Hospital Visits

Since I have been here, I have visited the hospital or the doctor on several occasions to help people from Quisqueya or to visit them.  These have included a mom with cancer, a little baby girl who was severly burned, a mom in need with a little baby with pneumonia and today, an Emanuel House little girl who has been in the hospital for just under a week.

Each time that I go, I am struck with the difference in health care, the incredible amount of people who are served through hospitals here, and the overall importance of good health care.  I know that I often hear about the US system and the debates about if it is good, how it could be better, etc., but truthfully, I am thankful for access to good, clean, cold, sterile hospitals and doctor´s offices in the States.  I am grateful for well-trained doctors, well constructed buildings with elevators, and promptness.

Today, I went to a pediatric hospital. It was one of the better places that I have visited, although like the others, it was warmer than a hospital should be.  We entered the room where there were probably about 20 beds of little kids sick, hooked up to machines and some even eating in their beds.  Yumercy, one of the special needs children from Emanuel House, was the child we were there to visit.  She sat on her grandmother´s lap as we entered.  She has never talked much to me, but it was clear that she wasn´t having such a great day today.  She wouldn´t eat today and she wouldn´t smile either.  The doctors are unsure of what exactly is wrong, but it seems that she has a tumor growing on her neck and each day it gets a little bigger.  While the growth doesn´t seem to hurt her, she is becoming less and less interested in eating solid food.  Unlike in the States, Yumercy is not hooked up to anything to help her get nutrients, she does not have her own room, and there is only one nurse that attends all of the children.

And in the midst of my visit, there were multiple people from a local church who came in holding their Bibles and praying charismatically for the patients and their families.  I have lived here now for 8 months and I´ve surprisingly gotten used to the different way of prayer, the almost desperateness of it, the multiple people speaking at once.  Today, it was comforting to hear the shouting and the praying.  I praise the Lord for His message: there is hope for those who believe.  

Surprisingly, I had the opportunity to meet 2 other children today that completely stole my heart.  I met them in other rooms that looked similar to the one that Yumercy is staying in.  Neither of them can walk.  Both of them were abandoned by their moms at the hospital and have just grown up there in cribs.  

One, Ezekiel, was a sweet, sweet boy.  At 2 years old, it seems that he has a liver problem.  His belly was so big.  But, with a huge smile on his face and many of the patients´ mothers willing to hold him and love on him, he seems to be doing okay.  Ezekial has been at the hospital since he was a few days old.  Today, I got to walk with him around the room until someone else stole him from me.  I praise the Lord for little moments to love on kids!

Then, on the way out of the hospital, I was introduced to Porfirio, a 3 year old who also cannot walk.  A charmer, we connected immediately and after just 5 minutes of talking to him and giving him butterfly kisses with my eye lashes, we fell in love.  Walking out of the door, I was told by Mirqueya´s sister that he was still staring as I walked away.  

I cannot imagine what the quality of life will be for Ezekiel and for Porfirio, who are growing up with nurses caring for them and mostly trapped in cribs.  Please pray for these two boys. Pray for them to be safe as it seems that anyone can walk into the hospital and hold them. Please pray for their future and that they would come to know the love of Christ one day.  Please pray that even in our short visit, they were able to feel God´s peace and love.

Wow!  Thinking about my quick trip to the capital today after church and the beds and beds of sick children in the hospital and their hurting parents, I am so grateful for the hope that we have in some place better than this.  I cannot imagine what Yumercy´s mom is going through.  The biopsy is on Thursday to see if the tumor is cancerous.  Please pray for Yumercy during this process.  She is a delicate child who is very loved by her mother, twin brothers and grandmother.  As you can imagine, her mom is worried. Please pray for healing and that she would find her strength in the Lord.  

I pray for protection over these little ones.  I pray that the Lord will have his arms firmly around these kids and their families as they are experiencing suffering and pain.  I pray that if they don´t already believe, that they would have hope that the Lord sees and He grieves as well and that one day there will be no more pain. 

This is little Ezekial that I met today at the Children´s hospital.  He has no family other than the nurses at the hospital, the mothers of those who come to visit, and the kids that sleep in cribs nearby.    

Ezekial and I took a walk back and forth and back and forth in the hospital room.  His legs are still not strong enough to stand on his own.  And, can you see his stomach?  It was hard as a rock!

Cynthia and her baby Escarlet are the two that I brought to the clinic about a month ago now when Escarlet was severly burned by boiling hot water on her face, arms, and stomach.  She is healing well although it looks like she will have scars. 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.