Outcomes?

BY MARK

La Gonave is an island that sits in the middle of the u-shaped land mass called Haiti.  There are several facilities providing wonderful services there but still the basic needs there are greater than the supply.  For someone to come to our clinic in St Ard, Haiti from the island of La Gonave, the individual would need to pay for passage on a small sailing vessel, spend a few hours on the sea, disembark, walk to the road to find public transportation, be deposited near our clinic, and walk or ride a motorcycle the last ¼ mile to our clinic door.  The journey is long and arduous, but yet each week we have a few patients who make the trek to seek medical attention at our small hospital.  

Such was the case during the last Monday in August.  Kathy and I had arrived at the clinic as we usually do, prior to the arrival of the bulk of the staff, waiting for our caffeine to allow us to function.  As the number of waiting patients grew, one of the employees, who arrived a bit early, asked if I would see a patient from La Gonave because he was unsure if she should wait for the rest of the staff to arrive.  Assuring my caffeine level was adequate, I agreed, and discovered a 34-year-old lady accompanied by two family members from the island, sitting in a chair gasping for breath.  With assistance, Marie (not her real name) walked to a bed and was lifted onto it by myself and her accompanying male family member.  She refused to lie down as she said that reclining “took her breath”. 

The story then unfolded that a little over 3 weeks prior, Marie had given birth to her fourth child, who suddenly appeared in the room in the loving arms of her aunt.  He was a beautiful, perfect little boy weighing about 6 pounds with a fair amount of hair and bright eyes.  Since the birth, however, Marie reportedly had been unable to urinate, had felt terrible and was swollen.  She was covered in sweat, had lower back pain, had very high blood pressure and her lungs were crackling with every breath.  I asked one of our nurses for some medicine, and she said we didn’t have any in that category.  I asked for another med and she said we were out of it also, because we couldn’t get them this month in Port au Prince.  So, frustrated, I was relegated to oral medicine (diurectics) and finally found one vial of another med that could be helpful.  We were able to get her a bit more comfortable after a few hours, but still were not sure how well she could make the trip to a more major hospital in Port au Prince.  Marie breathlessly said over and over that she had no money for her hospital stay, so we forwarded some cash with her, some medicine, sheets, and a few supplies, and her family loaded her in the back of an open pick-up truck bed and headed toward Port au Prince.   

I don’t know, nor may I ever know, if Marie survives today, which would also impact the viability of her newborn, nursing baby boy.  We (our whole staff) did the best we could but often, for us, as on the island of LaGonave, our demand is much greater than our supply: our supply of medicine; our supply of appropriate equipment; our supply of expertise; or our supply of finances to help her. This was a gut check on how far we need to go.  We want to be able to care for those who need us, and daily we find we do not have “something” that we need for someone. 

It is wonderful that we serve a God who always has a supply that is greater than our demand.  He has a surplus of hope. He has an abundance of love.  He has more support for us than we can ever imagine.  I can only reach out for that endless supply of the hope of God, and pray for the best outcome for Marie and for her child.  The outcome is beyond me, but well within the grasp of the One who can assist each of us.  We strive to improve what we do each day at the hospital, so that when the next “Marie” comes to us, we can be better prepared. Maybe, just maybe, the same Marie will come back to us again… for a check-up for her baby.

John 14:14  “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” (now that’s hope!)