well, I probably should go back to the house since I had to wake the guard up last night to let me out. I'm going to try and post some photos in the morning.
After Sheila & I arrived back from the water investigation. We spent most of the morning doing more inventory and unpacking tubs of supplies. I think between us, Jeana & Heather, they're caught up. I'm not sure how many surgeries they did today, I think Dr Rudolph said 11 total, but that seems high. Sherice will be impressed, I got to watch a hip surgery today (10 minutes was enough for me!!) They had to remove the metal ball from a 93 yr old man because they found it actually protruding out the back of him when they rolled him over in bed! Wow, that was a first for Dr Weiss. Another little 3 mos old baby was brought in, yesterday actually, who was born with a band of skin just above the ankle. Normally this is an emergency surgery after birth to save the foot, but not much you can do after 3 mos., but amputate when the baby is a little older. Jennifer had another busy day in PT. At about 5:30 she saw a 104 yr old! lady who I saw lying on a floor mat in the lobby all day. She ended up having a severe fractured femur that needs immediate attention tomorrow. If they would have known today, they may have tried to fit her in. If Jennifer would have known, she would have processed her much quicker. Communication and triage is a real challenge sometimes. The midwest girls did more recovery room PT and Bethann, Amy & I even had an afternoon Creole lesson. After our evening meal, the midwest girls, Sheila & I went up to the hospital and sang hymns for about an hour to the various wards. Some of the Haitians even joined us. One wing of the clinic burst into song on their own! It sure is fun singing with this group! Well, I probably should go back to the house since I had to wake the guard up last night to let me out. I'm going to try and post some photos in the morning.
Monday Afternoon (again)
Ok I'm back for a bit. Now for some of you (those who worry too easily), I probably shouldn't mention this, but when Tim's crew left after lunch they had to wait about 1 1/2 hours to get through some "demonstrations" just up the road a short way. It's pretty typical down here if there is some political disagreement, they burn tires all across the road so traffic cannot pass? What a lot of good that does?? So the Peoria team had to wait till the tires were burned to get through. When Sheila and I passed through there this morning, we saw all the tire debris, but all was calm and no sign of an uprising.
Our team is doing a phenomenal job with their resources. Jennifer is amazing in PT, working with about 30 patients nonstop all day, I think she manages a couple clinics back home. Dr Noah, Dr Ruben & Dr Rudy with the help of Heather & Max did 4 surgeries and triaged about 40 people. While Bethann, Jeana, Jill & Amy were working with in-patient therapy. I helped them a little and it was amazing how many wanted to get up and around once they saw others getting up and around. Almost like it was contagious! They were helping people walk with walkers, wheel chairs, sitting, standing, in-bed stretches... Jill said, some of them have a very high pain tolerance. She thought if she did back home what she was doing here, her patients would be yelling at her! Jeana even played ball in the yard with a little girl to help exercise her elbow.
The first surgery was a 20 yr old girl, Sherley, who was an earthquake victim. The school had collapsed that she was in and 80% of the students died. A friend of hers dug her out and used a car jack to free her. They originally thought they were going to lose her legs, but she is now able to walk. She does have nerve damage and needed the tendons on the back of her ankles to be stretched so she could walk better. They put her in half casts and today she is back up and walking with cast shoes. They also repaired a humerus fracture on a 6 yr old girl who had a compartment syndrome because it was rapped too tight to heal originally. She was crying alot so I gave one of the dolls that my Erica donated for her. Today she is doing a lot better. It was rather sad last night when they had to tell our guest house cooks that their sister/mother could be taken home today, because there is nothing more they can do for her. She has ankoloysis spondylitis where she is on a gurney stiff as a board, in constant pain. She had a fracture repaired that hasn't healed in 8 months! And many more...
Oh, I probably shouldn't mention this either :-) but there was another scuffle outside the front entrance yesterday afternoon and guess who was in the middle of it - the town mayor again! About 100 Haitians were gathered around watching. They have a different way of resolving differences than we do! But it's calm today.
Till then,
Our team is doing a phenomenal job with their resources. Jennifer is amazing in PT, working with about 30 patients nonstop all day, I think she manages a couple clinics back home. Dr Noah, Dr Ruben & Dr Rudy with the help of Heather & Max did 4 surgeries and triaged about 40 people. While Bethann, Jeana, Jill & Amy were working with in-patient therapy. I helped them a little and it was amazing how many wanted to get up and around once they saw others getting up and around. Almost like it was contagious! They were helping people walk with walkers, wheel chairs, sitting, standing, in-bed stretches... Jill said, some of them have a very high pain tolerance. She thought if she did back home what she was doing here, her patients would be yelling at her! Jeana even played ball in the yard with a little girl to help exercise her elbow.
