We are swimming in Mangoes. They are stacked in piles along the streets. Not a lot of other food, but who cares if you can eat all of the sublime mangoes you want. Last night we ventured beyond the hospital gate to buy roasted corn from the vendors who roast it over a little charcoal fire. It is hard, chewy and real tasty. We are all loosing weight, this is a new concept in residential weight loss programs (fat farms). It is painless because you loose your appetite when you are working hard and drenched in sweat.
It rains in torrents at night. I hope the tarps are keeping people dry. It is soothing to listen to the rain when you have the hospital roof over your head. On the rare occasion that I look out from the hospital I see lush green, beautiful.
On the first night we got here we were fairly tired from the travel. We bedded down in our cots and tents, relatively comfortable. About 1 am an ER person came to Charlie's tent, "Dr. Evans wake up, we need you in the ER". There was a man who had got himself into some kind of trouble that ended up with a machete attack. Huge laceration behind his ear into the mastoid which could have taken his head off, all extensors tendons on his hand and much more. So Charlie was up all night repairing his problems. Hussan the orthopedist took him to surgery to repair the tendons. The next morning we were doing rounds and the patient was sleeping when we came to him. He woke up and looked at us and said, "Am I alive?" The machete man is doing fine and has been discharged.
Our team changed today, farewell to Dale (see his picture playing at the orphanage), Leanna, Charlie, Patti and Mohammad (our adopted Ukiah team member). Hello to Shan pre-med student, Kristy RN, Beth ER Tech, Mikell RN, Cyndi Pharmacy Tech, Tami H. RN. Tomorrow David and Melanie physical therapists. Laura, Tami W, Sheila and I are staying on for 1 more week.
Tami has been stationed at the triage tent next to the ER. It is hot as heck and smokey from tires burning near by. They treat the people who have minor problems, and admit the sicker people to the ER. Patients sit in the sweltering heat and patiently wait to be seen (picture). Today she was scanning the group for patients who might be sicker and need to be fast tracked to the ER. She saw a woman holding a towel, and looked again because there was the tiniest little foot sticking out. "There is a baby in that wad of towel!" She pulled back the cloth to reveal a hot little premature baby boy with a fever. Off to the ER with him, then admitted to Peds, so now he is my responsibility. His due date is June 25 and he was born on April 4. All you people who are praying out there for the people of Haiti, keep at it!
For all of you adrenaline junkies we had one of those heart pounding experiences yesterday. I was working in the Peds unit trying to keep all of those babies alive and Charlie comes in with this 4 week old baby in respiratory distress. Retracting, stuffed nose (babies are obligate nose breathers, stuff their noses and they can suffocate) fussy and uncomfortable. Charlie goes, "Lynn I have a baby for you". I look at the baby and think, "Oh no". Charlie thinks the baby will be fine if we give nebulizer treatments every thirty minutes. So we go into high gear and get the nebulizer going, suction his nose and watch him like a hawk. He is so cute and so mad that his nose is not working. He is vigorous and keeps trying to nurse. He was pretty stable so I was willing to go along with this if he improved rapidly. Well as fate had it he only got worse. At one point I decided that I had to watch him every second and did not leave his side. Then he got worse, I sent Leanna running for Charlie and he said he would be down in a minute. My heart rate was rising by the second as I watched him struggle to breath through his nose, I tried to reposition him but he just kept getting worse. A few more minutes went by and I decided that I was not just going to stand there and watch him stop breathing so I told Leanna to grab the IV and we took off running through the hospital. I was so scared that he was going to have respiratory arrest I got a little excited. At times like this it pays to pray for help, (thank God). We made it to the ER and Charlie got it that we had a problem here. We made space and he took over, Tami came in and they were able to get him into one position where he could get his air. To make a long story shorter we ended up transporting him to the Miami field hospital by ambulance. Charlie, Tami and Leanna rode along. See the hair raising picture taken in the ambulance (as soon as I can find it). They made it to the hospital and I have not gotten a report of his condition.
I transferred out 2 babies to the Miami hospital from my unit today, a 4 month old with a GI bleed and a septic malnourished 3 month old that had an enlarged liver and was probably acidotic. Things were looking like a piece of cake until we got the premie.
OK guys I know I left you hanging on the issue of hope when I told you the story of my baby with the new onset smile. I have lived my life believing that there is always hope, so this has been a big one for me. Just mention the situation with this baby and her family and I start to fall apart. The good news is, there is always hope! Today I met with the case managers of the International Migration Organization (IMO), they are here in Haiti and arrange to take earthquake victims to appropriate shelters, where they are given shelter, medical care and food!!!! They have accepted my baby and her whole family. I told her Mom today and she wants to go, the IMO will transport them and make sure they are safe. Blessings on all of the people who care and together we will bring love and hope to the world.
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