Nahomy

This week was yet another medical brigade success, gracias a Dios, with a group from Burnt Hickory in Atlanta. We went to Yarushin four days in a row, and saw over 850 patients. The Burnt Hickory group was smaller than others, but it was made up of hard workers that worked together extremely well, so even with 850 people seen we had a very smooth, stress-free four days! The two Honduran doctors (and one of them brought his wife who is his nurse) were INCREDIBLE, which assisted in the ease with which we passed the week. They were from other places in the country, and I hope that they both come to work with us again in the future. They both signed on last minute (which is a whole other story in and of itself about how God provides) but they were both so gracious to pick up and drive across Honduras to help us out.

My favorite story from this brigade is about a PRECIOUS 6 year old girl named Nahomy. When she heard that there was a medical brigade in town she told her grandmother “We have to go,” so thankfully they did. The doctor saw her and recognized immediately her pale skin, the white color of her mucous membranes (mouth, eyes), and the fact that her skin doesn’t blanch with pressure, and diagnosed her with anemia. Sweet Nahomy was so sick that she craves iron so badly that she eats dirt. She was embarrassed about that fact, but her hemoglobin level was 5.7 when it should be 12, which means her body was doing what it had to do to stay alive. She went to the hospital in March to receive a blood transfusion for the same thing, but they treated her anemia and not the parasites that are causing it, so here we are months later in the same situation. Dr. Mauricio did not hesitate to tell the family that she would die very soon if she does not get treated, so it needed to happen immediately.

Before blood transfusion

The doctor sent Nahomy to Santa Rosa with orders for lab work, and told them to return with the results. The next afternoon they returned with results that, in the U.S, would have kept you at the hospital. With multiple critical lab values, Jon, Dr. Mauricio, and I drove Nahomy, her mom, and grandmother right back to the hospital. (Did I mention how much Ioved these doctors? Having him at the hospital made everything go MUCH more smoothly.) We stayed to make sure she got admitted, discussed the plan of action with the pediatrician, and Dr. Mauricio—who is an ENT—extracted foreign objects out of two different kids’ noses.

Yesterday I went back to the hospital to check on her, and after only transfusing one unit of blood and a couple of days of antibiotics and parasite treatments, she looks worlds better. Her lab values have all come back to almost normal, and even her temperament has improved. She was a smiley, giggly little girl, whereas before she had been exhausted, scared, and miserable (understandably). I will keep following up with her, but it makes my heart happy to see such a quick, incredible improvement in a life that could possibly have been lost.

After

Also, I would like to point out the slight differences in hippa/hospital policies. I walked into the pediatric ward yesterday, visited the patient and talked to some of the other patients, asked for and was given her chart, and asked all sorts of questions about her care. Scrubs automatically make you so powerful here! Love it. Also, the fact that Dr. Mauricio was willing to treat a couple of patients at a random hospital was incredible to me, but also that the doctors there asked a man that they had never met to treat their patients is yet another factor that stands out.