Last Clinic Day

good morning family and friends!
well, we are getting ready to leave for our last day of clinic.
the vicksburg crew is leaving us this morning, which means we loose our pharmacist, one doctor, our nurse/pt/lunch maker and our two triage men!
everything has gone so well this week. our team is full of wonderful people. yesterday we saw 110 patients. what an amazing time we have had! i wanted to include some photos of our team so everyone back home would know we are well, we all have a few more mosquito bites than we thought we would, and we dont smell the best by the end of the day, but now we are family and we even piled 22 people into a 12 passenger van yesterday... and it didnt even phase us!
we are so excited to see our family and friends when we arrive home!
thank you to all who are praying!
we know how blessed we are to be here, and without our family's support, it wouldnt be possible!
love from the haiti team

Today was our mission teams fun day. We stated off the day with a great breakfast of pancakes and mangos. We then went to Mother Theresa's Mission. It was parents day and the place was filled with people. It helped to take the inital shock of the place away. Usually our first view begin in the infermerary. Tiny children with IV in their heads. Hair orange from Malnutirion. It is a very emotional experience. Paul was able to see a new child that was brought in. He also diagnosed a child taken her last few breaths. Josh was overwhelmed but amazing when I asked him to pray for her and to offer her to the Lord. It was hard to leave her crib but we needed to go. Lots of children were held and loved on by this Halos Mission. We all felt great about that.

Next we were off to The Baptist Mission. Before we got there we drove upon a new car accident and the docs got out of the car to help. Many were glad they took their Dramamine. We had our fill of sandwiches, fries, and ice cream. Many of us then toured the hospital while others walked down to the small zoo. Then came the shopping and the vendors..........wow! What a crazy time that is. Many team members (including myself) were able to purchase many gifts for family members and friends.

We then went to Fort Jacques for a guided tour of the Fort. Our tour guide showed us everything about the Fort. The views were incredible. You could see the city of Port-au-Price, the airport, the Caribbean Market, and the sea. We could also see the "small" & "big" lake that can take you to the Dominican. We had lots of fun and took many pictures. We made it just in time for dinner at the guest house.

We had a great team meeting and lights out. We were a tired group. We have seen around 100 patients per day. They come to the gate at 4 AM and at the end of the day we are still turning patients away. The need is so great and our time so short. We thank our families and friends for making this trip possible. We pray you will join us in Haiti someday.

God Bless,

Jennifer

Clinic Day 2

Hi everyone.
We're starting to get the rhythm of this place...There are a few very active roosters here...one starts at 3AM, and the others begin at 5AM, so we're all up and around starting the day about 6-6:30AM. Breakfast at 7, to the clinic by 8AM. Luke and Daniel have continued their excellent work at the check-in station, providing names and very accurate vital signs for the drs. We saw a little over 100 patients today (3 drs. and 1/2 nurse practitioner who worked in the afternoon for a while). Very interesting medical problems (like the 18 year old woman who looked about 4 months pregnant; I would have bet $ she was pregnant; but actually ended up with intestinal worms); but sad things too like the 94# man who either has lung cancer or TB--all we can do is give him ibuprofen for pain and some antibiotics to clear up a possible pneumonia. Or the 22 year old guy with a congenital urinary problem that probably has renal failure (nothing to do for that in Haiti). But mostly very grateful people (like the 70 year old woman who had problems seeing and was given a pair of reading glasses--she promptly jumped off the exam table, squealed in delight that she could see again, and bear-hugged the nurse!!
We're exhausted by the time we get back to the guesthouse by 6 PM or so, have dinner and try to avoid the bats swooping at dusk around the pool (this particularly bothers Sue... one of the few things I've ever seen that bothers Sue!!). After a team meeting for 30 minutes or so, everyone's ready to go to bed about 9PM (yes, Luke and Daniel too--they're the first ones up the stairs to the bunk rooms).
Tomorrow, Wed., we have a day off for sightseeing: we're going to Mama T's orphanage (run by Mother Theresa's Sisters of Charity--they have about 200 kids, many who are very ill with malnutrition, AIDS, etc); the Baptist Mission up the mountain; and Fort Jacques, also up the mountain with a panoramic view of Haiti--supposed to be very impressive.
Luke and his soccer ball were quite a hit with the schoolkids today--he pulled it out at recess time and says the boys especially went crazy and had a goal made before he realized it...before today, they had to play soccer with a tennis ball.
Grateful we've had regular good meals while here when we've encountered so many patients who don't have that luxury.
We're also grateful for all of you, and look forward to seeing your smiling faces soon.
With love,
Paula, Daniel and Luke

