The Best Yet!

    Thursday morning started with a knock at the gate around 6:30...so you guessed it! A lady in labor. I went and had a quick check on her before clinic, and then came home for a bit of coffee...things seemed normal and progressive at that point.
   When I went back down to do a check-up on the lady again, I was a bit confused. Things seemed a little strange, but nothing really seemed wrong. Her vitals were great, and yet something seemed different than usual. I hardly thought about her fairly big measurements. They weren't extreme.
    Our clinic day continued...a rather hectic day for a Thursday...and then we just stayed on, coaching the mom, and hoping this baby wouldn't wait forever to be born. The mom was getting so tired of the wait, and so was the dad.
   "Can't you just give her Oxytocin?"
    At about 3:50 an adorable little girl baby popped out, just as I had told Whitney to set up the electric suction. The baby looked great. But, guess what! Something was still waiting to surprise us. I looked at Katie, and she looked at me. I said, "I think there is another baby in there!"
    And then the three of us were so sidetracked we hardly knew what to do. We laughed. We told the dad. He shook his head.  He raised his hands to heaven. Tears came washing into his eyes.
    We girls just laughed and watched and gasped and couldn't believe it. We were all going to witness a lovely double miracle. Our day was so exhilarating suddenly! But the mom wasn't sure.
   She had the work to do. So we whispered to the Grandma to speak encouraging words to her. And before long, the second adorable little girl was born, wriggling out from a very twisted cord, and fighting against shoulder dystocia, as she struggled to join her sister in the big, outside, surprised world.
    All I can say is that we couldn't stop smiling for the next 30minutes, at least. And I think I am still smiling now, as I write this. God is so good! What a gift!
 

Right Foot/Left Foot-In Foot/Out Foot

     "Wow, this looks like a nice, healthy baby," I was thinking when I pulled the blankets back. "I wonder why they called me outside."

     "She was just born last night," they told me. 

    I pulled off her socks next. And then I saw them. These feet. Or what are they? They ARE feet. Aww.

    So we are trying to make connections with a doctor in Port now, to see if any one in Haiti can help him. (And yes, this is a boy hidden under the pink dress....)

    And I must mention the bellyache boys. We have two of them in the hospital right now. The one seems to be recovering from an impacted bowel. The other one is still in observation. We aren't sure what he has. He just arrived a few hours ago. 

     And this boy, well, he just fell and really cut up his gum. A loose flap hung awkwardly from above his teeth. Katie lidocained him up, and cut that offending piece off. So don't make fun of his face. It hurts!

     

No More Smell + No More Maggots= PROGRESS!

Hi to you all!   I wonder what your day was like today...:)
It's been very rainy here the past few days, which we've been very grateful for 'cause we needed it!   I don't think all the clothes on the line needed it, but they should be extra clean after getting close to a dozen rinses!  :)   Something that's not so great about so much rain...we've had two cholera patients come within the last 24 hours- one last evening and another this morning.   The guys took both cases out to the clinic in Bases, which is set up for cholera.   Anyway,  hopefully that will be the extent of that!

We had a pretty busy day at the clinic today, especially considering how rainy it's been.   Usually that slows people down, but not today!   We had a good day though, without too much out of the ordinary.
You probably saw the recent blog posted on the older lady with the worm-infested wound...   If not, go back and see it so you can see how much better she is now!  :)     I think the most remarkable part of the progress right now is how much better it smells.  Or that is doesn't smell, rather! :]   

 

All bandaged up and good to go! We're really glad for her that it's healing so well and isn't giving her much pain anymore!  She was profusely thankful today and said she'll be back tomorrow, if God wills!  :)
(Nevermind the dates on the pictures.  They were taken just today!  I'll have to change some settings on my camara. :)
Hope you all have a blessed evening!
~Whitney

Those Little Clubbed Feet

 Remember this little fellow? Samuel is gaining well... going on 6 lbs! We're starting the process of getting the operation done for his tiny clubbed feet. We aren't sure what the exact cost will be but would like to raise support for him. If anyone is interested you can go to our contact page on the blog.

 This is little Samuel Senechal with his Father when they came in for his appointment today.

