I am the clumsiest person you will ever meet. I trip over air, fall up the stairs and stumble over my own feet. But by the Grace of God I have never really needed real hospital care. I have never broken a bone, never needed surgery and never needed stitches!
THEN I ENTERED HAITI!
Monday night it rained like every other night making every surface you walk on slick as ice.
Tuesday morning we got up like usual and headed to do ministry. I walked down the stairs and I notice a puddle of water. I tried to walk around the water and ended up slipping on another puddle of water; which caused me to fall down 3 stairs.
When I stopped I started dusting off the dirt on my legs and noticed blood dripping down my arm. I looked at my left hand and noticed a very large open wound.
As I was falling I went to grab for something…andything. But around our house there are iron like spears that are supposed to keep robbers out. They are thick and very sharp. Well this is what I grabbed and it sliced right through my hand under my pinky finger. I had made myself into a human Shish kabob
I froze…panic and fear raced through my body. I remember a few of my teammates who were in front of me started asking if I was okay and yelling for help. I remember people behind me doing the same thing and yelling for ‘Nurse Hannah!” I was asking for help and just staring at my hand.
WHAT HAVE I DONE!!! THIS CAN NOT BE HAPPENING!”
Hannah who is the team leader for the other team we are staying with is a nurse back in the states and she went into power mode. All of a sudden she was in front of me taking over my hand and asking if I can get upstairs. I couldn’t move my body, my whole back and butt hurt and I was so focused on my hand that I didn’t know how walk.
People were yelling behind me for a towel…my wallet… a cleaner towel…the phone…and everything in between.
Next thing I heard was…We are going to the clinic!
I am now going to a clinic in Haiti where the doctor does not know English and I have a hole in my hand and I have no idea what is going to happen.
Luckily the clinic is like 3 houses down from us, and we walked right in. Our translator started telling the doctor what just happened, Hannah was making sure our translator knew what to say and that I wasn’t freaking out. Claire, my team leader, came in shortly and started comforting me. The nurses and doctor went into action and looking for the keys to open the cabinet that had the medicine and instruments he needed.
What felt like hours really was only like 10-15 minutes. Teammates came back to see if I was okay and if I needed anything. The doctor gave me some aspirin for pain. Josh went and got me juice. A lot was going on, but God placed a peace in the room that I was very thankful for. I was still in shock and confused, everything on my body was hurting, I was missing home but I was laughing and enjoying the jokes we were making.
It was time to clean the wound. I have never felt so much pain in my life. I would have rather cut off my arm then have to pour iodine into my wound again and the solution to get out all the germs. Claire gave me her hand and never let it go. Hannah was kneeling in front of me holding onto my legs and encouraging me.
The doctor gave me numbing drugs through a needle. He was preparing my hand for the stitches. That was the best thing in the world. I could still feel some of the pain but not as bad.
This is when you really should have had a camera to record what was going on. I’m sitting in a chair with my hand on the bed with the doctor who DOESN’T speak English trying to stick a needle in my hand. Claire is holding onto my other hand with my head buried in her arm. The whole time she is singing me Princess Songs. Hannah is in front of me holding onto my knees, telling me it’s okay and I can do this and never looking away from my hand.
Stitch 1 went in okay.
Stitch 2 was giving the doctor trouble. He slipped and tore through my skin. You never want to hear your doctor say “ummm uh oh,” hannah saying “oohhh crap ohhh…” and Claire squeezing your hand harder than you are squeezing her hand. Thankful I couldn’t feel anything. They did finally get it in.
Stitch 3 was another story. The doctor couldn’t get it in. They tried using a different needle but nothing was working. He gave the needle to Hannah and said “You try!” Let me tell you I would let Hannah stitch me up anytime. I trusted her and knew she would get the job done….and she did!
It was over!!!! They cleaned up everything and wrapped my hand. They gave me some pain pills and told me to get multi-vitamins and to take my malaria pills. He wanted to see me in a couple of days.
I know it is hard to understand the amount of pain and the craziness that was going on in that little room in the clinic. But hopefully you have somewhat of a picture. I am going to have a crazy scar on my hand and I will love to tell you the story about it when I get home. It is something that I will never forget!!
My team was amazing and really stepped up when I needed them the most. After the stitches went in, I wasn’t able to do much! And they never thought twice about helping me!
I don’t know what I would have done without Claire or Hannah! They were my Heroes that day and the days that followed as I had Hannah keep looking at my wound and making sure it wasn’t getting infected! God placed me in a wonderful family in Haiti that helped me heal physically and emotionally from this
crazy nightmare!!!