The first surgery was a 20 yr old girl, Sherley, who was an earthquake victim. The school had collapsed that she was in and 80% of the students died. A friend of hers dug her out and used a car jack to free her. They originally thought they were going to lose her legs, but she is now able to walk. She does have nerve damage and needed the tendons on the back of her ankles to be stretched so she could walk better. They put her in half casts and today she is back up and walking with cast shoes. They also repaired a humerus fracture on a 6 yr old girl who had a compartment syndrome because it was rapped too tight to heal originally. She was crying alot so I gave one of the dolls that my Erica donated for her. Today she is doing a lot better. It was rather sad last night when they had to tell our guest house cooks that their sister/mother could be taken home today, because there is nothing more they can do for her. She has ankoloysis spondylitis where she is on a gurney stiff as a board, in constant pain. She had a fracture repaired that hasn't healed in 8 months! And many more...
Oh, I probably shouldn't mention this either :-) but there was another scuffle outside the front entrance yesterday afternoon and guess who was in the middle of it - the town mayor again! About 100 Haitians were gathered around watching. They have a different way of resolving differences than we do! But it's calm today.
Till then,
Monday Morning (again)
I only have a few minutes, but I'm going to try to write a short note.
By the way, (quick power update) we lost water and power yesterday evening, two different issues non related. So we had a wonderful "fireside" visit with flashlights in the living room! More on that later. We did get water back this morning around 7:45 and soon after that Sheila, a Haitian interpreter and myself went to the reservoir to figure out the hydro electric power issue. We found the problem and restored power. More on that later also. We are currently back in business as "Haitian" usual :-)
Ok, seems like 2 weeks ago since yesterday. After breakfast we joined Dr Rudolph, the local pastor and the hospital staff for a little singing and short bible devotion time before hitting the rounds again around 8:00.
I changed a few light bulbs and sorted some supplies for Sheila. Then my sister-in-law, Joan, stopped by for a short visit to bring another missionary, their neighbor in Cayes, to have her foot looked at. It was good to see them. Joan had to be back to Cayes by noon to pick up her youngest daughter, Faith from school. Soon after she left, by brother Tim stopped by with a large construction team from Peoria and had lunch with us. Sheila also gave them a hospital tour (her second team of the day). It was a pleasant surprise for the midwest girls, because some of them knew several on the construction team. It was also great for me to see 3 of my nieces, Sarah, Bethany and Richelle (Richelle just arrived for a 2 week visit). What a blessing to sing a few songs after lunch with 30+ people. We even sang happy birthday to Amy F! She was a bit surprised and appreciative. (We surprised her again with a home-made Haitian decorated birthday cake in the evening after supper!!!)
more to come...
By the way, (quick power update) we lost water and power yesterday evening, two different issues non related. So we had a wonderful "fireside" visit with flashlights in the living room! More on that later. We did get water back this morning around 7:45 and soon after that Sheila, a Haitian interpreter and myself went to the reservoir to figure out the hydro electric power issue. We found the problem and restored power. More on that later also. We are currently back in business as "Haitian" usual :-)
Ok, seems like 2 weeks ago since yesterday. After breakfast we joined Dr Rudolph, the local pastor and the hospital staff for a little singing and short bible devotion time before hitting the rounds again around 8:00.
I changed a few light bulbs and sorted some supplies for Sheila. Then my sister-in-law, Joan, stopped by for a short visit to bring another missionary, their neighbor in Cayes, to have her foot looked at. It was good to see them. Joan had to be back to Cayes by noon to pick up her youngest daughter, Faith from school. Soon after she left, by brother Tim stopped by with a large construction team from Peoria and had lunch with us. Sheila also gave them a hospital tour (her second team of the day). It was a pleasant surprise for the midwest girls, because some of them knew several on the construction team. It was also great for me to see 3 of my nieces, Sarah, Bethany and Richelle (Richelle just arrived for a 2 week visit). What a blessing to sing a few songs after lunch with 30+ people. We even sang happy birthday to Amy F! She was a bit surprised and appreciative. (We surprised her again with a home-made Haitian decorated birthday cake in the evening after supper!!!)
more to come...
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