A SERIOUS ear infection...

Often we have very strange and extreme cases coming into the clinic, but I don't think there has been one this bad in the recent past, that I can remember...

Yesterday this poor lady came into the clinic with two serious ear infections: so serious, the skin was literally rotting off and her ear canals were both non-exitstant, being closed by the inflammation of the infection.

Michael described it as an "open cellulitis"...

When I arrived with the camera, Michael had already operated on her right ear, 

and was working on the left.

The infected tissue had to be removed, and the area cleaned.

You can see how the infection was spreading down her neck...

The left side wasn't as bad as the right and, after a while, it too was cleared of dead tissue...

A house call...

On Sunday we received a request to do a house call for an elderly lady. They said she was having shortness of breath and chest pain, so Anita, Virginia and Brieanna went to check things out.

So, off we trekked down the riverbed to find her house...

Thankfully, the riverbed was dry, even though we've had lots of rain recently.

The dear lady seemed to be in much pain, but everything checked out well.

As we left to get some medication for her, the family thanked us for coming.

Some impressive rock formations in the riverbed...

It was a shorter walk than some of us were thinking... only about 15 minutes!

Walking back home.

As was mentioned before, it's been raining quite a bit;

Here's a thunderhead that was threatening the horizon with its presence.

Update on recent baby...

Yesterday we had a post about the little baby girl who hadn't eaten for 15 days; several hours after she came in, we decided she needed to go out to the hospital in town. She had stabilized and we felt it would be better for her to be in the hospital.

So, yesterday when Michael went out, the mother and baby rode along with... We are hopeful for her recovery!

A 15 day fast... for a newborn.

Today a woman came in with her newborn baby girl. It is severely emaciated, and when asked when the last time it ate, she said it hadn't eaten since it was born-- 15 days ago!

Michael, Anita and Virginia are working hard to keep it alive and revive it. It's in very bad shape.

Please be praying for the baby, and us, as we try to save its life...

Trying to get an IV started...

It took some time to find a good vein...

Watching the IV drip rate...

Finally! A blood vessel that took!

Setting the IV

The poor little girl... she started perking up, and tried to cry, but couldn't...

An afternoon hike

There is a man from church that has been wanting us to give medicine for his wife now for a long time, but she is not able to get around well and thus doesn't get down to the clinic. (They live up the mountain about 35 minutes hike from the mission.) Andrew, his sister Abigail, Alex, and I hiked up there Wed afternoon. It was a pleasant afternoon hike. She was indeed an interesting case. I don't know exactly what she has, but her hands are all gnarled up. It seemed to be some sort of muscle disorder. Even though there wasn't a lot to do for her, they seemed to appreciate the visit, and the view along the way was lovely.

Hiking along

Checking her blood pressure

Head wound

You never know what it will be next. This lady received a nasty head gash.

Here is Mis Leda stitching her up

Mis Joselaine rechecking the wound a day or so later

More on the babies

Well, the first baby was born around 7:30 pm. It was a little boy. He was born with the cord around his neck, and it took some suctioning and stimulating to get him to breathe. Yes, I’ve delivered quite a few babies, but that is still scary. Thankfully he was soon breathing well. He weighed 8 lbs 4 ozs—pretty big for Haiti.

By that time the other lady was getting closer. It appeared that I had plenty of time to at least grab a bit to eat so I headed off for supper. We hadn’t much more than started eating when they were knocking franticly at the gate. I really didn’t think they could need me yet, but I was wrong!!!! The baby was born by the time I got there! He cried vigorously so no worry about his breathing capacity—another little boy weighing 7 lbs 3 ozs.

We got things finished up and headed back to finish our supper—around 10 pm by then.

Here is the happy little family of the first birth

Andrew and Abigail helped dress the baby

(They are brother and sister from WA. Andrew is here as mechanic.)

This is the second little guy

Abby and I with both babies!!!