The Barba Amarilla

Something stands out each week to make it different from the last. Was beginning to interview the last of the 6 students for the Nurses Aide class I begin On Feb. 8 when I got a call about noon to head for the ER. Found an 8 year old boy, Emin, from 3 hours up the mountain, VERY pale and agitated, with a bloody rag around his index finger, and dried blood from head to toe. He had been bitten by a poisonous snake, a Barba Amarilla, supposedly the day before, and arrived with a hematocrit of 10 (dying) and blood that would not clot, effects of the venom. We got 2 IV’s running, l for anti-venom and the other to transfuse blood. While we ran the antivenom, Norma donated a unit of blood, having been prepared just 18hours before to give blood for another patient that ended up not needing it. So that sped up the process and we had both blood and antivenom in by 7 pm, and the little fellow was asking for food and drink.
The story gradually came out that he had been bit Saturday, and grandpa used natural medicines to treat him, having had success in the past. When he began bleeding from ears and nose and vomiting blood, they called a family member in San Pedro who works at a hospital to travel the 7 hours and bring “suero” or IV solution to give him. That is the cure- all here. So there had been a 4 day- plus delay in seeking the hospital.
When I arrived early on Thurs and entered Emin’s room to check on him before going to my office, he was almost bright eyed. I was delighted to hear that the first need was to treat him for bad headlice and parasites- you only treat live boys for that! With all the loving on him we did, I suspect I need to buy a gallon of lice shampoo to pass around.
Like I frequently say, one doesn’t have time to adequately process one emotional event before jumping right into the next one. Early the same AM, Don Pedro, a gentle elderly man who had been carried by his granddaughters down the mountain in a hammock on Christmas Eve, had gone to be with the Lord. After being with us a month, all were very attached to him and there were many tears. So after leaving Enin in stable condition, 4 of us went into Balfate to the wake to visit with the many family members, and particularly with the granddaughter that works with us. Don Pedro and his wife had been together over 60 years.

Little Emin recovering!

Jan 24, 2010

Jan. 24, 2010 “When its all been said and done, there is just one thing that matters. Did I do my
best …did I live my life for YOU!”

Hm, first blog of the new year! This year’s Christmas eve call fell to John, so he(we) had a busy evening. Early in the evening, we received an elderly couple who were carried by their granddaughters in hammocks down the mountains, both very ill with malaria and other age-related problems. They were followed shortly by a young victim of a shooting. Amongst the celebrators in the nearby town of Lis Lis was someone who ended up shooting 2 men, neither of whom was brought to the hospital, but a third bystander (or by-rider) was the youth who was riding by on his bike and somehow was shot in the hip. Christmas day was the burial for the 2 deceased…a relative of the murderer appeared at the cemetery and was promptly dispatched in retaliation, a common game here. The hospital suffered personally as one of our employees is part of the same family, and she and her family had to flee to prevent also being victims of reltaliation. We thought we would have to replace her, but fortunately she was able to come back last week.

There was some heavy storming during the next few weeks, with the river being high enough on 2 Sundays to prevent us going to church. One of these Sundays, the housekeeper for the hospital had crossed the flooded river early in the AM, about chest height, not being able to swim. When I found out, I told her I would be there to take her out to the river to cross at the end of her shift, just as a way to thank her for how determined she’d been to get to work on that Sunday. We arrived at the fastmoving stream to find it still uncrossable by vehicle. We waited for a chance to see what others were doing and presently a man and child took off their shoes, tied them around their necks, and the wee fellow was put on dad’s back. Marta did the same with her shoes and followed close to him so as to be able to grab him if she fell. Another older gentleman was having trouble deciding how to cross, not wanting to get himself wet. He had a large piece of tarp with which he was wrapping himself, but couldn’t figure out how to hold on to his backpack and also keep a hand at his chin to keep himself covered with the tarp. Then he decided to take off his long pants to keep them dry. This he did while trying to keep himself from being exposed, but he wind was brisk. He had his pants wadded up under his armpit, but his pack kept sliding down his arm and he would drop the tarp in trying to rescue his pack. So I finally stepped in and offered to roll up his pants and put them in the backpack, put the pack over both his arms, covered him and it with the tarp, and bid him a safe crossing. I sure wish I had had a camera, as was hard to keep from chuckling.

