11-10
A man walks in with blood spilling from one of his shoes. He has been actively bleeding from a diabetic foot ulcer, but he refuses to go to the hospital in fear that they will tell him he needs an amputation. He has waited too long. Preventative measures could have avoided this whole mess.
11-13
Lauren teaches me about IV’s today. To administer antibiotic treatment, Xio uses a butterfly needle. Lauren says she has never seen this before because it is painful for the patient to have a needle left in the vein, and it is also dangerous because if the patient moves too much and the vein is punctured, medication could leak into free space and cause many more complications. Xio always administers this way because it’s all the clinic has.
11-14
Screams down the hall from a little boy who is given a dramamine shot with an 18 g needle. In his butt.
My notes:
Tiene fiebre? BP? Pesa? Talla? (Don’t forget to x 2.54)
11-16
I watched Grace have to break open a glass ampule to give an injection. We both silently prayed there were no tiny glass shards in it.
11-18
Same man with the foot ulcer is here again. He travels here from Punta Gorda, which is 40 mins away, to redo his antibiotic therapy and get his foot re-bandaged almost every day. I know this trip is difficult for him, especially since he is on crutches. There is no clinic in his area. New appreciation for home health.
11-19
Kenzie tells me all the struggles the clinic had when trying to get established because of corrupt government officials. How some wanted expensive accommodations in exchange for a “good inspection” and to approve the clinic. This week the government has been shutting down stores until all correct tax documentation is shown. Bojangles was shut down while we ate there today.
This month we’ve made a home in a clinic in Honduras. These past few weeks at the clinic have been challenging. My values don’t want me to make room for assumptions, but to make room to listen to others intently…clearly I need to trust those who have had more experience and exposure to the above situations. However, my ego counters with the fact that I may know a better way of doing things; therefore, I need to take strides to ensure success at all costs.
Tension is uncomfortable. Tension exposes us. Tension recognizes that actual faith requires us to look upon our own depravity and admit there may not be a solution, or that this situation is beyond our control- so how can we introduce Him who holds all the solutions?
There’s one more entry I’d like to share:
11-15
Today I noticed a lot of expired equipment and medication laid out in the storage room. I assume that the staff will filter through a lot of these materials, but my head is currently swimming with so many questions. Is this the best kind of care? How does all this expired equipment even get funneled into other countries, are we not properly disposing of it? Is this how we make other countries dependent on us- through our “leftovers”? However, it isn’t wasteful, and the equipment is very useful since the clinic is understaffed. If it wasn’t for donations, the clinic wouldn’t have access to these materials any other way. Expired medication can technically be used, it’s just less potent. When you have no access to anything or the finances to obtain necessary medicines, something is better than nothing right?
My purpose in this blog post isn’t to condemn the clinic, the way the staff cares for their patients on what is actually available to them is truly remarkable. I also admit that truthfully, I don’t have any answers to my own questions. I think that my main reason for sharing these entries is sometimes immediate action is not required, we just need to sit in the tension. If we don’t, we will most likely project our own brokenness onto the situation.
