Blanca

This was my physical therapy clinic last week.

Unfortunately, it also doubled as an ICU/step down unit for a majority of the week.  When we got to clinic on Tuesday, there was a lady lying on a bench outside.  She was clearly very sick and in distress.  Our team leader is an ER doctor in the US and immediately jumped into action.  Blanca was her name, and they found out she was septic, likely from a kidney infection.  She needed IV fluids and antibiotics ASAP.  They brought her into my room because it was the only area available that had a mat and space to set up the IV.  She had been sick for 5 days.  She had travelled to a medical clinic of some sort, but they had told her she had a virus and sent her home to drink fluids.

Rewind 2 days.  We're unloading our equipment and supplies to set up our clinic for the week in Guitierez Nortes.  Dr. Ries finds out that we don't have any IV fluids.  In my 3 previous years, I have never seen a team use any IV fluids, but they always use it as a scare tactic to make sure everyone drinks enough water - "if you get too dehydrated, the youngest member of the team starts your IV line" sort of thing.  So they do keep some on hand, just in case one of us gringos forgets to drink water.  So Dr. Ries asks Rolando, our Nicaraguan GHO contact, if we can get some.  Rolando travelled back to Managua on Monday and brought back several bottles of IV fluids.  We found Blanca on Tuesday morning.  Her blood sugar was all out of whack as well.  One of the doctors on the team, who is a urologist, randomly put a bunch of insulin syringes in his supply kit for this trip - not something he typically uses, but something that was vital for treating Blanca this week.  I serve a God who sees and a God who provides.

I continued to treat outside my room (PT al fresco, my favorite!) or just inside the door.  Since I was there, I kept an eye on Blanca and made sure everything was going okay.  I'd go grab the doctor when she had completed one medicine or one bag.  By the end of Tuesday, she looked a lot better and was able to walk out of the clinic.  They asked her to come back each morning for more fluids and meds.  Wednesday, she looked great.  I helped her get from the bed to the chair to sit up a bit (acute care PT in Nicaragua - who would have thought!).  Dr. Ries told her the story of the IV bags and encouraged her that God had saved her and had a plan for her life.  He also encouraged her to tell people what God had done.  She walked out of my clinic on Wednesday afternoon before I had a chance to see her or say goodbye for the day.  About 20-30mins after she had gone, I wondered out loud to my translator how Blanca was doing.  He told me she was just outside still - she was standing and talking to all the women who had kind of collected outside of the clinic and was telling them the story of what God had done!  I was amazed not only that she was telling the story, but that she had the strength to stand and talk for that long! 

So Thursday came.  Blanca didn't look as well.  She was nauseous and really warm.  I couldn't find Dr. Ries, but found our medical director, Dr. Fryman who came in and switched up her meds.  She still looked rough.  One of our nursing students took her temperature, and it was over 100deg.  They told her she could go to the hospital in Managua (over 2 hours away) or come back Friday morning and see how she did overnight.  Apparently, sometimes septic patients can have a fever that goes up again before it goes down.  She decided to rest that night and come back to see us Friday morning.

Blanca came back Friday, and she looked beautiful!  All of her vitals were completely normal.  Her labs we could draw were good.  God saved her.

One of my co-workers asked me if I'd seen any interesting PT cases or people while in Nicaragua.  I could only think of Blanca.  She wasn't even my patient, technically, but I watched God perform a miracle in her life, so she will always be the most memorable story from this trip.

Ungrounded

Hi friends,

I have struggled to write this letter for the past few weeks as it's hard to explain where my heart is with missions, but I would like to ask for prayer.  I leave for a short term medical mission project to Nicaragua tomorrow, Saturday, March 3rd and will be there through the 11th.  I am going with the Christian Medical and Dental Association's Global Health Outreach, a group I travelled with three times in PT school.

In 2014, I took the next step towards hopefully being a career missionary PT by going to serve at a mission hospital in Kenya for a month.  This trip was very difficult and turned many of my ideas about missions and dreams upside down.  The past 4 years, I have struggled with missions, especially short term missions, as I fear they can do more harm than good.  That door, like most other doors in my life at the time, all seemed to close.  That part of my heart just seemed to go dark.

As I read through my previous post, I guess it started last summer.  A little stirring at church.  While other doors remained closed, glimpses of hope started coming from the missions corner and old passions started re-kindling, but I was so hesitant of what to do with that.  Afterall, it had all disintegrated so quickly in Kenya.

Last fall, I looked into possible trips with GHO and MEI, both missions divisions of the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA).  But that's where it stopped - just a few emails and no decision or release to really go.

Before Christmas, I drove through the snow to meet one of my best friends for some Christmas shopping.  She's a PTA, a Christian, and former co-worker, but has told me on several occasions she preferred staying here - missions was not her thing (I'm pretty sure I recall saying that exact same thing prior to being asked on my first Czech mission trip...dangerous words :) ).  One of the first things she told me was that she was going to Nicaragua to a medical clinic on a mission trip in March with her church.  We spent the rest of the weekend talking about Nicaragua and reading through her prep materials.  I drove the 2.5 hours home, still thinking about Nicaragua.  When I got home, I checked my phone as I got out of the car.  I had a message from Dr. Ries asking if I was up for his trip to Nicaragua in March - he still didn't have a PT and would love to have me.

I signed up the next day.

I have had reservations about the trip, but I feel like God opened the door and kicked me through it, much like He did for Czech in college, so here I go.  In these last few days of prep, I have been excited.  I trust this organization to work with local groups and people, so our impact echoes past our time there.  My biggest prayer is that I will love these Nicaraguan people well, seek to understand and come along side them, NOT sweep in as the American who can save the day.  While I also have many personal prayers regarding my life and direction once I return, I don't want that to distract me from being present there and Christ shining through me. 

I write all of this to ask you to come alongside me in prayer this next week while I am in Nicaragua.  I'll keep you posted as I am able next week, but likely we'll catch up once I return.