- Mis Katie

Angels Unawares

     I really don't know how they look-- Angels unawares. But I think they might look slightly like this sometimes. You know, some days you are having a hard time sensing God's timing and plan. And then, something like this happens. For some reason, it tells you very clearly that God is up there, and that things do not happen by accident with God. Ever. 

   I was walking down to clinic to grab some supplies for a shot we needed to administer Sunday night, and was planning on returning to the house in a few minutes. As I came from one direction, a lady in labor came from the other. 

   I decided I would welcome her in, give her a quick check up, and then run home to tell everyone what was up. Well, it wasn't meant to be. I got quite involved, and asked the one neighbor who had accompanied her into the room to go get a nurse for me. Apparently, something happened, and no nurse was coming. Well, then, before I knew the little angel had come...no time to wait for other nurses. I, for some reason, felt God was right there. I had time enough to get all the supplies I needed, but not enough to worry or stress. 

    And so, I wrapped the little baby up, and went out and asked the noisy children outside the gate if they couldn't please call Mis Whitney. They did, and before I knew it, the troops were present, including Mis Katie, who was too sick to be there.  I had plenty of people to help get everyone comfortable and cozied in for the night. 

A Multitude of Maggots

     The sun was bright and cheerful this morning as I stood at the clinic door and scanned the crowd of patients outside. My eyes rested on a tiny,white haired granny sitting towards the back. A swarm of insects buzzed around her head; her clothes were filthy and she smelled like infection. And rotten flesh. And something else I couldn't decifer. I flipped back her shirt and tried not to gasp at the protrusion of rotting flesh on her upper back. We took her into the clinic and laid her on an exam table.

     I grabbed gauze and a tweezers and slowly started removing the white globs of matter inside one of the holes. I gasped as a clump as big as a bouncy ball slipped out. It had the texture of a cheese curd... but mind you, it did NOT smell like one. ;) And then, after going back to dig again, I saw the crevice from which I had removed it was writhing with huge maggots. That's when I put on a mask. The smell of rotting flesh, mingled with the feeling of those writhing creatures in the grasp of my tweezers was enough to make me feel a lil woozy.

     The next hour was spent removing those 'clumps' of matter and then making a dive to remove the pocket of maggots underneath. Dolan shone our bright exam light onto the wound, and I saw a whole herd of little heads poke to the surface. Ro and I dumped peroxide and cut away dead flesh and grabbed at maggot heads and tried not to gasp or gross out too loud. ;)

     And I'll add a pic of this precious 2 month old baby boy that came in this morning. His skin was literally flaking off like the scales of a fish, and raw and bleeding under his ears and between his legs. He was so weak he could hardly cry out. We dosed him up with meds, spread cream over his entire little body, and dressed him in clean clothes.

 -Mis Katie

Life is Good-Especially if...

     I am looking for the Aunt to this baby. I thought the baby was cute...and was already taking a picture of her, when I really read what the shirt said. So if you are related, own up. We are looking for the priviledged AUNT.

     Yesterday we took a little ride out to Bassinguette again. Our dear sick friend Elvie had finally gotten her call to Heaven, and we wanted to visit with the family and attend the burial service.
     I will have a hard time expressing the emotions of our afternoon. You wanted to cry. You wanted to start crying because Elvie's husband was motioning to the tomb outside of their house with an empty, sad set of hands that showed Elvie was going to be put in there. He just wrung his hands and pleaded for hope. His daughter was wailing on a bench nearby, supported by a kind relative. We watched as the drunk husband tramped over to comfort his weeping daughter.
     "Miss Woda," she cried out when I joined her," I won't have a Mama again. She left me." I found myself crying...again.

      And then you needed to dab  your eyes one more time because the one Christian daughter was singing a church song with her head uplifted, eyes closed, and tears streaming down her face. But she had hope. She was bound for heaven. She would see her mother again.

     And then there was Mr. Lamont. We walked down a rustic little trail to find him. He was lying on a bamboo mat, swollen from his waist down. Poor man. He has a huge sore on each of his legs. We are hoping that his friends can carry him to the clinic before too long so we can give him some consistent care and get him back on his feet. If they cannot, we will try to send him meds and bandages to expedite his recovery.
     Tomorrow is another day. Life is good. We know it in our hearts, even if our faces don't show it!