A Honduran Hospital

* The nurses would smile a little more
* The Tv screen was a little bigger and had better channels
* Pain medicine was delivered on time
* The hospital gowns were softer (along with the towels)
* The food had more flavor
* The waiting rooms had better magazines
* Doctor appointments were actually at the times we scheduled them for
* The children running around would just be QUIET already
* The lady in the room next door "rubs" you the wrong way

K, I laughed writing these…but seriously… if you try and tell me you haven't thought at least one of these things while in a hospital…your terminological inexactitude is huge!  (aka you are LYING!)

Don't be ashamed…thus is the attitude of all Americans, myself included.

Growing up in a hospital, I was the queen of complaints! They truly are just not fun places to be…

However….what if

* You were in one giant room with 15 other sick men/women.
* Your neighbors were 2 feet on either side of you, and their family members crowded into your personal space.
* Your bed linen hadn't been changed since you arrived, and to be honest you weren't sure it was changed after the last patient.
* There is 1 nurse for all 15 of you, and you were pretty sure if you asked for pain medicine, her glare alone would be enough to kill you.  
(Did I mention the room had an overwhelming smell of urine, fecal matter, and death)

If this sounds disturbing to you, don't ever enter a Honduran hospital.  Thursday, after 2 days of waiting, we were granted a 20 minute tour of the main public hospitals in Tegucigalpa.  The hospital itself is 130 years old, and retains the original structure.  It is an open air hospital, meaning that the halls are like a covered porch with open walls.  When it rains, it rains inside.  The floors become covered in slimy mud, while a lady attempts to "mop"it up…aka spreading the mud around like a child finger painting. 

Then, after I thought it couldn't get much worse, we passed through swinging, old western-style doors into a giant room lined with beds.  Welcome to the mens' oncology ward.  The smell of urine and fecal matter was only barely concealed by death's stench.  All the linen was permanently stained with God only knows what.  The nurses looked almost as annoyed that we had entered the room as they were confused that we would bother coming at all……

Our Pastor then continues to tell me more "hush-hush" details.  
* If the hospital is full, they will refuse to admit people, no matter how close to death that person is.
* Physician Assisted Suicide is a common practice…not only among terminally ill patients, but also with patients that they just don't feel like taking the time to cure.
* The Surgerical ward is not sterile at all, but rather extremely dirty and smells horrible.  He said at most 50% of cases exit surgery….that doesn't guarantee full recovery..
*Money donated to the hospital is almost, if not always, taken by the corrupted government for personal use.  

This experience alone shattered my world.  I turned to Courtney and point blank said…"I would have been dead at age 5 here"… 

For a few hours after leaving the hospital I was so angry, and confused.  Why am I on this race, touring a hospital, when I should be back home in school training so that I can fix situations like this.  What is the point?
However, as the days pass, I am slowly realizing God is merely helping point me in the direction He wants me to go.

When I mentioned the quote we use for hospitals above to my pastor, he hit back hard with the Honduran quote for hospitals…