Confessions of a Radiologist in Haiti

Confessions of a Radiologist in Haiti
-How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Mebendazole-

For years I have told people that one should, in order to progress as a person, get out of one’s comfort zone. Well, I can now announce to the world that I have done so. Boy, have I ever! After more than 20 years of reading MRI’s CAT scans, mammograms, X-rays, etc. and seldom examining a patient, let alone in a tropical setting, I have just spent the last four days desperately trying to interview, examine, diagnose and treat a never-ending stream of people here in Haiti, of all sizes, ages and degrees of illness. Did I mention I know only three phrases of Creole? And that any training in tropical medicine I had was at least 25 years ago? Oh---and the only diagnostic tools I had were stethoscope, otoscope and ophthalmoscope which I haven’t picked up in years? And that we worked either under HOT tarps or in HOT, rubble-strewn concrete rooms using tables and chairs we brought with us on the beat-up old school bus we traveled in? And that the only drugs we had were the ones we bought at the giant pharmacy in downtown Port-au-Prince the first full day here? And that I will never know if any of the diagnoses I made were anywhere near correct or the treatments I prescribed were appropriate? Did I mention it gets HOT and HUMID here? It’s enough to make a radiologist want to crawl into one of the darkrooms we used to have (before the digital age when everything went computerized!) and just curl up in a ball!

But even with all the stress, this has been one of the greatest experiences of my life thus far. Dr. Milem and I have worked with three Haitian doctors and I do believe we have made a positive, if only temporary, difference in the lives of nearly two thousand Haitians. We have seen everyone from tiny infants to elderly frail men and women. Most suffer from relatively minor maladies such as parasites( hence my new-found love for mebendazole), gynecologic infections, nutrition-related issues such as anemia, and a variety of skin conditions made worse by the dirty humid environment in which they live. We did see one apparently starving infant whose mother had abandoned it and a couple of male patients with large hernias needing surgery. Obviously we could not do real surgery, but Dr. Milem did stitch up some lacerations and drain an armpit abscess.

Of course, diagnosis was for me (and I suspect for Dr. Milem) mostly based on what each patient said through the interpreter. There was no time for detailed questioning or physical exam (and no privacy or exam table anyway). The result was a lot of guessing and a lot of treating-- to the extent we could with limited pharmacy—for several possible diagnoses.

I can’t speak for Dr. Milem, but the people I saw were slightly healthier than I had anticipated. That is NOT to say they are thriving---far from it. They are desperately poor, with no money whatsoever for even basic medical care, let alone something major like surgery. Perhaps just as importantly, the public health system could really not be much worse, with no reliable clean water system, no sewage system, no good mechanism for following patients on a regular basis (and this was true even before the earthquake). We in the U.S. never even think about these things, but I believe they may be more important for the general health of the population than what we doctors do. There are Haitian doctors, but not enough, and in a cash-on-the-barrelhead system, a person with no money gets no medical care.

We met dozens of patients who had been injured or lost family members in the earthquake, though the serious quake injuries have by now resolved one way or another. I spoke with several whom I know were clinically depressed because of these losses, but all I could do was convey my sorrow to them through the interpreter.

In spite of everything, I was and continue to be struck by the dignity and calm demeanor exhibited by even the poorest of the people we encountered.

After almost a week here, I have come to believe that Charles and I have indeed done some good, and that even a radiologist—though with only a few weeks of feverishly studying tropical medicine books and learning about worms, scabies, malaria, etc etc---can make things better in some small way.

I am grateful to everyone at Bellevue who allowed me to come along on this trip, and to Jerry Cheatham and everyone at Mission Support International who welcomed me, fed me, and helped me, at least partially, to expand my comfort zone to include Haiti. Their love for God and for the people of Haiti is a marvel to behold.

John Mulligan MD

"Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples"
1 Chronicles 16:23-24

June 17th - Hey folks it’s HOT!!

PAYER REQUEST:
-Please pray for our team a few are feeling a little nauseated.
-Please pray that the Holy Spirit continues to use us to further his kingdom in a mighty way.

