Bad Day in Clinic

It tried to start out as a good day in clinic. We got to see a couple of women who we had seen as prenatal patients and they brought their new babies in with them! The first picture is (Left to Right) Heidi, one of the new babies and her mom, and our awesome translator, Cecy.

Then it went south. And fast. We saw a spina bifida baby who was born about 36 hours ago. The back of her skull is not completely formed, the entire spinal column is open, and the bottom of the spine is open to the air. Cerebro-spinal fluid is being contained with a gauze pad. Mom and Dad both came in as they had just left the hospital in Quiche (where they took the baby immediately after birth). They were told that they needed to go to Guatemala City for treatment and that they would need about $500, which they don't have.

We contacted the social work office here at the hospital, where we have some good friends, and they said that they had seen the family and were trying to get them some advice as to where to go, but communication did not really seem to be happening very well. The family left the hospital against medical advice. We spent over an hour with the family, discussing their options, the fact that we were willing to pay the $500, but letting them know that the prognosis for this baby is pretty limited. She's probably never going to walk and she's in for a very long road with lots of surgeries, lots of time in the Capital, etc. The family has six other children at home and neither Mom nor Dad speak very much Spanish.

We offered to send them to Guatemala City, on our dime (or ASELSI's dime, as the case may be), with a translator and everything, but that one of the parents would have to go - and thus not be at home for probably several days. This puts them in a very tough spot. They do not live with extended family and therefore would be leaving the six kids to fend for themselves while Dad was working in the fields and Mom was in the City with the baby. In the end, they decided to take some antibiotics from us to try to stave off infection, to take the baby home, and pray that her little back heals over enough to prevent her from dying very, very soon. She's a beautiful little girl and you could clearly see the pain in her parents' eyes as they were contemplating this situation. She's in the second picture.

The third picture is of a child that we think is hydrocephalic (water on the brain). She's 11 months old and can't even roll over. We'll send her to Antigua this coming Tuesday for evaluation. We probably have a long road ahead of us with her, too.

The fourth picture is of a child who had spina bifida (already repaired) and is hydrocephalic and has gotten two shunts already. He is a twin. His twin sister is perfectly normal. He is about a year old and has already had several surgeries, but it's pretty obvious that he has a lot more to go. He will be entered into the physical therapy program at ASELSI, since he is very stiff and guards a lot. We will also be working a lot with his family to see what more we can do to help them.

Not pictured is a little girl we saw whose ear did not completely form and we'll try to get her operated on. Also not pictured is a widowed mother of three who was just raped by the son of the family she lives with and works for as a maid. Her first fear was that she was pregnant. Her second fear is that this rape is the beginning of things to come. We put her in contact with a woman who is a graduate of ASELSI's Bible School and has a lot of contacts in her village. The hope is that we can get her out of that house and into another one very soon.

We also saw a woman who thinks she's 85 but looks more like 185. She's diabetic, anemic, and complains of a lot of stomach pain. She can barely walk. We're referring her to Dr. Hoak for a look into her abdomen as she just "looks" like she has cancer.

Also in clinic were a couple of kids we're looking after who are just tiny and weak. One is a Down's Syndrome baby and another is really yellow. We're counselling the moms on how to care for underweight and sick/weak kids.

And if that weren't enough, we learned this week that Dr. Hoak operated on a girl we sent him from San Andres with some malformation problems in her leg. He did his best to repair her leg, but was unable to sort out the tangled mess of veins and ended up having to amputate her leg above the knee. She's only about 10 years old but had never been able to put any weight on the leg. Her mom has been carrying her on her back since she was born. The bad news is that she lost her leg. The good news is that now she might have an opportunity to walk. We'll end up helping her get a prosthesis at some point - probably in the neighborhood of $1000 - but how much is your mobility worth???

So it was a long, stressful, tiring day, but this is why we're here. It's a little more fulfilling to help people who are truly in need than to hand out a bunch of tylenol and tums, but a whole lot more exhausting (and never underestimate the ability of tylenol and tums to really improve your day!)

Anyway, please keep all of these families in your prayers, as well as little Isaac. Plus, tonight is the last night here for this VBS team. We haven't really been able to spend much time with them, since they're out working all day every day and when they come home they basically collapse, but they have been a real blessing to us even in just the few minutes that we've had with them. Pray for their safe travels home and for their abilities to kick this virus that's running through the house!!!

Tomorrow night will be our first night alone in the house in about three weeks. Then in less than two weeks, Russell, Bethany, and Tye come down to host another team that'll be here in the house while we're in Guatemala City trying to have a baby!!! Remember - every day an adventure!