Fun in the Mud

I wouldn't exactly classify our missionary kids here as the type to tip-toe through the mud, trying not to get their pants or shoes dirty. They are much more likely to run around barefoot and find a nice muddy hill to slide down! Somehow I got drug into one of these adventures, though I had the brains not to fling myself down the muddy slope myself. You might think these were some of the young boys, running around getting dirty...nope. It was the girls! We all walked up the muddy road to the "perfect" very steep hill of mud and they flung themselves down it over and over. If only they had a toboggan or even a good trashcan lid to slide down on, I may have tried it. But alas, my bum is not as young as it used to be...:)

After they had giggled and screamed themselves hoarse with glee and gotten themselves completely covered in the slippery red mud, they decided I was much too clean. By the time we got back down the road, one of the Mom's said, "oh, Renee, I'm surprised you went down it!". When I told her I hadn't, she didn't believe me because I was covered in mud from head to toe!

Flood Aftermath

The flooding here in October was pretty incredible. At least for me. It was intense for a while, but now things are getting back to normal. Thank the Lord there wasn't nearly as much permanent damage to the villages as there could have been. People spent a lot of time digging mud out of homes and some of the mud huts collapsed, but people seemed to band together and help each other initially. Since all the bridges were out for nearly 2 weeks, people were running short on their food supply. We thought they were getting plenty of supplies through a government organization that was bringing in helicopters to drop food. However, we quickly realized that only the political and strong among the villagers were getting the food. Distribution was not organized, so the young, fast and healthy got what they wanted and the poor, feeble and hungry were left at the back of the lines with nothing. Our missionary community organized to assess needs in the different communities around us and help with appropriate distribution of the resources as well as some donations of our own. When the bridges were finally repaired there was a mass exodus for the city!

It is wonderful to have electricity and water and actually have my food in my own house rather than in one of the refrigerators running off the hospital generator. It had a real community feel though for all the missionaries to come to the worship center at the hospital to get their food from the community fridges. Many of us ate there as well. Eating by candle light loses its charm pretty quickly! :)

I had the distinct privilege of crossing two fast flowing rivers in a very tiny dugout canoe. My friend Daron came to visit and even though he delayed his flight by a few days, the bridges were still not usable. So, I climbed into the tiny canoe that only stuck out of the water about 2 inches. I practically held my breath the entire way, I was so afraid to move and flip the canoe over. Then I had a mile walk to calm my nerves before climbing into an even smaller canoe for the next river! :)

There are many patients with colds, but not at many serious infections as I anticipated. We'll see about the Malaria and Dengue! There are mosquitos hatching everywhere. :( We've had to cancel our medical outreach to the Cayos Cochinos Islands twice already due to the weather. We are going to try again the beginning of December if the ocean is calmer.

There are lots of photos here. These pics probably aren't that impressive if you don't know what it used to look like, but here they are anyway. The building with a huge hole in it is the Baptist church in a village nearby. The pic of the huge roots is a massive tree in the middle of a river. The pic of the woman walking toward her hut shows where her banana tree crop used to be. I went up to our favorite swimming hole and barely recognized it. Where a jungle path had been there were just rocks and a couple trees left standing. The water had overflowed its bank so much that it ripped out all the trees and undergrowth for about 20 feet above the banks. Some HUGE boulders were out of place and where there were lovely rocks, there is now sand; where there was a sandy beach, there are now tons of rocks. Incredible what a lot of water moving really fast can do!

Tears From Heaven

I wrote the following description right after attending the funeral of 12 year old Karen who died of bone cancer:

We drove solemnly up the windy road, climbing the hill outside the city. Humble homes were stacked on the hillsides and vegetation dripped down the sides of the cliffs. Soon we joined the crowd of mourners standing in the muddy streets all around Karen’s house. We were ushered inside the tiny living room where the small black coffin sat, covered with flowers. The coffin was so small, coffins should not be that small. A life ended too soon.

Karen’s older sister clung to the coffin, wailing in grief. Karen’s mother entered the room, her face puffy from crying. Fresh tears streamed down her face when she saw our small group from the hospital. I held her tight and we both sobbed for the loss of her 12 year old daughter. She thanked us over and over for all that was done at the hospital to treat Karen’s bone cancer. She said that in Karen’s last days, when the cancer that had metastasized to her lungs made breathing difficult, she begged her family to take her back to Loma de Luz hospital, to her doctor. We wept fresh tears.

