The child I accompanied last week is doing well. He was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. The local contact person from the Marco Island Rotary Club who paid for the surgery, was working the polls and was unable to come for us on Tuesday. We could have spent the night in the clubhouse (like a Ronald McDonald House), but as life has a way of working out, my parents were on vacation in Florida and were willing to come for us. It was great to see them! How grateful I am for them. They were able to help me figure out the directions and measure the medications he needed that evening. They reminded me that they had done this before (36 years earlier my own twin sister, who was an infant had a similar surgery herself.)
It was a privilege to spent time with this little boy. On Friday we returned to the hospital for a check up. I translated for him when the doctors told him he is fine, all is well. When he asked me in Creole if he is no longer sick and I could tell him, "wi, ou pa malad," I almost cried tears of joy. I was touched by the kindness of the people. The hospital staff who worked hard to find foods that he would eat, the woman behind the counter at Publix who was Haitian who gave him a piece of chicken to try, and thanked me for helping her people, the security guard at the hospital who because I had the bracelet on that parents usually wear, told me I did not have to wait in line because I need to save my energy for my child, the couple from the Rotary Club who sacrificed to take us around, my parents who donated the use of their condo and were so helpful during their own vacation. The little boy himself, the courage he had to come to a foreign land with strangers and the hope of getting better.
I am also feeling better. As I had been sick the previous week, spending time with one sick child mostly in air conditioned places in the cooler (than Haiti) weather up North in Florida, was good for my recovery from those parasites and amebas that were living in me. I am also grateful to the doctor in Naples who saw me for free for follow up based on my lab results from Haiti. I am still taking the antibiotic but have felt fine for a week now.
The week went quickly. I returned to Haiti yesterday. Hurricane Tomas, had come through the area the day before, but it was not nearly as severe as some predicted or feared it would be. On the way from the airport to NPH we did have to drive through some very large puddles, but otherwise there was not any apparent damage on the route that we took. Apparently other areas of the country did get heavier rains which caused some problems. It seems too that at least at this point, from what I have heard, the Cholera has not really reached this area in epidemic proportions, let us hope and pray it stays that way.
I hope that you are well. Many Blessings!Take care.
Love, Kathleen
(Is that better? I did get accurate feedback that the previous entry ended kind of abruptly.)
No comments:
Post a Comment