Clinic Day 1

Hi!
We had a fairly busy day Sunday, with a really rocking 2 1/2 hour church service in the morning (I decided that we all could use more saxophone in our lives after that service...); a visit to the orphanage to hold children; a performance by a Haitian dance troupe and more getting ready for the clinic stuff like packaging ibuprofen, vitamins, etc. in small baggies. The orphanage kids love the big boys, know their names and beg to get picked up...it's exhausting for the boys, but terrific.
Today was our first clinic day. We left the guest house by 7:45 AM and started seeing pts. by about 8:30. Daniel and Luke were the greeting and intake team, getting names, ages, phone#s, bps , pulses and temps. Paula was being a "real doctor", seeing pts in the clinic (something different than my normal "work"). As a group, with 3 docs and occasionally a nurse practitioner, we saw about 85 patients today.
Our most interesting stuff:
Paula: treated 2 cases of malaria (I know that my husband is going to be totally jealous) and started an IV for hydration in a diabetic lady with a glucose over 300 while kneeling in the courtyard of the orphanage (IV fluid hanging from a nail in a tree--very Dr. Barnett-ish, David)...they got lots of pictures of the lady lying on a mattress with her IV fluids going...unfortunately, no insulin here because of no refrigeration (they only have electricity about 2 hours each evening, otherwise the guesthouse and orphanage run on a generator.
Luke: helped one of the docs incise a large mandibular abscess on a man--got to use a scalpel and everything...(Dr. Paul introduced the boys as "the student doctors")
Daniel: talking to all the translators and meeting the security guards at the clinic (Gabriel even as a taser--a very large and scary looking man in his shades who was actually wearing his 2 year old's pink backpack while visiting the orphanage yesterday--quite a contrast)
All in all a very busy but satisfying day. Also fun to see all the schoolkids in their uniforms at the school (all the 7 year olds reciting French in cursive from the blackboard--impressive). All the kids love the digital cameras--having their pictures taken and seeing themselves in the pictures--
The food so far has been great...getting a taste of beans and rice of course, but also fried eggplant, plantains, mangoes and (fortunately for Daniel) pancakes!!
Hope you are all well and we appreciate your prayers.
Paula, Luke and Daniel

Day 1

Greetings from Port au Prince!!

Happily, we made it to our destination this morning without much of a hitch. Our leader, Jennifer, briefed us on navigating customs and the Haitian airport last night, because "this is the most dangerous part of our trip"...

We all followed her instructions to a tee, but were stopped by the customs agents and had all our checked bags searched (which included all our medicines and supplies). Fortunately, they didn't confiscate anything, but sent us off with a warning that we need a letter from Haitian officials next time to bring in drugs (Jennifer thought they were just wanting us to pay them some money....).

After eating some lunch at the Methodist Church Guest House where we are staying, we headed to Three Angels to set up our clinic supplies. This is a small complex of buildings (behind a cement wall with barbed wire at the top and its own security guard) which houses not only the medical clinic, but an orphanage and a school with 325 elementary students. (The boys wondered where they put all these kids given the small space, but I guess we'll see that on Monday). I instructed the boys in taking blood pressures this afternoon, and they practiced on all the other team members--they seem to be getting the hang of it!! The remainder of the afternoon was spent in the orphanage (the upstairs room which houses the babies and toddlers). About 15-20 little ones who all just wanted to be held...so that's what we did. The boys were troopers and often had 3 kids hanging from them at once.

Luke: This was the most exhausting day of my life. I can definitely wait a long time to have kids (that's mostly for you, dad)

Daniel: So far, it's great.

Thanks for your prayers--We'll try to keep in touch...

Love,

Paula, Daniel and Luke