One Hundred Thirty-Four

-That's the number of maggots that Whit pulled out of an ulcer on a little old man this afternoon.

We all started noticing a  rather offensive odor creeping into the clinic this afternoon.  Lo and behold, "Whit's little man" had shown back up, smelling quite strongly of rotting flesh.  He had been coming to the clinic for dressing changes on an ulcer on his lower back that he had in January, and we always liked to tease Whit about her "special friend". :o) He had been fairly faithful in coming every other day, but we didn't think that it would be able to heal without the granulated tissue that had built up around it removed.  Steve came down to the clinic on the last day of January, explained this to him, and arranged a ride out to town for him the next day.  I guess he freaked out.  He never never came back.

Until today, that is.  While he waited for the exam table to be free, Miss J trailed in his wake, spraying air freshener in an attempt to cover the smell- which resulted in a much worse smell as the two scents combined.

When I finally finished the bandage job that I had been working on, and the room was free, Whit called him back to take her first look at his ulcer in close to two months.  We debated whether or not to actually post a picture, because it, quite frankly, is nasty.  So, please, if nasty pictures make you sick and you want to eat supper, don't look at this picture too closely.  Because if you do, you might see all the tiny little maggot heads (or tails- I really don't know which they are) that are hanging out in there.  It's a little disturbing.

Mis Whitney pulled out maggot after maggot with her tweezers....then did her best to clean it with peroxide, iodine, and sterile water.  There were so many little crevices around the edges that it was very difficult to find and remove all the maggots and then clean the crevices out.

And, finally, the bowl with the maggots in it....

We were thrilled when Pastor Levi, who was up at the church and was heading back out to town, agreed to take the dear little man along.  We were even more thrilled when the dear little man agreed to go, and then actually went.  I guess he realized that he really did need more help than we could give him here...so now we can only hope and pray that the doctors at the hospital can give him the help that he needs.  

Have a fantastic weekend, and God bless y'all!

-Kindra

And so Our Week Begins...

It's amazing how quickly Monday rolls around again.  I'm just glad that I have a job that I can actually look forward to going back to, rather than dread it.

We were introducing a new prenatal form today, and Kate suggested that we use the occasion to get a group photo of all the nurses at the clinic, so here we are, ready to start another week of playing doctor, pharmacist, and counselor. 

While I was out front in the waiting area cooing over a (completely adorable) baby, the man sitting next to her asked me to look at something.  When he moved the towel that he had wrapped around his shoulders, I could see the large abscess protruding from the side of his neck.  Consequently, as soon as his consultation was over, I found him lying on the table with Mis Katie and Mis Whitney preparing to open and drain the abscess.  The few times I popped in the room, the stench was astounding, and enough to make me almost happy that I was too busy to stay and watch. :o)

 Rho and I were in a bit of a flurry over the same time with a young boy in the hospital room who's oxygen levels had dipped down close to the sixties.  We put him on oxygen for a bit, but that didn't seem to bringing his levels up as quickly as we would have liked, and neither did the inhaler that we tried.  Our nebulizer was back at the mission house, so I ran down to meet Steve's dad at the gate to get it to try giving him a treatment with it.  Twenty minutes later, his oxygen levels- while still not good- were staying in the low nineties to eighties without an oxygen mask.  We weren't certain of his diagnosis, though Rho suspected typhoid, but the decision was made that he would be able to get better treatment at a larger facility, so he was sent out this afternoon.

Rhoda was on call this afternoon when a young man that had had an incident involving a machete and his left pinkie came in.  She called back to the house to see if I would like to come try my hand at stitching for the first time.  I replied that I would very much like, and headed back down to the clinic.  I got a glimpse into what kind of teacher Rhoda must have been, as she coached me through the sutures, and I was duly impressed.  I also discovered that I thoroughly enjoy sewing people's fingers back up. :o)

Thank you all for your prayers and support...we would not be able to do what we do without them.  God bless you all, and have a fantastic week. 

