As most of you know, I’ve been in Central America for the past four months on the World Race.
Heres a quick recap of what that looked like:
Month One: Jaco, Costa Rica
- Partnered with the organization Oceans Edge
- Assisted in ongoing construction on their property
- Helped with other programs held throughout the community
Month Two: Chinendega, Nicaragua
- Partnered with the organization Vision Nicaragua
- Daily door to door evangelism, ministered to youth/churches
Month Three: Roatan Honduras (first two weeks)
- Partnered with the organization Healing Honduras
- Taught English in an elementary school called Kingdom Bilingual Education Center
- Assisted a doctor in two different medical clinics
Talanga, Honduras (last two weeks)
- Partnered with the organization Heart of Christ
- Worked with a children’s home that houses children and women who have been affected by rape, violence, and incest.
- Traveled to small villages to hand out Christmas presents to thousands of children.
Month Four: Antigua,Guatemala
- Partnered with the organization Nueva Generacion
- Translating documents for school ciriculams
- Taught English in a high school called Cetech2
Month Five: USA
Okay, so bare with me through some medical background..I want supporters to fully understand why I needed to skip on a full month abroad.
When I was little I had holes in my eardrums which led to hearing loss and severe ear infections due to increased fluid buildup in my middle ear. To repair the eardrum I had tubes inserted into the eardrums which allowed the fluid to drain and hearing to improve. Within a years time the tubes normally fall out on their own while the ear drum repairs itself. Growing up I have had multiple sets of tubes because they would fall out and my eardrums wouldn’t heal like they were supposed to.
Still with me?
A few years ago my right ear had healed completely. My left ear hadn’t shown signs of fluid build up but still had a hole and moderate hearing loss. I had surgery done at John Hopkins where they placed a skin graft over the hole in my eardrum to permanently close the hole and this would help me regain hearing. Fast forward a few years and I started having fluid build back up in both middle ears. I would also get chronic sinus infections..ears nose and throat really are all connected so when one would act up the rest would follow. This past spring I had multiple surgeries to prepare for the world race.
I had tubes put back in both ears to relieve the fluid buildup.
I had my tonsils taken out due to several throat infections.
I had balloon-sinuplasty done to relieve my sinus.
While we were in Honduras I had gotten a nasty ear infection in my left ear and could feel fluid building up in my middle ear (everything starts to sound like you’re underwater and when you try to pop your ears everything gargles). I went to see a doctor at a medical clinic who gave me antibiotics for the infection in my outer ear but she said that my tube had fallen out (most likely due to not being able to see my eardrum completely with a lack of resources). Over the following weeks the infection in my outer ear improved while the fluid buildup in my middle ear increased. It had gotten to a point to where I could barely hear at all out of my ear, experienced a lot of dizziness and when the fluid tried to drain it became very painful. To receive correct medical attention I needed to see my ENT specialist, which is why I came home.
Whats really going on..
My tube had not fallen out but was actually harboring an infection. Which led to the tube not allowing my ear to properly drain the fluid that was in my middle ear. My ear canal had created an ear abscess, a buildup of granulated tissue, to try and protect itself against more infections. Weird right? So the doc had to take the tube out and put me on multiple antibiotics. While the infection has deemed to be pretty aggressive it is slowly going away and the abscess has disappeared. Once the infection is completely gone they will need to replace the ear tube so that it can continue to help my ear drain fluid. Its pretty much been a waiting game on the infection to disappear which is why I am home for a full month.
Since being back I have become fully funded and also raised enough money for a flight to Malaysia! Once I get to Malaysia I’ll have a few days to catch up with my team before we head to Thailand.