New Years Eve day, I believe it was, we had a frank breech deliver in the hospital. Rare here for one to be born live. One of our employees, an LPN, had had to coerce the patient, her sister, to come to the hospital, as she had seen the signs of it being in trouble. If it were not for her, I believe the outcome would not have been so healthy. This wee one was born with a very bruised bottom, and its little legs kept springing back up straight alongside its ears from the long time in this position intrauterine. Hard to even get a diaper on it! We praise God for the good outcome! Dr. McKenney accidentally got caught with catching this one, as he made the mistake of coming into his office on the holiday and heard a bit of commotion in the ER! He was relieved to see John returning from his trip to the city in time to finish up the job!

Last weekend we escaped on Thursday to make a trip to San Pedro, part vacation and part our desire to pick up Christine, the new lab director from the US. We have known her and corresponded since her first visit here 4 years ago, and John’s communicating was what landed her here amongst us to fill this much-needed position. Poor Christine arrives to find that one of the 3 employees that keep the lab running is leaving so one of her first jobs will be tackling the need for his replacement.

Last Sunday, Rosmery, a beautiful young lady who first came to Loma de Luz as a scrawny patient whose hand had been damaged in a grain grinder, spent the day with us. After several surgeries and long stays in our pediatrics ward, Rosmery had come to live with Saundi and Kenton Brown, our neighbors, as a foster child. There Saundi taught her English, and homeschooled her, getting her ready to enter Teachers College about 3 hrs away. She now spends her time in the Children’s Center when in our area, and right now is home on vacation from her school. Was such a joy to see how she has matured, how deeply spiritual she still is, so much fun to have around. She came to church with us last PM to play guitar with us. She has only a semblance of a thumb on that right hand, and uses an apparatus to strum the keys, but makes a joyful noise unto the Lord.
I made an off-schedule trip to the city Wednesday with Joni, who just celebrated his 12th birthday, who is helping our gardener out during his vacation from school to earn money for some life essentials. He had already earned money to pay for a guitar case I got him to house the guitar donated by a friend in the states. Now he had money in his pocket to buy a school uniform and some supplies. First we had to have his eyes checked, which was a 3 hour ordeal, and ended with finding they could not correct his vision completely as he has bad nystagmus, or eye wiggling. but she fitted him with a nice frame and sent them off to the lab to be picked up next time I'm in the city. Friends had given us $50 to help toward his guitar months ago, and the case was only $10 so had $40 left. When the secretary asked who would be paying the bill, I just nodded at Joni, and he grinned.The Dr. asked if Joni could afford 800 Lempiras- exactly the $40 remaining for him. So the Lord took care of that whole bill, leaving Joni's saving account with $ for the dresser he wants and some church pants. When someone asked Jonie about his eye exam, he reported that they had been unable to correct his eyes, couldn't make him glasses and had filled his eyeballs with air!" Something got lost in the translation!

Returned home to celebrate John’s 61st birthday while our friend, Sandy, was here from Tulsa. She is the anesthetist that comes regularly to help with the surgeries, and so we celebrated 2 days early to include her. Had 2 other couples here, and I recreated the menu of the first birthday John celebrated with me 35? years ago. Tho he got called out to the hospital during dinner, it was still a good time.

This past Friday , about 18 Community Health Promoter “wannabees “ arrived on campus for the day to assess their interest to begin the 3 yr long course. John had been told by the coordinator 6 hrs from here that if he could find a goodly number of interested people, she would begin a course here, with quarterly meetings of 3 days. We have made 4 trips this past year with the 4 trainees from here, to participate in the course near the capital, so this will be a big time saver. I taught a 2 hour community CPR course for them, and we hosted Dr. Gabby and her assistant, Lucy for the 2 nights. They felt like the gathering was a good start and so we will kick off the official program in early march. Yeah!

Weather has gone from a frigid low of 63 degrees back up to sweaty hot again. Yesterday, don’t know if it was the weather change or what, but about the time Rosmery and I were preparing to make chocolate chip cookies, we had a major ant invasion, of 3 different species at the same time! After battling them with towels and spray for a few minutes, we gave up and radioed for help. 2 men responded within a minute or two and stayed, each armed with Raid and a ladder, until it looked like the battle was calming a bit. We let the spray dry til John arrived home from the city, and then he did most of the sweeping into piles and sucking up in the vacuum. It was gross…even in the bedding and the pillows, between pages in the Bible, etc. An interesting day, but not the chocolate chip cookies I’d intended!

Another delivery, the father is a hospital employee. This one was caught by Dr. Rene!