There were prayers and songs and tears. Then the long wake to the cemetery. Hordes of students came. There were children weeping everywhere, crying out for their beloved classmate. So young for such pain and grief. The coffin was so small…

As they prepared to place the coffin inside the tomb, Karen’s mother threw herself on the coffin, screaming, “ I want to touch her one more time! Just one more time, my baby!”. Karen’s sister fainted, her brother collapsed to his knees in tears. Off to the left there was a young voice crying out, “I miss her so much! I miss my friend!” I looked over to see a young boy in his blue and white school uniform, clutching his mother, tears streaming down his face. I scanned the crowd of mourners as the rain began to fall gently. There was not a dry eye in the crowd. Soon raindrops were mingling with the tears streaming down people’s faces. It was as if even the heavens were grieving the loss of this young life.

This funeral was so sad, but I’m very glad I chose to attend. It was very different from funerals in the States. In Latin culture there is no one telling you, “hush, don’t cry” or “be strong” or “it will be OK”. There is no one expecting you to “hold it together”. Latinos cry and wail and lament the loss in very physical ways. They actually let their emotions out and I think they grieve in a healthier way than we do. In the midst of grieving the loss of their little girl, this family was also praising God for the life Karen had lived and the lives she had touched. They wailed and screamed that they wanted her back, yet they said prayers of thanksgiving that she was happy with her Lord, her suffering was over. They thanked God that someday they would see her again in heaven, happy and whole, smiling beside her Savior.

Attack Dog

Tonight when Jasmine climbed onto my lap on the couch, she happened to stretch up and look at herself in the mirror on the wall. Talk about freaking out! She was in attack mode! She started barking, hair standing on end and she nearly lunged for the wall. (of course the dog on the wall was barking back at her, so she was naturally upset…) I pulled her down so she couldn’t see herself, but she kept trying to get up. She was sniffing the air and barking….I nearly peed my pants I was laughing so hard. Finally I put her on the ground and she ran to the window, then the door, then sniffed all around under the mirror and tried to look up into the mirror above her head. I was still rolling with laughter and trying to get her to calm down. Finally she decided the threat was over, but for ten minutes, she would still give the occasional growl in the direction of the mirror. :)

October Floods

We have had some crazy rain this week. I was sure we were in the middle of a hurricane. This storm has actually caused more flooding and damage than former hurricanes! The flooding caused all the rivers we know of to overflow their banks, and many ran right through the middle of villages. So many homes have been flooded and filled with mud. Crops like banana trees have been flattened by the rushing water and we are all isolated from the city and from one another by the overflowing rivers. Two of the main bridges between us and the city are uncrossable and people are starting to go across in little canoes. Kinda dangerous with the fast-moving water! We have been out of power all week and they are working frantically to get the power lines back up. We had no water for a few days, so we had to gather water in buckets outside but now our system is working again. Thankfully, they had just filled the diesel tanks for the hospital generator so we were able to move freezers and fridges into the hospital areas to keep our food from spoiling.

We have been very blessed with our dedicated employees who have hiked through mud and forged rivers to get to work. Then we are challenged with treating the few patients who can actually make it here and making sure it is safe for them to go back home.

We still do not know what devastation has occured in the mountains. Here on the coast, only a few homes have been completely washed away. But with the mudslides we are having here, we can only imagine how many homes have slid down the muddy mountains, leaving their inhabitants homeless, wet and cold. We pray for their safety and our wisdom to help them when we can.

Delivery!

Friday, Oct. 17, 2008

We had a delivery early this morning! She was a lovely patient that I had seen many times for prenatal care. She came in the middle of the night because she was having some bleeding and was scared. That turned out to be fine, but when her water broke there was thick meconium and it was my turn to be scared! Luckily, I had a very experienced OB nurse with me (thanks Amber!) and I called John down as well in case there was trouble with the baby. I can't tell you what a difference it makes to work with a nurse who actually knows what she is doing...and is good at it!!! Our Honduran nurses are really sweet, but when it comes to OB, I have to hold their hands and tell them every little thing to do.

Everything turned out great, and as you can see in the photos, Mom and Dad were beaming!!! Three of their six other children were there as well and treated their new little sister like a new baby doll. They were thrilled! So, needless to say, this was a very fun day for me!

Girls Night

We had a birthday party/sleepover at my place and what a blast! I invited all the MK girls over and we made pizzas, had cake, played sharades until we couldn't laugh any more, and then cuddled up on my bed and floor to watch a chick flick.

During the movie there were 6 of us on my bed. However, they all wanted to stay there to sleep all night. I swear, they are like a pack of puppies, they just lay all over each other. I'm great with that while movie watching or hanging out, but sleeping is another matter! So, Catie and I slipped out and slept in a different room and had beds all to ourselves.

It was a great time to reconnect after most of them had been gone all summer. I've really missed those girls and it's great to have them back!

Don't wear flip flops in the mud

One of the most important lessons I have learned this week is that you should never wear flimsy flip flops in thick mud that is stickier than molasses. It makes for great difficulty in walking.