PRAISES:
-We saw 501 patients at clinic today.
-We had at least 10 people saved today! One was a witch doctor, how about that, God works in funny ways.

Update:
Today we got up early and had an early morning devotion before breakfast. We loaded up the buses and headed to Pastor Keeno’s church and had a medical clinic we saw so many people in desperate need but they were so loving and kind and waited patiently for their turn to be seen very busy day but such a glorious day for Jesus 10 new souls were won today. We packed up the bus to leave and Pastor Keeno came on the bus and prayed for us it was very touching and special. We arrived back at the guest house in time for a quick shower and a bite to eat and out to a crusade to hear Pastor Shaun preach the Haitian people seem to be a loving group of folks in a desperate situation I ask you all to pray that God will help us all sort through the emotions we are all feeling. God is truly at work here and I’m proud to be here sewing seeds for him to harvest.

Scripture for the day: Psalm 27:11
Point me down your highway, God direct me along a well-lighted street.

God Bless you All
Beth Smith

June 16, 2010

Prayer Requests:
-Continue to pray that the Holy Spirit moves throughout Haiti and its people.
-Tomorrow some team members are going to orphanages so pray that the children experience the love of Jesus through the team.

Praises:
We saw over 400 people in the clinic today and 30 prayed to receive Christ!!! BENISWA LETENEL!!! (Praise the Lord)

Day 4 Update:
Before we talk about today we wanted to share that Riztha (the beautiful 17 year old interpreter) stayed the night with us girls. She is a precious precious young woman and lives in a tent with her grandmother, uncle, aunt, and baby cousin. Both parents are dead. We stayed up past midnight laughing and talking with her. She opened up like never before and felt like one of us. We all made a special connection with her that night.

With that said…today was another successful clinic. When we first arrived the host church had decorated with balloons and posters and a little girl with flowers said, “Welcome to you all,” as we got off the bus. It brought several of us to tears. There was one very special little boy that we had an opportunity to help. He was brought in with a very LARGE hernia and would need surgery. We were able to provide the funds for his surgery, which was 1,000 U.S. dollars. This was a major praise for the day!!

After returning to the guest house and devouring another delicious Haitian meal of… (well, we’re not quite sure, but it was GOOD) we piled on the bus to head to the crusade! Jerry preached a powerful message to the Haitians and they were very welcoming of us. The experience of worshiping with the Haitian people is something we’ll never forget. They offer themselves completely to the Lord in praise and adoration and it’s truly inspiring. These people have been through so much and yet they still choose to praise the Lord. We all can learn from that. One thing we loved about tonight were the Haitian girls playing with our “white people hair.” One girl in particular with big ol’ dimples would stroke our hair so sweetly and through the language barrier there was love expressed. OH and to top the night off, some of us played in the rain! Like they say, ‘when in Haiti, do as the Haitians do.’ It’s really difficult for us to put into words what we’ve experienced so far so we’ll leave you with some pictures……

Meredith McKinley and Hayley Boultinghouse

Day 3 - Tuesday June 15th 2010

Prayer Requests:
*First and foremost—ALL of the Haitian people and that the Holy Spirit is working hard in their lives.
*Protection for our missionaries in the field.

