July 11, 2011

Today was INSANE. I prescribed my first medication and performed a minor surgery (if you can even call it that!) 

Levensky felt better this morning, but by the time we got back to the orphanage, he had a fever of 101. 
I simply was out of other options. Narrowing down the cause of his fever, I decided to try amoxicillin. I was able to explain to his "Mama" about the dosage with the help of Dou Dou and by the end of the day he seemed to be feeling better. 

We started out the morning with VBS going really well and the children loving everything we had planned. Getting them to pay attention and sit still, however, was like trying to heard cats! 

ESL classes came next and were a complete disaster. The interpreter, who had proposed to me during VBS, was more interested in showing HIS English skills than in helping the kids. By the end of the hour our team's nerves were completely shot. Looking back on the situation, it was really funny, but in the heat and language barrier, it didn't seem funny at the time. 

Right before we were about to leave this afternoon, Erica brought a little girl to me with a large abscess over her left eye. It was so large that her eye was swollen completely shut. It looked like the source of the injury was a bite of some sort,  but to be honest with you I wasn't completely positive.

 I was scared that the pressure from the swelling would hurt her eye, so I made the decision to try and lance it. And yes, just like the IV, I had never done this before either. God gave me a sense of peace about it and my fear vanished. I knew that I had to help her and keep her eye healthy. 

With Dou Dou and Erica by my side, all gowned and masked, I lanced the sore and drained the infection fluid. I couldn't believe how bad it really was and I grew very thankful that I had gone with my gut instinct. I went ahead and prescribed some amoxicillin for her to fight the infection, but honestly I'm not completely convinced it will do the trick. For those of you medical people out there, what are the symptoms of herpes of the eye, and what is the treatment?

It saddens me to say that I think this is even a possibility, but honestly with what these kids have been through, it wouldn't surprise me.

Keep her in your prayers as she battles this infection. Pray that God will heal not only her wound, but also her past.

In Christ,
Lisa

PS. On a brighter note, Dou Dou brought us Haitian bananas this morning...YUM!