Norma and I went up to the mountains to meet with a community health nurse about an upcoming outreach to the mountain villages nearby. It had been raining for 4-5 days and there was plenty of mud everywhere! The car had no problems, but my feet were not so good! I had worn my lovely flip flops that rinse off easily, thinking we would be walking through a river and I didn't want to get my boots wet. Unfortunately, our trek led us down a very sticky red clay road and up a cow trail covered with cow patties and slick mud. About 10 steps from the car Norma did a classic "slipped on a banana peel" maneuver and landed square on her bottom. Once we could contain our giggles and move on, I started leaving a flip flop behind with nearly every step! My foot would sink completely into the mud and the suction wouldn't let me pull the flip flop out! It was very frustrating and made for slow progress! Where there were no obvious sticks and rocks, I just went barefoot and squished through the manure laden mud, trying to imagine that I was actually getting a very expensive mud treatment that was very good for my skin! :) I have to admit that on more than one occasion, Norma and I mistook a soft squishy cow patty for a solid rock and rather than finding a stable foothold, found ourselves sliding back down the hill. Ick! Unfortunately, all that trekking through mud was to no avail because the river was too high to cross and the nurse was not able to come meet us. We'll have to try again next week, this time with proper footwear!

This photo is after I had washed off my feet. I was actually covered in red clay up to my ankles most of the time! And you should have seen the splashes of mud on our backsides and even in our hair!!!

Swimming lessons

Many of you may remember the story of a girl in a little white dress who was sexually abused by a man with HIV. Praise God, her 3 month test came back negative for HIV!!! That is such great news! We still have to check again at 6 months, but this is very encouraging. Little Maria actually seems to be doing quite well in spite of all that has happened to her. She is doing well living at the Children's Center and attending school. I had the chance to take her and some of the other kids from the Children's Center to the beach and the river this summer. When we were at the beach, she wouldn't go out deep and play with the other kids and she told me that she had never learned to swim. So, when we went to the river, I took some floaties for her and we spent some time learning to swim. Jasmine was a great example. I didn't even have to try to explain the doggy paddle, she just had to imitate the dog! When she was in clinic getting her HIV test done this week, she ran up to me excitedly and asked when we were going to the river again. She is ready for another swimming lesson!

Swinging from vines

This is an email I wrote to my Mom a while back and I thought I would share it!

Today clinic was pretty busy and I got out late again. I ran into Hannah (10 yo) on the road and she wanted me to come over and swim in their water hole. So, I but on my suit and went over. They have dug out a huge hole in the middle of their stream and dammed it up so they can swim in it. Its pretty cool, out in the jungle, completely covered over by trees and lotsa vines hanging down that the kids swing on and drop into the water. The last two times I've been there I just swam a little and watched them climb the trees and swing from vines. This time they really wanted me to drop into the water but I hate jumping into water from that high, so I kept making excuses. Usually 5 feet is about my limit! Then they got the main vine all stuck up in a tree and I was relieved. Unfortunately, we somehow ended up making the deal that if they got the vine out of the tree, I would swing on it. So, with renewed vigor, Gabe and Hannah spent 20 minutes throwing things up into the tree and then finally climbing up on a very precarious branch to rescue the swinging vine. I was very sad. :(

I had to keep my end of the bargain, so I climbed up the muddy embankment, over the tree roots and grabbed onto the vine. I stood there for a while looking way down at the water thinking I had lost my mind. Then sudddenly a push from behind and I was flying through the air, screaming at the top of my lungs. The water loomed below and I had no idea where the deep part was to let go! So, I just let go and landed in a quite shallow spot, hitting my butt on the rocks! It didn't really hurt, just shocked me a little. So apparently this fall dislodged the sense from my brain because I promptly climbed back up the muddy hill and swung again and again until I finally landed in the deeper part. I swear, these kids are a bad influence on me! I felt like I was in a Tarzan and Jane movie, very fun!

Karen

When you see a man of strength, a man of leadership and power, a skilled surgeon, turn away from an xray, walk to the end of the room and hang his head, then turn back with tears in his eyes...you either have to turn away or start balling your eyes out. I chose to turn away for a moment.

Normally, when I realize that a young child has metastastatic cancer and is going to die, I would feel sorry for the child and her mother. However, in that moment, I felt more sorry for the strong man with tears in his eyes who had yet to explain to this poor family who had already suffered so much, that their precious little girl was going to die.

Karen has a long sad story of cancer in her leg that was not removed until very late because the family kept waiting, refusing surgery, praying for a miracle. This surgeon had pursued the family, talked with them, prayed with them, cared for this waif of a girl and finally removed her left leg. Once, I even saw him climb onto an old bus packed with people in the middle of a rainstorm to take a look at this girl's leg when her mother recognized us in the line of cars waiting to cross a flooded river. That's what I call going beyond the call of duty!

