**Viewer Discretion Advised** Post by Tom

It was about 11 PM last night when the compound gate rattled and we found a man holding a bloody rag around his right arm. We took him to the clinic and found a nasty laceration about 1 1/2" long x 3/4" wide. He could not move his small and ring fingers which indicated that a tendon was either completely or partially cut. He had also lost a lot of blood.

He told us that he had tried to calm a fight that broke out over a soccer game when one of the other parties hit him with a broken glass bottle.

This is the cut after a hour of cleaning

Steve, Simon, and Anita discussing the best treatment options for the patient.

Tom starting an IV. The patient had lost a lot of blood.

Anita cleaning and stitching

After 11 stitches, the wound looked quite nice!

A World of Contrasts

Monday after clinic some of us took a hike to visit some friends way up the mountain.  It wasn't a clinic related hike, but I still wanted to share a little about it.  For those of you who also keep up with the Haiti Life blog, I think it'll be on there too.  

The scenery was amazing.  We probably climbed between 1000-1500 feet up out of the Aleg valley.

Many little trails  

This one is actually pretty flat and straight--unlike most we hiked that day.

This is the young couple we went to visit.  They come to church here in Aleg.

It took us about 2-2 1/2 hours to get to where they live.  

I didn't know this lady lived up in that area.  She is a clinic patient, and I was excited to see her.  

People in their garden planting beans

Again, viewer discretion advised

This is the same lady that was on the Monday post, and here are some more details and pictures.  Her eye lid and the surrounding area were very infected.  The skin was totally dead, and puss was oozing out.  It stank like crazy!  She had been in about a month ago and even went to T-Goave, but then went home and waited till it was in HORRIBLE condition to return.  I had my doubts as to whether her eye could even be ok under all that infection.  I cut away the bulk of the dead and infected skin and did a general cleaning.  The deep cleaning it needed was beyond me, but I wanted to at least clean it a little.  I didn't use anesthesia at all for what I didn't because she didn't have feeling where I needed to cut.  That's how dead it was.  After cleaning away a lot of the puss and dead skin, I did take a peek at her eye.  She could actually still see out of it.   I then gave her a transfer paper to go to T-Goave hospital.  Today I called and talked to her and the doctor in T-Goave, and he said she needs to go to Port as there isn't a surgeon there in T-Goave to do what needs done.  I just HOPE she actually goes and gets further treatment.  She has high blood sugar so of course that is complicating things.  

The mask was mostly for the purpose of keeping out a little of the stench.  

This is how it looked after I was done.  There was still a lot to clean, but with it being so near her eye and brain, I really didn't feel qualified to do extensive cutting and cleaning.

All bandaged up

This lady is only 38 years old

"VIEWERS DISCRETION ADVISED"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone gathering together, getting ready for devotions and prayer this morning.

Anita checking the stroke patient. He seems to be starting to talk more, and also has
movement, at least somewhat in hands and feet. Keep praying for his recovery and his soul.

This lady came in with her ugly infection, of course she doesn't come in regularly on her appointments and it's not really getting any better. My brother Tom is looking on. Wonder what he thinks? At home even as a paramedic he never sees anything like what he has seen here the last week or so.

It's important to take care of ones body, Jesus must live in it, and if we don't take care of it, how shoddy are we in taking care of the spiritual side of our lives?

This lady came in this morning with a horribly infected eye. I could smell the horrid smell
6 feet from her. A month ago she came in with a bug bite on it, but didn't return for
appointment. And this is what happened. Moldy, stinky, puss running out from it, and
flies flying none stop enjoying it all. Pray for the nurses who are dealing with it. 

Daniel the gate guard was sitting reading his Bible when I came out of the clinic. It's always a joy to see. God is at work in their lives and they are hungry for more of God. They often challenge me.

Amlodipine and Avocados

   This is a great time to come to our clinic. And there are reasons. For one, we aren't quite as busy as sometimes. That gives us time to think about how nice it is to have Amlodipine sitting on the shelves in our pharmacy for at least a few more days. I feel like I need to publicly rejoice because so many of my co-workers heard me publicly complain when we didn't have it. So, if you have blood pressure problems, I might dose you up with one of my favorite meds before I send you home. And that is an answer to prayer. It was donated through CAM.
   Since we aren't so busy, I had the chance to help with the check-up of these cute twins you see sitting on their friend's lap. Now, they ARE boys. Don't the pink cap and dress match wonderfully with their gender? Right now they are gaining some weight, but have some sort of rash in their mouths and a flaky skin condition that seems to be healing up. We've been trying to give a few supplements to the mom to keep them from entering the milk program.

   
     With Megan being gone, I have wondered how we will get all our pills split and divided. I just have to throw in a line of thanks for Tom Hofer and Katie Lapp here. They have driven themselves to near mental distraction patiently helping in the pharmacy on slower days. I don't think I will post a picture of them at that stage.
     On Thursday morning, Katie made a little run down to the clinic for an early morning call. An elderly gentleman was not responding well, and she wanted to investigate a bit. We think maybe we had a stroke going on there. He has been staying in our hospital room ever since on IV.

   
     Yesterday, the nurses got down on their hands and knees and did some real scrubbing on the waiting room floor, after the patients were finished. Fre Adolph even did a few scrubs to cheer me up.

   
     This morning our little mal-nutrioned patient showed up again, a week late for his appointment. He is actually looking a lot better, although still swollen. He weighed almost two kilograms less, which is a good sign. We just want to keep him and bathe him and feed him. But, well, how many hands do we have?

    So, yeah, come over some day. Because avocados are in season, and they make some mighty fine eating after a few hours of looking at wounds and meds...And they are actually very healthy for you, for those of you who are nutritionally minded....

