do you know how to make clean water?

My second trip to Haiti had fewer medical people on the plane, but some very important people just the same. One of these was a guy named Trey. Trey liked to say he was just a good 'ole boy from Alabama. But he was much, much more than that. He was known as the "clean water guy". Basically he travels all over the world setting up clean water systems. I didn't get to see him in action at the orphanage, or at any of the other places he went to. But, I did get to see him in action at our clinic. The clinic likes to have one of us teach a short lesson every morning. When I did mine the first trip it was on STD's and how if you keep getting them your partner needs treated, and how infections can also affect pregnancies. I didn't choose the topic but I winged it anyway.



I had heard Trey talking some about the clean drinking water thing, so I mentioned it to Yannick, and volunteered him to teach the next day. Fortunately, he was more than willing. To sum it up, any clear plastic drink bottle can be used, if in good shape and has a lid. You fill it with water, if you can see your hand through the bottle then it is clear enough. Put the lid on and place it where it will get direct sunlight. After 6 hours, the water is safe to drink. The locals were so interested, they asked many questions. You can imagine, no way to cook, so how would you boil water? He also told them how to make re hydration solution with water, sugar and salt. Again, they hung on to his every word. I felt like more than all the medicine we gave them that day, Trey's talk helped them the most.

The little girl in this picture was very mad at me. We had lots of tetanus/diphtheria vaccine. I had just given her a shot and she was one unhappy camper. I'd bribed her with candy, a toy, nothing made her happy. She was even mad at her mom for letting me do it!

The last picture is the team I went with the second trip, plus a few others. Three doctors, me, and a wonderful non-nurse but trained in surgery help in all ways person. The picture also has Greg hidding in the back, and his son Dustin. Marilyn, a friend of Greg's from Townsend, Tn, is also pictured. Each and everyone worked hard all week in some way. Yannick of course is in the picture because she is at the clinic everyday. Garleen, another who runs the clinic, had gone back to the states by this day.

You never knew what you would see each day at the clinic. It ranged from malaria, typhoid, headaches, diabetes, to broken bones, car wrecks, and so so much malnutrition. Can you believe we had no vitamins to give out? I felt so inadequate not having any especially for the pregnant women.
I have to keep reminding myself, I wasn't there to cure anyone. I was there to show them the love of the only one that matters, God. I never really learned how to say, "God bless you", but I had Fermega, my interpreter, say it for me. I know I was blessed by being there.

Haiti in my heart

Haiti keeps popping in my head. Random memories that I otherwise had forgotten. My first trip to Haiti was 3 weeks after the earthquake. Our group was wired and ready to jump in to whatever we found. Instead, God made us wait for 2 days before we were able to touch our first patient. I am not sure at the time any of us felt grateful for the delay. Each of us had such a heart to serve: One of our doctors served as an electrician; one doctor helped unload food to the point he became dehydrated; several of us helped with the massive feeding of the neighborhood; a paramedic/college administrator became an expert driver in Haitian traffic; so many more stories. Each of us stepped outside our normal comfort zones in so many ways.

One woman came to our clinic with a hand that she had been told was not broken. The middle finger appeared ready to fall off. She could barely use the hand. She said her house had fallen on her during the earthquake. She also lost three children. Because of her tears, and the language barrier, I didn't ask if that was her entire family.

The doctor I was with was very concerned the finger was gangrenous. He asked another doctor to look at it. I was given the task to soak and debreed it. We gave her a Percocet for pain. In the U.S. she would have probably had Morphine! After soaking for 30-45 minutes in a made up soak of peroxide and betadine, I got to work. She had brought copies of her x-ray of her hand. After the doctors looked at it closely it turned out she had two broken areas. The end of her middle finger was one of them. As I removed the worst layers it was great to find it was not gangrene.

I was being very slow, and careful with her hand. I was so afraid of causing the amazingly strong woman more pain. At one point I felt her hand on my shoulder, she looked me in the eyes and nodded her head. She wanted me to know it was ok to pull the skin off her finger. She was reassuring me that I wasn't hurting her. I was so humbled. I can only imagine what it felt like having several inches of skin pulled off an injured hand.

