Another house call...

  It has probably been a little over two weeks since we heard about a young man with such a bad sore on his leg that he couldn't get on a moto to come to the clinic. One afternoon Todd, Donna (his wife), Keith and I got into Todd's machine to go to this boys house. We didn't really know what this wound was from, only knew that he had a large wound, so packing a box of supplies to take with us was a guessing game. We could drive almost all the way to this house also, just had to walk a few minutes. We found a decent house with cement floors and walls. In the one bedroom was a 16 year old boy on a small bed. The house didn't have electricity and we went in the afternoon after clinic so it was pretty dark in the house. Luckily I have a flashlight on my phone that we could use to see his wound. It was on the back side of his leg just below the knee. It had apparently started as a blister then progressed possibly into an abscess that had already drained large amounts. Now it was a big hole. It didn't look infected really but did have some deep places especially on the sides. We cleaned it and put a dressing on it then gave him some antibiotics and pain medicine. We left a few dressing supplies at the house too for the mom to change the dressing in a couple days. We really thought for this wound to heal properly though this boy would need to go to the hospital and get it cleaned out good and the dead tissue cut away. So we took some pictures of the wound and sent the pictures to a Dr who coordinates surgeons, etc...from other places that will come to Haiti periodically. There was an orthopedic doctor coming in about a week who could do surgery on this wound so we set them up an appointment and everything... And thought that wound would be taken care of. But the family didn't take the boy to the appointment. So, several days later the family again wonders if we can do anything to help them? They say the wound has gotten a lot better with antibiotics and more frequent dressing changes. I'm sorry, we had things set up to help them when the surgeon was here, now he is gone ...
    There is a family here where the grandmother has two of her daughters and their children living in her home. The one daughter has had a lot of problems since having her children. Her one little girl is probably three years old and her other little girl is nine months old now. Their mother is unable to even take care of herself at this point so the grandmother has her hands full. They come to the clinic often it seems like. The children always seem to have coughs and colds and are malnourished. We give them rice almost every time they come. I have been worried about the baby for several months now. She simply isn't gaining weight, rather she is slowly losing weight. When I asked the family if they were giving the baby the food we sent home with them I never could get a direct answer.  Now this little girl is nine months old and weighs nine pounds. She used to be able to sit up by herself but I don't think she can anymore. She has had numerous antibiotics etc... Finally I told Keith that if we don't do something this baby is going to die. Our church has an orphanage in Ganthier so Keith said he would talk with them. They accepted her! So two days later she goes to the orphanage. Now I know she will get good food and enough of it, I just hope we didn't get her there too late. They say she doesn't know how to drink from a bottle and besides she is too weak for that anyway. They have had to feed her with a medicine dropper so that all she needs to do is swallow and she still tires very easily.
      Last Friday was a very eventful day here! It started out normal until a lady came in in labor. She has four children already so didn't expect any problems.  She wasn't quite ready to push yet so we had her walk a while then started an IV to give her some fluid. When she was closer we gave her some pitocin. Not too long after this we suspect problems. She just isn't advancing like she should. So we check her again, and something feels different! We think the baby is breech and instead of a round head we are feeling a round baby butt. We get the Doppler out and confirm the baby's head is not down. Ok, so, in the U.S. this news would probably mean an automatic c-section. Actually a c-section would probably already be scheduled because from ultrasounds, etc... They would know the baby is breech. What now?  Trevor and Mirlene were planning on going down to Port so they go home to prepare to go, and if the baby hasn't been born before they leave they will take this lady down to the hospital also. Meanwhile, the mom is still having contractions and we think maybe we are getting a little closer. We try changing the moms position to see if that will help. It doesn't. The baby is too far down to change its position, and the mom is in pain. Remember, we don't have epidurals here...
After much drama and stress the baby's body is slowly born, but then the baby is stuck again. Her whole body has been born except for her head... And it is stuck! We try everything we can think of plus whatever hairbrained idea comes into our heads that we think possibly might work... To no avail... We even did an episiotomy but still the baby wouldn't be born. By now we are afraid that the baby won't be alive. But we can't really send the mom down like this! Finally, after many prayers and more sweat than I've lost any other day since I've been in Haiti, the baby is born. We suction out her nose and mouth but she doesn't have a heartbeat , so we let her go. It seems if she would have lived she surely would have had brain damage from lack of oxygen. Only God knows...
This paragraph really doesn't do justice to all that did happen that day...
     Saturday it started raining. It is supposed to be rainy season now but has been very dry. Cisterns were getting empty, crops failed etc... It rained off and on all day Saturday then all day Sunday and now off and on today. It has been wonderful! Now our cistern is only a few inches from overflowing. But rain here takes life to a totally different level. There were only a handful of people in church in the morning and we didn't have church in the evening. Many people have to walk and not near everyone is able to afford a pair of boots. Plus, the mud here is very slippery. A four wheel drive is a must for some of these hills. And pretty much the only umbrellas I've seen belong to the "whites". Several of the clinic workers didn't even show up today, I'm sure because it was raining. We had few enough patients show up that we didn't have to go back after lunch.
   This weekend the children's school teacher will be coming and it is Sallie's wedding...