Update on the "Deformed Foot"

Back in February of 2011 this boy came to our clinic with a severely deformed foot- a short while after that we sent him out for major reconstructive surgery.

They came back the other day to show us his progress- and what amazing progress he has made!

(See the original post here)

A Sad Case of Neglect

This child's mother came to the clinic some time ago with what appeared to be congestive heart failure.  She was very sick and because of her illness had stopped nursing her baby.  We saw the baby then, but she seemed to be doing ok.  Now just recently they brought the baby in.  The little girl was in deplorable condition--basically starving, and a very bad infection coming in it's leg.  It was obviously a sad case of neglect.  

Notice the swollen area on her left leg.

The lady holding the baby is actually her sister.  The mother seems to care very little about the baby.  These pictures were taken the 3rd visit so the baby is starting to look better.  

The leg infection became a big abscess.
Friday when they came, we opened it up and drained it.
There was a lot of puss removed .    

Michael flushed it out with iodine.

"It's a painful process. . . 

but it's worth it, little dear."

So many empty faces, so many pleading eyes, so many souls that don't have Jesus.

"...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Matt 25:40

100 people!!

Today the clinic's previous record of total consultations in a day (just over 70) was shattered, as the total amount of people seen today reached 100!

When the nurses came to clinic around 9am there were already about 50 people waiting outside- 

and more on the way!

Amazingly enough, things went smooth for everyone and they were finished by 2:30 in the afternoon!

This picture was taken around 1pm- usually there's nobody left by now, but there was still good 30 people sitting around!

Inside there were even more people waiting their turns for consultations.

As you can imagine, the pharmacy went through a lot of medicine today!

In the waiting room Noaz (left, standing) calls people in to being the check-in process.

Anita did a fantastic job keeping up with the amount of people that were there.

Her and the Haitian nurses saw more people today than they have since she's been here!

The woman's children wait as their mother gets checked out.

Direk (at the desk) does the paperwork as people come in.

Breanna had a busy time keeping up with the constant flow of people coming through.

She takes their temperatures and blood pressure before they go into the consultation rooms.

Impatient patients (that sounds interesting, doesn't it?) waiting outside for their turns!

People were sitting all around the courtyard because we didn't have enough seats for them!

A boy came in to have his stitches removed- he had fallen about a week ago and came into clinic.

Now he's all healed up and ready to go!

Update on the "More than a Rash" baby!

A little while ago we had a post on a baby which came in with a rash, malnourished and a mother who didn't know how to take care of it... click here to see the post, if you don't remember.

They came back for a checkup yesterday and what we saw was wonderful!

The little one has improved so much! 

We were all shocked how well it was doing and so thankful for its progress!

Unusual and slightly strange...

Today, when I came into the clinic to see how things were going, Michael called over to me. Saying that he had something that might interest me, he led me into one of the consultation rooms; inside was a lady which had (what looked like) a small hole on the side of her head. Mis Leida was shaving some hair off around this hole and Michael directed my attention to a strange object he held. 

It was a strange, curved, skin covered object that resembled a small horn. He explained it was a rare type of wart which grows out and begins to curve around like a horn. They had removed it because it kept getting in the lady's way.

It was very fascinating. And slightly strange.

***

Other than that, the normal things were going on in the clinic today...

Anita gave consultations...

People waited their turns...

And the pharmacy workers kept busy dosing out medicines.

A man with cholera...

Saturday morning (5th) an elderly man was brought to our gate by a group of about 20 people; Michael went out to see what was wrong and they told him the man had a seizure.

So, we took him into the clinic and, seeing that he was severely dehydrated, gave an an IV or two. However, as Michael questioned the people more, he came to find out that the elderly man reportedly had diarrhea since Wednesday, and on Friday night collapsed in his garden while working. Since then he was writhing around in pain.

It sounded like a typical cholera case, so he was transferred to the cholera containment tent outside the clinic. As soon as his body regained fluids from the IV's, all the symptoms of cholera began to return and Michael began treatment.

The man was from an area called Quiquit; a good distance from here. Today we had a few more people come by with cholera- we sent them on, up to the clinic in Besace, for treatment.

The man arrives with the group of people...

Michael tried to question the man, but he was too weak to speak clearly.

As he tried to get some answers from others, the elderly man slumps down in exhaustion...

Having been carried into the clinic courtyard, he awaited his transfer into the hospital room.

Michael immediately started an IV and, after a little while, a second one.

As the life-reviving liquids flowed into his body, he began to regain strength.

Michael checks his vitals and is pleased to find the man stabilized.

After 2 days of treatment we were able to send him home! 

We were thankful for his recovery and that the disease doesn't seem to be of epidemic proportions in his area!

Please, don't play in tin cans, children...

Some of us went up into the mountains for a cell group service yesterday and, after the service, a woman came to us with her little toddler- he had blood dribbling down his chin and was looking a bit stunned.

We sent him back to the clinic while we did a house call elsewhere, so when we arrived back home we were all curious how things went.

Michael had taken care of the case and the little guy was now officially minus one tooth on his bottom jaw :)

How did it happen? That was the question on all our minds! After asking the parents, Michael had the story: apparently he was playing and had put his face into a tin can of some sort- someone came by and had swiftly yanked it off, his tooth catching on the can's lip in the process!

Funny thing was, he had the most cheerful attitude the entire time! Such a happy little guy :)

Michael holds the tooth he just extracted...

They said during the operation he was grinning the entire time :)

The tooth had actually pulled out of the jaw bone, instead of snapping off.

"kontan" is the Creole for "happy"

He was definitely a "kontan" little guy!