Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

It’s hard to sum up my first few days at Herbertpur in a short blog entry, but I think this well-known phrase describes some of my emotions pretty well! There are a lot of new things to get used to here. Such as, the electricity goes out all of the time- at least several times per day! There is no hot water, so I was given an immersion stick to put in a bucket for at least 30 minutes in order to heat it up and bathe with (although this doesn’t work so well when the power is out…). The food also takes getting used to- definitely not the American-style portion size and array of choices! Ex: dinner tonight was bananas and roti (basically a fried tortilla). I’ve been praising my jar of peanut butter! =) There are, of course, many other little things that are taking me out of my comfort zone- but that’s not what I want to focus on.

Far beyond all of these little daily challenges, is a group of people who are so dedicated to serving the Lord and serving the people in this community. I am humbled by their hard work, joy for service, and contentment. The first case I saw in the hospital was a 22 y/o female with eclampsia who had an intra-uterine fetal demise due to her seizures; she had not received any prenatal care, and the family had sought out traditional medicine when she started becoming delirious and having seizures. She was finally brought to Herbertpur, but the fetus was found dead. In only two days, I had seen 3 intra-uterine fetal demises due to preeclampsia/eclampsia. Soon after seeing this woman, we walked into the newborn area to see a premature little girl who had been abandoned at the hospital gate earlier that morning. She weighed only 1500 grams, but she was beautiful! We can only guess at the reasons for abandonment – female baby, unmarried mother, poverty? But thankfully she will receive good care at the hospital and hopefully find a family to live with.

Today, I saw something I never could have imagined. A man had disseminated tuberculosis causing a severe bowel obstruction. He had been constipated for 5 months. The man was SO emanciated, it was dreadful. They took him to the operating theater (what they call their OR here), and the man couldn't straighten his right knee on the table. He screamed and cried with the effort- they said he had a "TB joint". When they opened his bowel- I was shocked at how distended and angry-looking it was. Unfortunately, as they were operating on him he crashed. He had no cardiac rhythm so they started doing CPR. Here I was looking at a frail man with his small and large bowel hanging out of his stomach while a doctor was doing chest compressions. They couldn't save him so they attempted to decompress his bowel through an incision (such a foul smell!) and they sewed him back up. I've learned about disseminated TB back home, but it is everywhere here.

A little more about the compound: Although Herbertpur is a 100-bed hospital, basically each ward is made up of a large room containing 20+ beds in them. It is crowded so patient privacy is difficult, sanitation is far from what I’m used to in the states, and the practices of the midwives, nursing staff, and some physicians is very different. I’m realizing that not only can I learn a lot from what is happening here, but maybe I can also share some ideas from my own practice with medicine and patient care.

I want to end with a verse from Philippians. A couple of nights ago, I was exhausted after a very long and very cold day at the hospital. I came back to my room around 9:30 pm and just wanted to turn on my space heater and immersion heater in order to put a hot water bottle in my bed and then go to sleep. As soon as I walk in the door, the power went out. It stayed out for about 45 minutes. I was cold and exhausted and just thought- please God turn on the power, I need warmth! I need sleep! I got my headlamp out and started reading in the book of Philippians and this was the verse I stumbled upon:

“Rejoice in the Lord always…, The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peaces of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus”
Philippians 4:4-7

I just stopped- how quickly I can get discouraged and upset! But Paul reminds us in this letter that we don’t have to be anxious about anything because God is in control and He will provide for us. I think I will need to come back to this verse many times over the next 6 weeks, but I really am thankful for a chance to learn what it means to really depend on Him for strength!

Prayer Requests:
- Dependence on God for contentment, joy, and strength. Please pray that I will have a good attitude about the things that don't go as planned, and that I will be able to see God at work in all situations.
- Continued good health. I came down with an icky cold, but nothing worse so far! Just some sniffles.
- For the staff and students at Herbertpur: Renewal, rest, and joy in their work here. Also, that in the midst of their hectic schedules they would remember to minister to not only the health needs of the people here, but their spiritual needs as well.

Praises:
- I met two really wonderful nurses here that will hopefully provide some companionship while I’m here.
- There was a visiting OB from Texas this week, and a husband and wife from Maine who represent an organization called “Grace Babies” – a great organization aimed at educating mothers and midwifes about prenatal and postnatal care. These 3 people have been a great resource for questions and support as well as encouragement. They left today, but it was great meeting them!