For her rehab I found a bulb syringe used for wound irrigation. I told her how to squeeze it to get exercise, and several other finger movements.

I am not a doctor, I am not a physical therapist, I am not a nurse practitioner. For anyone worried about it, I always put NURSE on my name badge. I wish I had more knowledge, and more initials behind my name. Then I could do more.

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long time no blogging....

My oldest daughter has reminded me several times that I am way behind in blogging. I apologize. I can only write when I feel like it. These are from Easter 2010. I am in scrubs because I had just gotten off work. The bed is in the Living room, because my mother had stayed in our living room after her hip surgery. Yes there is one kid not usually here, taylor, a friend of steph's. And missing is Amanda, she is still in L.Al

Usually when I return from my mission trips....

I find it kinda funny I can start my blog with the statement, Usually when I return from my mission trips..... Funny because 10 years ago I had not yet been on one trip. I always had an interest in going, but because of all those babies, I couldn't go. I've now been on 10 trips, I think.

Whenever I went to Mexico, I almost always returned excited. excited to share pictures, stories, and the way I felt about the trip. I would have pictures printed out the next day, or at least before the next Sunday, to share at church. Even the first year, when I returned very angry. I was angry at my world, my children, myself. Angry because we had so much and yet were so ungrateful. But even then, I wanted to share so much.

Haiti is different. I don't think it is just the earthquake and the destruction it caused. I went to help after Katrina and didn't feel this way. After both of my trips now, its taken a while before I could really start talking about it. It's not that the people are all walking around crying or sad, because they aren't . The children don't look deprived, even though they are. No one is lying on the floor saying feed me, they are beyond that. There is so much that needs done. Maybe I am overwhelmed. I try hard not to be. I know I am but one person. But truthfully, with each patient I see, I try to treat them as if they are the only one I have to treat. I can't give them money, a job, a future, but I can give them the dignity and respect most all humans deserve.

I do leave there wondering what more I can do. Not what more can millions of dollars do, or millions of people do, but what can I do. I have a plan to train the Haitians, like nurse aide training. But no idea if I will ever be able to have the time off to really do the training.

The picture of the smiling woman links my 2 visits. She came to me the first time pregnant. She was about 30 weeks. With her first 2 pregnancies she had became ill and lost each one. She wanted us to do a c-section while this one was still alive so she could have a live babe. I tried to do what I could. I sent her for an ultrasound, but the results didn't show us she was far enough along we could safely deliver the baby. When I went back, there she was! Her baby was only a few days old. She was so happy to bring her to see me! She shows me there is hope, hope for Haiti.

30 Years

great poem

A very good friend lost her daughter last week. Tera was a child that had been through troubled times but on the outside was a ray of sunshine. To think of her is to think of her smiling a huge smile, nothing half-way about it. She loved her son and if you were her friend she was fiercely loyal. The day we lost Evette she came over to her house and told my oldest daughter, (they graduated together) "I'm here so somebody will be here for YOU". She knew my sister, but she came for my daughter. I appreciated that so much.
So I found this poem on her facebook site today. It was for her, but it also applies to my sister.

“You can shed tears that she is gone, or you can smile because she has lived.You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,or you can be full of the love you shared.You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.You can remember her only that she is gone,or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back.Or you can do what she'd want:smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”

I found this quoted from David Harkins. Then I looked some more and others are not sure who originally wrote it. It was referred to as a funeral poem. I don't remember hearing it before, but I plan on trying to remember it more.

after 25 years, a beautiful birth is...