Button, Button, Who Has the Button

Have you ever played that little game?  

Well, this little boy stuck a button up his nose! He came to the clinic yesterday, and Mis Leda, Tom Hofer, and the boy's mom held him down while I attempted the extraction.  It was a little hard to see as the nostril was red and so was the button, but I managed get a hold of it and pull it out.  We were all relieved!  

Little boy holding the button

One day recently I had a mother come to clinic with 5 of her children.  (One older boy who could explain his own sicknesses went to another nurse.)  The room was quite full!  They were a cute bunch.

Seems we've had a fair amount of malnourished cases come in lately.  This little fellow I think is around a year.  His older sister is pictured below.  She is the one with the abscess in her neck.  

Malnourished child

After bandaging her yesterday Katie gave her a new dress.  She was very pleased with it.  She yells and screams her little heart out while getting bandaged, but when she saw the dress she started saying, " Mwen dako; Mwen dako."  (I'm agreed; I'm agreed.)  They seem to be a rather pour family.  

Most of us don't know what real hunger and poverty are.  

 Below is a little girl who is 13 months old and only weighs 7 kgs (about 15 lbs.)  She hasn't gained, according to her dossier, since she was about 6 months old.  I asked her dad why he waited so long.  He said, well, she was fine, and then she started just laying around.  

It's hard to know what to do.  There is poverty and lack all around us.  How can we help the most?  So many people in need of food, clothes, and medical care--the basic necessities of life.  And so much greater the need for the love of Jesus in their lives.  

"Lord, make us instruments of Your love."  

Jon's brother Tom is here visiting for 2 weeks.  He is a paramedic in Manitoba so since we are short handed this week in the clinic he's been helping with vitals and in the pharmacy.  We are grateful for his help.  

After helping us for 4 months at the clinic, Megan when back to the States on Tues.  

Megan, thanks SO much for all your hard work.  We miss you!  

Monday Morning at the clinic, (By Jon)

   Usually I walk to the clinic after breakfast each morning to greet the staff before beginning my days duties, but this morning doctor Mallise had driven to his moms place with the four wheeler before clinic started and ran out of gas, as I drove out of the compound the wind carried the sound of singing and praying towards me, and something inside of me made me burst forth in song of joy and thankfulness. The singing and praying came from the clinic. As people gather for physical needs, the staff there, are focused on the spiritual needs and their goal is to spread the gospel.

   As I came walking up to the clinic gate I saw one of the brothers praying with one of the people there, and another brother was handing out gospel tracts and talking to people, still other staff were walking about greeting each other before the day begins. My heart was thrilled again when I heard the word, "merci" over and over again. What an perfect way to show Christ, what a blessed opportunity to be a light. One lady was sitting with a red rag tied around her waist. Often times they do it when they have pain in their tummy's but because this was red, I had to look and think twice, because red is the symbol of demonic influence. It makes my mind gears shift and grind a bit as I start praying for her and possibly others that are sitting their steeped in sin and under the yoke of bondage. When Christ makes us free we shall be free indeed!!! Pray for us that we may continue to use the clinic as a way to reach people from hours and hours hike away with the promise of a brighter future, (Jesus).

   We are short staffed this week, one of the Haitian nurses took a week of and one of the pharmacy staff as well, tomorrow Megan leaves us to go back to the US, and Doctor Mallise also leaves. So I got to learn how to do blood pressures this morning, but thankfully my brother is coming today from Canada for a couple weeks, he is a paramedic back home and will be able to help out while he's here. 

That's me taking patients blood pressure.

I noticed this cute face peeking out from under this over sized hat watching me, so I took
it of and here was this happy little girls chirping away, all happy. I don't think I've seen
more then a few children that were as content and happy as this one.

Sweet faces

Here is Mis Anita back again to give you a little glimpse into clinic life from my angle.  

Below is a sweet, healthy 6 month old baby boy with his mama.  He is her only child and she loves him dearly.  Now she seems to have some form of heart failure which makes life an extra challenge for her and her family.  She was going to T-Goave every 2 weeks for treatment.  Also since she's sick, she can't nurse the baby, and they were buying milk.  Both of those made an extra strain for the family financially which is primarily why they came to us. We were able help with the mother's healthcare and and medications.  Also we offered to sell them milk for the baby for less than cost.  That way we can help them without just giving all the milk.  

Happy faces

There are many sweet faces.  Some are happy faces, and they give us a lift for the day.  Others are sad--very sad--but none the less sweet.  This little boy is about 3 1/2 years old.  I don't remember exactly what he weighs, but it wouldn't really be an accurate gauge of how his health is.  When a child gets malnourished this bad, they swell up with fluid.  Once you start them on a good diet, they go down before they go up.  He is one of the worst cases I've seen.  We had given them some supplements back 2 months ago and an appointment to return which they missed by a LONG shot.  They were to return this week, and I've not seen them yet.   

Sad face

Although this lady doesn't have a smile on her face, it puts a smile on my face to see how well her and her baby are doing.  Her baby was born at the clinic on June 1st--the birth I almost fainted at, if you remember.  Then she returned about 13 days after the baby was born, and neither her or baby were doing well.  The baby wasn't nursing well, and she didn't have a lot of milk.  Because of that the baby had lost quite a bit.  With much diligent effort, the baby is now nursing well, and she has milk.  He weighed around 5 lbs 8 oz at birth, was down to 4 lbs something at 12 days old, last week was 5 lbs 9 oz or so, and today, a week later gained around another pound.  It's so exciting to see progress!

Little cutie!

Compare to the blog titled "A Wonderfully Normal Day" and see if you can even recognize him!

Just a little beauty outside my door