Praises: Many people accepted our Lord as their personal Savior today!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Today started out well with waking with the roosters (and boy are they early risers.) Brother Harley lead our morning devotional, then breakfast with those good ole eggs with peas, oatmeal, ham, watermelon. The fruit definitely puts a smile on our faces. After breakfast, we loaded the bus with all of the supplies, we’ve learned a system (for all of us newbies), we stand in a line and pass everything. I know, such a modern idea, huh, well it actually works really well. Once we got the bus loaded with supplies, we packed SO MANY people on that bus, that I was sure the tires would blow! They didn’t though, and we made it to the site of the first clinic. Today’s clinic site was a church whose building “broke” during the earthquake. So we had to use a school, which resulted in a “Snow Day” for the kids and it was only 100 degrees. This particular church lost many of their members, so they chopped up the pews to make coffins for their loved ones, but God has blessed them with new pews made by another organization. Most of us did not know what we were doing in the clinic, which made it very chaotic in the beginning, but we eventually all fell into a good routine and it worked! We were able to see approximately 445 people today! It was great, but the best part of the clinic was that approximately 15 people gave their life to Christ today!!!! What an awesome thing! The youngest about 10yrs old, her name was Lovely. She absolutely carved a spot in Debbie’s heart, she was the lucky one that got to lead her to Christ. It has put her on a “high” today! We did have a little problem with Satan’s attempt to disrupt the clinic, but our wonderful guards and our Mighty Savior always kept us TOTALLY safe. I need to just take a moment to say that we have a bus driver that can drive a yellow school bus like it’s a Honda Accord! He can fit that bus into the smallest spaces, I’ve never seen anything like it! It was a HOT day today, so we were all exhausted when we returned home from the clinic. Dinner was ready by our fabulous Marilyn, we had fish, mashed potatoes, lasagna, and salad. When we finished dinner and were getting ready for our second crusade, it started to rain. It was a blessed site! Even though we ran out of water IN the house, we had tons of it OUTSIDE of the house. The rain did eventually fade off, so we all loaded the bus to hit the crusade, but when we arrived, it was raining there, so we were not able to have the crusade tonight, bummer! At the crusade last night, I was so touched to see all of the Haitian people praising God with their tents off in the background. To come in contact with people who don’t have meals to eat or even a glimpse of a brighter future on this earth, it overwhelms me to witness their praises, their smiles, their filling of the Holy Spirit. Well that pretty much ends this day, please keep on praying for these people who desperately need it, and for our group as we need it also!

Holly Johnson & Debbie Willoughby

2nd Update From Haiti Team!

Prayer Requests:
*Pastor CJ’s father’s eye.
*Trisha’s sister who just had a baby.
*Oklahoma Baptist disaster relief team… we flew in with them to Haiti.

6/14/10 Day 2:

Today was our second day in Haiti. We woke up early, around six, to get our day started. After a devotion time with Pastor Harley we went down for breakfast. We had what I thought was an excellent meal. Eggs with peas and corn in it (YUM), croissants, fruit, and ham and cheese. After the meal we split up. We needed a lot of people to stay at the guest house to sort through all the supplies we brought with us. A few of us went to downtown Port au Prince to the pharmacy to get the prescriptions we needed. I went to the pharmacy with the nurses and doctors. Downtown was a different side of Haiti that I had never seen. The streets were flooded with people, so much so that the bus would barely squeak by. When we arrived, those of us that were not doctors or nurses stayed in the main area of the building. The medical people went into the back to gather up all the medicine we needed. They bought around $15,000 dollars worth of medicine, so we were standing in the lobby for about three hours. We were able to talk to different Haitians and see how their market system works. When we finally loaded up, we began our drive to a grocery. On the way was where I saw the first signs of real earthquake devastation. Massive buildings reduced to rubble, piles of rebar and concrete filled the streets. There were also large neighborhood like groups of tents for those whos houses suffered damage during the earthquake. The number of tents was too numerous to count. They were pretty much as far as the eye could see. This type of tragedy makes you stop and think about how great we really have it. It also was a sad statement towards the fact that the devastation was terrible, but in a lot of places you don’t really notice a difference. That’s how bad they have it. This was a sad site that I and the others will not soon forget.
Besides those who went downtown to get supplies, those who stayed at the compound sorted through luggage which contained clothes, toys, balls, food, crafts and games, and certain medicines. There were tons of pillow case dresses for girls and cars for boys. About 10 of the girls got their hair braided and twisted by 3 Haitian women. It was a cool experience to see Haitians talents put to work in such a dynamic and similar way of those in America who possess those same talents. As many were getting their hair braided a group was downstairs getting to know a couple of our translators. They quickly started listing songs that were familiar to both them and the translators. They sang together for almost two hours and it was beautiful to hear them harmonize together not just as two different ethnicities but as one in a sense in concordance as God’s children. As that group waited for the downtown group to return, they figured out their specific tasks for the next day at the medical clinic. After the group returned we prepared for dinner and a crusade. Dinner consisted of rice, cole slaw, barbeque chicken legs, plantains(basically bananas), and fruit. After dinner we headed out to the crusade. The crusade was held in a tent camp but many outside of the camp came also. There were about 150-200 people there. At first you could tell many in our group were very hesitant to interact with the Haitians, but quickly you could see each individual become more and more comfortable with their surroundings. Many people started to flock and many of us experienced a new type of worship. Both women and men danced and threw their arms in the air in praise and adoration to God. It was so beautiful to be within such a broken country and witness such peace and happiness in the middle of it. Many of our group also had their first interaction with Haitian children. They danced, held, sang, and took pictures with the children. Pastor Harley spoke with C.J. as his translator. He shared the story of Nicodemus and the sending of Christ for our sin. (John 3:16). He also assured the crowd that the only way to heaven was through Jesus Christ. It was neat to see such a unique group of people interact with the word of God in so many different ways. After Pastor Harley spoke and goodbyes were given, we loaded the bus and headed and back. As we rode the bumpy streets back, many sang hymns. We passed many Haitians on the street and hopefully they could hear our group singing the hymns. Maybe even a few seeds were planted. Well, we are going to celebrate with one of the Haitian house ladies for her birthday. Marylynn is 30 today. Continue to keep all of us in your hearts and prayers. Until next time Cya!

