A whole lot of chaos...

• Earlier this week I posted a blog about a little bit of chaos...Well, as the week went on I think I fully upgraded to a whole lot of chaos...

• Okay, so the chaos that I caused trying to get home from the clinic on Monday was only the beginning. I had some requests to clarify that story...I think the shortest version is that it took Sheree's sister in Teguc., her mom, her pastor's wife, 2 nurses, and another guy at the clinic to get me home. I can explain when I get home...

• Tuesday and Wednesday were both busy in their own rights because Sheree's mom came with a group of highschoolers to help at the clinic. Sheree was sick all week, so I was busy looking out for the group, Sheree, and the patients.

• But really, chaos completely ensued on Thursday and Friday. The group did a complete overhaul (organizing, cleaning, painting) the emergencia both days. Thursday, after seeing a stack of patients, we started the project in the emergencia...and while people were starting around us in the emergencia I stopped to stick an IV in our dear doctor. I got her situated on a bed in the consult area, and then alternated between helping the group and giving her medications and fluids.

• But Friday really took the cake. The emergencia was completely inaccessible for patients on Friday, which turned out to be a major bummer. We had 4 patients come through ER that day. The first one was a young guy with swelling in his brain that we had to send off to the capital, but the other 3 patients were in my charge, scattered throughout the consultation area on every available bed. The first one was a 1 year old that was very dehydrated that I had to put an IV in (I hate poking the little ones). And the next one was a hypertensive uncontrolled diabetic (220/98), that I had to manage with IV labetalol. And the last one had me praying...she was a 28 year old gal, one week post-op with malaria, with a blood pressure in the 60s (that's bad). I literally stood at her bedside squeezing fluid into her and holding her hand for 2 hours before we could get her sent to the hospital. There's so much more that I could add but I know that this is a novel already...

• Last week had some truly amazing moments, but was definitely a whole lot of chaos...

Just a little bit of chaos...

This week has been pretty busy at the clinic. Sheree was gone for the first two days so I was on my own for the first part of the week. I had quite the adventure getting home from the clinic that first day...I caused quite a bit of confusion, but it was actually pretty funny once Conchita stopped worrying. Today was unbelievably busy and Sheree was really sick. She has been so sick all week that the last patient that I took care of today was her. I had to stick an IV in her and pump her full of fluids and phenergan, but she is feeling a little better now.

My mom has been asking for pictures of where I'm living so here are some pictures from around the house...

This is the view of the neighbors from the stairs up to Sheree's room.

This is the courtyard outside, and the door across the way is my room.

This is my room...I would have cleaned it before I took the picture but that doesn't sound like me now does it?

This is Mario and Daniel playing futbol in the courtyard.

This is me with Meli, Linda, Fernanda, and Vivian. We hung out together all weekend. They don't seem to mind that they have to repeat everything at least once before I understand. Children have a better understanding of unconditional love than most folks.

So these are the devils...

I have lost an awful lot of sleep to these fellas...

You can't see all of them, but there were nine. NINE yapping puppies outside my windows that don't shut...EVERYNIGHT. Now there are only eight, we had a bit of an accident last week. It might have been sad, but Sheree's mom and I have discussed forming a hunting party to make the number zero. : )

Another picture of the little rascals...which now that I am getting more accustomed to the noise, they are starting to get kind of cute.

These are only part of the herd of chickens/roosters that chime in with the puppies. I call them broken roosters because they crow at 3pm, 1 am, whenever...their clocks are broken.

More Pictures from Semana Santa

More pictures from our trip to the lake...

Kayaking with my friend Diliam

From left to right: Karla, Diliam, Sheree (who they call Fresa), Daniel, and Lety.... just hanging out at the river. I am kicking back in the hammock behind Karla.

Daniel and Sheree

This is everyone eating together for Father's day which they celebrated last Wednesday.

This was just an awesome photo that I had to share.

Semana Santa

This week is Semana Santa, or Holy Week, and virtually the entire country takes vacation. I went with the family to Lake Yojoa...about 7 hours away from Catacamas. There were 11 of us in a cabin approximately 10ft x 10ft... we were practically sleeping on top of each other but we had a blast. It was a really great time for me to get to know them better. We did devotions and prayed together every night, and laughed and played hard together all day.

Lake Yojoa

Conchita and Roldan are the parents of the family...they are both genuinely nice people.
This is my pal Daniel at the hot springs, he is 12, and he speaks some English...he's one of my best buds here.
We went to these amazing waterfalls and Mario, Diliam, and I went down behind the waterfall. It was a truly exhilirating experience...A little scary for me because my contacts folded and I couldn't see anything. Diliam had to take my hand and I literally had to be led blindly over a bunch of boulders. But when we got behind the waterfalls and I could see again, it was truly an amazing experience, well worth the journey.
Some of the family from left to right: Karely, Sheree, Linda Sheree, Diliam, Me, and Mario.

Clinic Staff

Thanks to all of you for your prayers this last week. Last week was a tough one. I am feeling much better, and I think that I will just put that one behind me. We've been working hard all week getting everything all tied up for Semana Santa (Holy Week), next week. The whole country shuts down and takes a holiday, and I think we are headed off to a lake somewhere.

I wanted to post some pictures of the clinic staff. They are truly awesome people.

This is Sheree with Gina ( a medical intern). They are our "doctoras" or lady physicians.

This is Cynthia (the only licensed nurse at the clinic) with Lupe (one of the lab techs).

Left to right: Yadira & Ivis are nurses trained by the clinic, Maria in the back is in charge of the lab, and Gloria Maria is a pharmacist.

Prayer Requests

Last week was a pretty tough week...

The clinic here is really busy and there are a lot of heartbreaking cases. Last friday I took care of a 20 year old that was shot pretty bad and is probably not going to make it because the health care is just not the same here as in the states. And then an hour later I took care of a little 7 year old girl with HIV that was crying in pain and it broke my heart in two. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be born into life with a death sentence already. That is a very hard life. Why does one person suffer something that someone else does not? Only God knows. I spent a lot of time reading Lamentations again this week and I Thank God that there is more than this life to live for. It was a good reminder that God has been very gracious to us, and that every day and every joy should not be taken lightly.

Also, I was really sick all week. I'm still not well, and am just praying for the day when I can eat some food again. You can pray for me that I will get better soon. You can also continue to pray for my spanish skills. I am able to help out with the work here, but I would really like to learn more so that I can communicate better.

Caballeros

Caballero is spanish for cowboy. A large portion of Olancho is agricultural... they are no strangers to horses and cowboys. Sheree has a horse and so we go to the stables almost everyday to burn off a little of the day's work at the clinic. Today alone, Sheree saw 50 patients and delivered a baby.

This is the view of the area from the stables.
Some of you have asked what Sheree looks like. She is the one in the cowboy hat. I will try to corner her soon when she's in her white lab coat...it's a totally different picture.
This is Mary Kay, a friend of Sheree's that has been visiting this week from the San Pedro Sula area of Honduras. The little girl with her is Amly, an adorable 4 year old that wanted to come with Mary Kay to ride the horse.