After the amputation, little Karen had a slow recovery and was very depressed but finally learned to walk with crutches and soon was dropping by the hospital with her Mom and a radiant smile to visit her friends. Everyone knows her and her story and we were so relieved when her parents finally brought her for the amputation.

However, when she arrived today with pain in her chest and an xray showing cancer in her lungs, it seems that all this care and fighting to save her was for nothing. Or was it? Her Mom still has a smile and still praises God for the care their surgeon gives her daughter and for the life her daughter has had. Maybe she doesn't understand my medical mind ponders. But, then again, maybe she does and she is trusting God with the life of her little girl.

Respect the signals

Every time I drive home from getting groceries in the city, I pass this sign out in the country. It says, literally, "Respect the Signals" or follow traffic signs. It is actually in the middle of nowhere. There are no cross streets or villages nearby. No stoplights, stopsigns, yield signs...not even a cattle crossing sign. Just fences and cattle as far as you can see. I've decided this is a joke. Some Honduran stole this from the city and put it up here by his field so he can laugh at the silly Gringos who drive by and frantically look around for signals that aren't there. :)

Modern Art

Some of you may be familiar with the phenomenon of buying old furniture or "antiques" and putting one in your front yard and turning it into a flower bed. The most popular is of course an old bed to make a flower bed out of. Then there is modern art which often turns familiar shapes or objects into something new or unexpected. Now, most of you know I'm not the hugest fan of modern art or old furniture in your yard, but I think this piece above really has something going for it. As you look at the next two photos you'll notice the great use of form, the careful distortion of the front end, the touch of rust, the beautifully manicured vines, the open door inviting you enter in and experience the jungle in a truck...a work of art!!!

Toxic fuzz

This may look like just a piece of fuzz. Or when you see that it is actually a tiny worm with a fuzzy fro, you may think it is kinda cute. Well, the young boy with a bright red, stinging rash on his arm didn't think it was too cute! Apparently it has a chemical on the end of its hairs that causes an allergic reaction in most people with terrible itching and burning for a couple days. So, beware the cute fuzzy creatures when out in the jungle!

Since I'm in the medical mode, I guess I'll put up some other pics of cool stuff. This is a lady with a bad Leishmaniasis infection on her leg. Nothing like a tropical parasite to eat a hole in your leg! That tropical medicine studying in London comes in handy in cases like this!














This is probably the worst case of tinea capitus I have ever seen. For the non-medical among you, this little girl has a severe fungal infection on her scalp.


On a happier note....this is a young lady that I followed throughout her pregnancy for prenatal care in the clinic. She brought in her baby for a checkup after a home delivery. He was doing well and eating like a champ!







This is one of our nurses Penny. No, she is not working in the barber shop. She is cutting the blood-matted hair away from the huge gash on this patient's scalp so I can sew it up!

A trip to the mountains

A visiting doctor and his family really wanted to go up to the mountains and visit some of the villages there. Since the people I've always gone to the mountains with before were unavailable to guide us, we decided to just go have an adventure. So, we put my awesome new Landcruiser in 4-wheel drive and headed up the steep dirt road toward what we hoped would be the community of Las Flores. We had amazing views from the top of the ridge of the coastal villages, rivers and ocean. Then we went further into the mountains and there were lush green hillsides for as far as the eye could see. We did run into a little traffic up there. We had to wait for some cows to get out of the path, and then the women walking with large bundles on their heads, and then the men on their donkeys. Practically an LA freeway! :)

We went to the end of the road (nearly an hour) and explored the river blocking our path. We met two Honduran boys out fishing and learned more about their communities. We passed several groupings of homes and stopped in for a visit. We had found Las Flores! Hondurans are soooo hospitable. They are just the nicest people! They invited us into their homes and offered us drinks and showed us around their property and we discussed their cattle and their pigs and their stove and their children and where their water came from and how long it took them to get down to the hospital for medical care. Then they told us about a waterfall that was just down river. They said if we took the left fork in the road and then walked about 20 min we would find it. So, after our visit, we took off in search of falling water.

To make a very long story short, we never really found the waterfall but we had a great time walking along the path looking for it! There were gorgeous plants and tall trees covered in vines and huge boulders in the rivers. We climbed down the hillside and explored the boulders a little and it was absolutely gorgeous. On the way back we were so hot that we just splashed around in the river in our clothes. Even Jasmine got in and cooled off!

In all it was a nice day of trying out my new wheels, showing the Jarabek's where some of our patients live and looking for the elusive waterfall.