-Kindra

Happy Little Things

    "Good-morning, Weelie! What's up?"

     I had to keep touching him to be sure that he was real. This little bouncy boy was a preemie baby, at death's door just ten months ago...and now he is happy and fat. Today he came in with a Candidiasis infection and we treated him for that. I am already looking forward to his rendezvous when I get a good excuse to hold him again. His mom, who is mentally slow, just sits there and smiles as we rave over the miracle of Weelie's life.
    And you should meet our other day brightener patient- a thin, little, old man. He has an abscess on his neck, and doesn't want to go out to town, away from his little grand-children, to get help. We told him we can give him a Ceftriaxone shot every day, if he would like to try that method of treatment instead. This week, he is living with a friend, so he can come every day, because it takes him all day to walk to his house and back if he goes the whole way home.

    I pity him. He said when he got sick, his wife left him and he got little. We like to give him a small can of milk every day, and he just loves it.
     Cheers for Whitney! She performed her first stitch job today. I must say she did a very competent job. I am excited about all her progress in the last couple weeks!
   

   
        Have a great evening, everyone! God bless- Mis Woda

The Sad Suffering...

  ...of the very old and the very young always seems most unfair. Like this little guy who had one of the saddest faces I've ever seen. His eyes, his skin, and his tiny limbs all spoke of terrible disease...or was it terrible neglect? Or both? His eyes were so strangely stretched open he couldn't close them all the way. He managed to squeak out a few weak cries as I bathed him and rubbed cream into his chapped body.We sent him to town for tests and continued care.

 This poor old man came in this morning...just a few months too late. He had hurt his finger in his garden and totally neglected it till now.  It was swollen huge and full of rotten holes running with pus. Ro stuck a lollie pop into his mouth to try to distract him from the terrible pain as my applicator went straight through the side of his finger and out the other side.

 

 

 

...And here's a sweet new baby that came FAST last night for Mis Ro and Kindra. :)

 

Have a blessed day everyone! -Mis Kate

 

 

 

 

 

 

Careful with hammers, folks!!

Jean Franz' foot, today. For you folks that have expressed interest in helping with his skin grafting, we did have contact with a potential hospital today. They are looking into possibilities and we should know soon what the options are! So keep praying about that.

Vision problems

This man fell down while working in the garden. A stalk of pitimi, or millet, entered under his eye and pushed at an angle right up into his eyeball itself, we believe! Ouch!!!
We couldn't do much other than clean and bandage the surface cuts, and give him a ride to town for a doctor visit. It didn't look good for the poor man's eye. But pray more that God would use this to bring him to Christ, he's not a believer.
>

If You're Happy and You Know It, Stomp Your Feet

     What a good day. As the sun disappears behind the hills, I know that it was good. For a lot of reasons. But wait until you see this picture.

 

  "In the Name of Jesus," Jean Franz chanted as he waved his leg and did his physical therapy exercises. It was so good to see him bouncing around and in good spirits. No tears today! His leg is continually making new skin, and he seems to be fighting infection quite bravely, although we know that the possibility of infection beginning is just around the corner at any time. "In the Name of Jesus", healing can happen, though. That part is thrilling. Later  today we pulled out some crutches to help him stomp his happy foot a bit more, and get some outside fresh air more often.

     I think I also need to tell you about yesterday. Because, well, because I am celebrating Kate's first delivery of a newborn! Unluckily, we lost a lot of sleep over it, but since it was an adorable, healthy baby girl in the end, we kind of forgave them all for that. Kate named the little thing Lovena before they left this morning.

 
   A man on crutches appeared in our clinic today. He had an open fracture from an accident he was involved in during the month of August. If he never gets help, he will be on crutches for the rest of his life. I hope we can find someone with a heart and the skill to rebreak it for him, and help him get back on his feet.

 
  Today we had a lot of visitors at clinic. About 7 Americans came to tour our facility in hopes of starting a new clinic in another area of the Haitian hills. I think it is exciting! So there, that's part of my good day. Have a good evening yourself! -Mis Woda