Our first week by Denise

First Week
January 20, 2016
This trip started out with problems from the beginning. The plane in Nashville was delayed an hour because it had to be deiced. Arriving in Miami just as our connecting flight to Port Au Prince was leaving. Mimi airport is so large that you need to take a train to reach the different gates. We were told to go to our gate and our plane had just left ( this is gate D 24). At the gate they told us to go to gate D 37 to change our reservations. So back upstairs with all our carry on (max allowed) back on the train down the escalator to D 37. Very long line.
We noticed there was a phone number you could call so while waiting in line Bob was able to get us on the next flight leaving in 25 minutes. So back upstairs on the train to D 25. When we arrived at the gate the flight started to board. There was no time for lunch, we had left for the airport just after 4 in the morning and it was now noon.
Upon arriving in Haiti the sky bridge would not function so we sat on the plane and waited for a stairway to be brought to the plane. After descending we took a bus to the airport and went upstairs to immigration. Three flights had just arrived and they had two people working the line was hours long. Finally they opened a second booth so we moved slightly faster.
Then down to baggage claim, only two of our six bags made it on the flight. We have a nurse practitioner Cecile Muller travelling with us , she is French so she went with me to baggage claim to report the missing bags. We were told Miami reported the bags were sent to Port Au Prince and gave us a paper with the missing bags numbers on it.
The next morning we returned to the airport and two more of our bags arrived on the next flight. We waited at the airport for the next flight and found one more bag. We need to head for Gros Morne so we left the paper with a friend and he would continue to watch for the last bag. As of now we still have not found our bag. The items in the bag do not necessarily have great monetary value, but we can only bring what is absolutely necessary so they are being greatly missed. Because of our limited internet we will have to return to PAP to file a missing bag claim.
We left for or apartment and had an uneventful trip home. We were welcomed by many people in the village and promptly went to bed. The next morning a patient was brought to us who had a large swelling in her throat, her left breast was swollen and her left arm. We left right away for the hospital in Gros Morne. After much waiting we saw a doctor who wanted x-rays. The x-ray machine at our local hospital is broken so we had to take the woman and her family to Gonaives (an hour away) for the x-rays. When we arrived it was 1;00 and the x-ray tech was out to lunch, the hospital thought he would be back in maybe 25 minutes. We had paid for the x-rays so I suggested to Ceciel we go and get lunch, the lady had many family members to stay with her and in Haiti 25 minutes could be two hours. So we went and had lunch, when we returned they had just finished the x-rays and we returned to Gros Morne. It was then about 5:00pm. The doctor was angry that one of the x-rays were missing and wanted us to take her back to Gonaives the next day, we explained we had just arrived and had not even unpacked our bags yet. The family said they would deal with the additional x-ray. The Lady was admitted to the hospital; we paid for her prescriptions and returned home around 7:00.
The family asked us two days later to take the Lady to another town for surgery, but we were already scheduled to meet with Fr. Gracia in Kalabot and could not. The family arranged transportaition, but was told this other hospital could not help and to take the mother to another hospital outside of Port Au Prince run by an American Dr, Paul Farmer. I contacted my friend Anita ( who has worked in Haiti for 7 years) she said it was an excellent hospital but it was very hard to be seen there because of so many people go there for help. She contacted another Doctor she works with in PAP and he said we should take her back to Gonaives to get her stabilized and he would see her later in the week.
So Monday morning we loaded up the lady and her daughter and took her to Gonaives after driving another patient to the hospital in Gros morne. While at the hospital we asked for the x-rays and lab results taken the week before. The doctor there basically told us not to bother with the lady, the lady had cancer and was going to die. This was assumed with no cat scan, or any other real testing.
We took her back to Gonaives emergency; they did not even see her. They told us she needed to go to PAP there was not any specialist working at the hospital. This woman was having great difficulty breathing and swallowing because of the size of the tumor in her throat. Bob and I talked and decided we would have to have a plan to go to PAP with her. So I called my friend Anitia and we stopped at her house on our way back to Garcin.
She made arrangements that a Doctor that could do a biopsy would see her Wednesday morning. I called Mathew 25 to see if they had room for us and possibly give us a break on the rate of the stay because the family had no relatives to stay within PAP. All was arranged and we were packed to leave on Wednesday, then the woman said she did not want to go. She was afraid to die in the truck on the way. She went back and forth three times, and then said no she would not go. We told her it was her decision but if we cancelled that was all we could do we could not offer any further help. At 5: oo that evening her daughter came and said her Mother had changed her mind and wanted to go. We had cancelled the rooms, and the doctors appointment. It was too late to leave for PAP at that time because it is not safe to travel at night in Haiti. Many people in the village were angry with us. We explained many times all of our attempts to help. I worried all night and try to decide the best course of action. Bob and I talked about it and Cecile and I talked about it. We were afraid if we went through rescheduling the lady would back out again. We also have meetings scheduled on Thursday in Kalabot that would be hard to cancel at this time. But God has a way of working things out and this morning we were told the family found a driver and took their mother to Dr. Farmers hospital at 4 in the morning. I pray she was seen and could be helped. We also have been transporting the twins to the hospital. The little boy twin seems to have a heart defect. He will need to be seen by a pediatric specialist. I , with the help of friends seek out the right place to take him to see if we can find him help. This is not to mention on our way to town on a day to use the internet Bob and I came upon a young woman on the side of the road, she had many people around her. We stopped to see if we could help. I tried to find a pulse and could not find one. There was another woman with her holding a crying baby and a little boy next to her. It appeared they were traveling. The woman was indeed dead, she was going to the next town because her mother had died. We dont know why she died, or if these children were hers.
Medical in Haiti is so lacking. The people cant afford to go to the doctors or clinics until they are in serious condition. Then without all the modern tests and equipment there is only guessing as to what is wrong and how to treat. I dont have any answers just prayers.