After 25 years, a beautiful birth is…
I trained in a hospital where epidurals were normal, very heavy dosed at that time, cut the episiotomy, sew, here’s your baby, quick look, off to nursery, visit every 4 hours. That was the normal. I also got a glimpse into the “birthing suite” where the mom went “natural”, and all that was needed was the dad, the doctor, and a lowly student nurse could help out just a little. Wow, that was beautiful.
But because to me “normal” was the other way, and I had my first baby far from home, I went the “normal” route. The feeling of forceps, even with a very heavy couldn’t move a muscle epidural, was a sickening feeling, I vowed never to do THAT AGAIN! Baby and I were fine but the recovery for me was painful.
I worked at 2 hospitals after that first child. One where forceps were normal, without epidurals, pain for the mom was something she endured and was often encouraged to be quiet while she did it. Moms were happy because her baby was beautiful and mom’s pain was just how it was. I even had Doctors that wouldn’t come in until after “Dallas” was over, in the days before TiVo and VCR’s, so nurses just caught the baby, but it wasn’t truly beautiful, just the way it was. The second hospital also had no epidurals, but forceps and vacuums were rare. Still the cut the episiotomy and sew the repair was normal. But I did see some beautiful births.
My second and third births personally were at my 3rd hospital. We had great doctors, great nurses, educated to do the best and take care of you to the highest standards. My babies were healthy and beautiful; the births were the normal, heavy epidurals, no more forceps for me, cut and sew. My 4th was a beautiful birth, no epidural, no cut, no sews. Why was it beautiful? I controlled the delivery, I helped with the no sewing part by being in control, and I had elation like no other after she was born. You can hear the excitement in my voice in the videos, even though it was my fourth, and my fourth daughter.
That one was almost 18 years ago. I still help birth babies. What is beautiful hasn’t changed much. What is beautiful, is informed parents that are active in the birth, with a doctor that has been trained to keep the mom as intact as possible, and is able to a good job at that goal. Being part of the process with the parents instead of the “Superman” role of I’m here to save you and your baby, (so if I need to rush off for dinner and decide you are tired and I need to help pull your baby out with a vacuum or forceps I convince you it’s for you and your baby’s own good), I deliver you the fastest way, cut, sew, and here is your reward, your healthy baby and sore bottom. Believe me when I say I knew there were Doctors like that out there, but only saw the as rare until recently. I KNEW midwives did these things, but they were only for those other people, not the normal ones.
If I can name names, some of those rare Doctors no longer deliver babies, but they were Dr’s like Betty Neff, Maria Perales, Deborah Kondis, yep all women at the time. Sure women were happy with the doctors that did the cut and sew thing, we were taught that was normal and to expect it, especially with that first baby. I then met a midwife that came to this hospital. For some reason most all of her deliveries were done with very little sewing. Big babies, first babies, with epidurals, without epidurals, all sizes moms, all were having very beautiful controlled births. Deborah Wage, CNM, taught me that my memories of the delivery in the birthing suite so long ago was not just for those weird people that wanted to be different. Anyone could have a beautiful birth and feel better the next day.
For me the beautiful birth is the baby that comes out slowly, head stretching what was made to stretch, everyone in the room is calm. Dr Perales used to let the mom lean down and after the arms were out, grab her baby and pull it up onto her abdomen. My favorite part is when the dad cries, no matter how many children he now has, he still is overwhelmed by the miracle of his child. Everyone in the room is all smiles. The mom doesn’t even know yet if she gets stitches or not she is so enthralled with looking at and memorizing every detail of her new child.
I’ve learned now medical students are being taught how to do births without cutting, and with minimal sewing. I’ve seen 1st year residents that do it beautifully. The epidural is no longer the deciding factor in what the doctor wants to do. I’ve seen it in nice controlled quiet rooms, and in “what do you mean I can’t get my epidural because the head is coming out and I’m delivering in the wheel chair”! These young doctors are learning that simple techniques in supporting mom prevents tears and makes the healing and recovery so much better for everyone.
These doctors do beautiful births even when the parents know their baby will be taken quickly away for heart surgery, or other procedures. They at least have this normal moment. Mom will be in much better shape to deal with whatever lies ahead in her baby’s journey.
My wish would be that all those wonderful doctors that I love, that I know really care about their patients, would go to someone, and say, “Teach me how you do that”. Teach me how not to need to cut and sew. Surely if new medical students can learn, older experience doctors can also. They have so much experience in handling so many situations that can’t be taught, stuff that is vital to healthy babies and mom’s when everything is not easy and not normal.
I still love babies put right on mom, skin to skin, feeling their mom right as they come into a noisy new world. My favorite part, still, is when the daddy cries.