Haiti

Well, this last week was an absolute whirlwind, but an amazing experience! I had the opportunity to spend a week in Haiti with Samaritan's Purse helping out with the cholera outbreak. Two nurses that I had served with on the ship (Beth and Becky) had told me about it about a month before and we were all able to arrange our trips the same week. In fact, all three of us even got to work together on night shift!

Beth, me, and Becky

The cholera clinic we served at was right beside a place called "City Solei," mainly filled with slums. So, the majority of patients arriving during the night had walked over from there since the "tap-taps" (taxi trucks) only ran during the day. The clinic itself was a compilation of large tents with separate mens, womens, and pediatrics areas. The patients would first come through the triage area and if they were sick enough, they would be admitted. Otherwise, they were given oral re-hydration liquid to drink and once they "passed" their oral challenge and could keep down the fluids, they were given education on cholera prevention and treatment and sent home. 

For those who did get admitted, the treatment was mainly IV fluids, along with a few oral medications. Once we were able to switch them over to oral re-hydration and they could keep it down, we discharged them and sent them over to the education tent to learn more about cholera treatment and prevention. They also received tablets to make safe water to drink and materials to create their own oral re-hydration fluid at home. 

During our time at the cholera clinic, there were multiple times that my friends and I said we felt like we were living in an episode of M.A.S.H. There was the element of working inside of a tent instead of an actual building, patients all lined up in a big row, homemade IV bag warmer, occasional bugs jumping around, and the MREs (the already made meals that they use in the army...they make dinner time an adventure with the special heat-activating mechanism).

 Our makeshift IV fluid warmer

Eating our MRE army-style meals

I have lots of memories and stories I could share, but I'm going to highlight two of the more meaningful experiences for me. The first happened the second night when I got moved from the Peds ward to the Womens ward. For the most part, most nurses freak out when they usually work with adults and have to work with kids....well, the same is true in the reverse. Most Peds nurses just don't enjoy working with adults as much. The ladies were very sweet, but let's be honest, I was pretty disappointed that I didn't get to work in Peds that night. 

But, a few hours into the shift, one of the women needed some help with her baby. He was crying and crying and she was too weak from all the vomiting to even sit up and try to breastfeed him. So, I took the crying baby and managed to get him calm while a friend went to look for formula. She managed to find some in our supply room, but unfortunately there were no bottles. So, I sat there with my precious little five month old and fed him his food with a 5cc syringe...it was precious. Another nurse mentioned to me "See, you get your Peds fix after all." It was true. God knew that I needed a precious little baby to cuddle and feed that night. And He knew that momma wouldn't have the strength or energy for the next few hours to feed her baby. So, I got to take over the responsibility. And I have to say, I was so thankful for the opportunity! 

The second experience that really impacted me and built my faith involved another little baby...a four-month old named Deuli (well, that was the nickname I gave him...his real name had another 5 letters tacked on the end and I had a hard time pronouncing it!). My encounter with Deuli came the very last night. He had been very sick when he was first admitted to the hospital. He was so dehydrated that they couldn't even get an IV in him. Instead, they had to place an intraosseous needle into his bone marrow. But, unfortunately, his fluid status had been over-corrected before I came on shift. When I got report on this little guy, I was really concerned about him. But, his little body had seemed to hold up just fine (kids can sometimes surprise us!) so I told our doctor what was going on and we agreed to keep an eye on him. 

So, the funny thing about kids is that their little bodies can compensate for a long time and then suddenly crash. That's exactly what happened with our little Deuli. In the middle of the night, he suddenly started to crash. His respiration rate had increased and he was working harder and harder to breathe. We realized he needed medication to get all the extra fluid off of his lungs, so I quickly ran to the pharmacy and got the medicine. But, even after he had two doses, he hadn't really seemed to improve. His breathing had started to slow down, but not in a good way. He hadn't slowed his breathing because his lungs were relaxing. He had slowed his breathing because he was losing his drive to breathe. He had been working so hard that he just didn't have the energy to keep going. He looked like he was about to give up. It was one of the scariest things I have ever had to watch. We weren't in a hospital setting with all the equipment to provide drastic interventions. Someone had found an ET tube and some other supplies in case we did need to intubate him to maintain his airway, but the supplies weren't optimal for his size and we didn't want to have to put a tube down in this setting. 

As I sat beside little Deuli watching him do all that he could to take the next breath, I felt a sense of fear and desperation. I kept begging him to keep going "Come on buddy, you can do it. Keep on breathing!" I kept repeating that over and over again. I felt like his little cheerleader, pushing him to keep going. As we discussed as a team what our options were, it dawned on us that we hadn't yet prayed. We laid hands on little Deuli and began to pray. Then our doctor called over the Haitian pastors who were there and they began to pray as well. We moved Deuli and his mom over to an open area with all our supplies in case we had to go to extreme measures. People were talking about what we could do if we had to intubate him, but I kept telling myself: "No! We don't even need to talk about that...we're not going to have to do anything else. He's gonna be ok!" I was grasping for all the faith I could find in those difficult moments. "Please, God, don't let him die!" I prayed under my breath. 

The Haitian pastors continued to pray and a couple began to sing. And then, I looked over and Deuli had relaxed a bit. He was still working hard, but you could tell his little body was heading the right direction. A few more minutes passed and he continued to improve. I pinched his little foot to precipitate a cry and he took in a few good, deep breaths as he cried (I know it seems mean, but breathing was the biggest priority and it was necessary to get him some more oxygen in that situation). It was the best sound I had heard all night. It reminded me of the first cry a baby has at birth. Everyone waits for that sound to make sure their little lungs are working. So, it was such a relief to hear Deuli crying and to see him breathing a little more normally. He had made a quick turnaround. And I knew that it was only prayer and the grace of God that had pulled him through.

Me & Deuli, my miracle baby

I will never forget that night and the way that God met us there in that place...in a place without monitors, without oxygen, without all the medical equipment we depend on in the hospital. Sometimes all you can do is pray. And that is enough. Miracles do still happen.

My entire experience in Haiti was truly amazing! I loved the staff (especially working with my friends from Mercy Ships!), the Haitian nurses and translators who worked with us, the sweet little patients and their families, and even the weather (it was nice and cool at night). I met some really amazing people and bonded with them in a special way that you don't experience over one week's time back home and was encouraged by the servant's heart I saw in those around me...And of course, my faith grew in a HUGE way! Even though I was only in Haiti for a week, I saw things I had never seen before and I can honestly say that I came home a different person. What a great way to kick off the new year! :)

Our Peds Team