Ryan Poirier and Ashlea Hollon

1st Day In Haiti!

Prayer requests:
* Boldness and strength for what God has in store!
* Carolyn just found out her daughter in law is in hospital for problems with pregnancy.

Praises:
We made it! It was a rough flight in to Port au Prince!

Update:
Very tiring day…we already see God at work here.


Saturday night we loaded up and left Bellevue at 6pm and arrived at the Super 8 at around 8:30 pm in Nashville. We grabbed a late meal at The Waffle House, our waitress was from Baltimore, go figure, head south and meet a yankee. We were able to get a few hours of sleep once we got settled. Our wake up call was for 2:30 am. All twenty-three of us loaded on one Church van and headed to the airport around 3:30am. Everything there went very smooth, and the flight to Miami was painless. We arrived in Miami ahead of schedule a few minutes before nine, were we relaxed until our flight left Miami at about 1:45 pm. The flight in was a little nerve racking, there was some unexpected turbulence, but we arrived safely. So we unloaded and worked our way through the Port au Prince customs (nothing like the USA). After we spent a good hour searching for all of our bags we loaded up the bus. Once we got out of customs we had our first encounter with the Haiti we have been hearing about. It was scary, sad and exciting at the same time. Words cannot really describe the sight of our group walking through the Port au Price gates past the needy people begging to help with our luggage. We made our way through the crowd were the body guards kept a perimeter around us while the pastor and his friends helped throw all of our luggage onto the back of the big yellow school bus (from Christian County – go figure). We then proceeded to head through town to the guest house (compound). Through town there are collapsed & shattered buildings. In and on the streets you see piles of rubble where residents have cleared their lots with the hope the government will come take the rubble away. This made it very difficult to move through the streets but again God gave us another safe journey. After arriving at the compound we unloaded the bus and made our way through the beautiful complex. We all claimed our resting places then gathered in the dinning hall where we ate a wonderful meal cooked by Marilyn and others. After dinner we met on the terrace to talk about tomorrow’s plan and prayed. Everyone is settling in now around 9 pm and letting there family members know we arrived safely. Praise God for our safe travel and continue to pray for us and for the thousands of people we will encounter this week.

Jordan Gray

Haiti Team Departure...

Family and friends gathered Saturday evening June 12th to send off the Bellevue Haiti mission team. The send off prayer was given by Dr. Angus McKinley. The team was excited and in very high spirits! They will be meeting up with the group headed by Jerry Cheetem to conduct medical clinics and help at local orphanages.

Pastor Angus' prayer...


On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul. Psalm 138 vs. 3