Most perfect place on Earth

I am so excited that I am getting ready to return to the most perfect place on Earth! I will be leaving next Friday to return to the Dominican. We will most likely not be going across the border into Haiti but have decided to concentrate our efforts on the refugees from Haiti now residing in the DR. We will not be taking care of acute injuries but focusing on screenings for chronic medical conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Please pray for us as our team tries to spread the word of God and help take care of these people. Pictures will follow when I return!

I have been to heaven on earth and hell on earth

I have been asked frequently how my trip to the DR and Haiti was since I have returned home. Heaven on earth and hell on earth is the best way I can describe it. The Dominican side of the island is the most beautiful, most peaceful place I have ever been to while the Haiti side of the island has to be hell on earth right now. Total chaos,total destruction,overwhelming loss and the blank faces of the people-that is what is etched into my mind about Haiti. Our trip began after a long day of flying from Atlanta to Miami to Santo Domingo Dominican Repulblic. 7 strong women-no men. All of us saw a a calling so overwhelming we had to go. We all had skills that we felt God was wanting us to use even though at the time we didn't know exactly how. We were greeted at the airport by pastor Pedro and travel what should have been a 4hr trip into Baharona but at night on winding moutain roads took about 6hrs. We finally arrived at the mission house exhausted but very happy to see all my sister's Dominican family. Not friends now-they are family. I was greeted by hugs of these people very grateful to see their "sister." Sister in Christ. The following day began with the group dividing into 2 smaller groups. Me,Vanessa a RN from Douglas and my sister Gale headed to a local small hospital that housed Haitian refugees. We didn't know what we would encounter. When we arrived there we were asked to care for these refugees by attending to their wounds. Many had amputaions that hadn't had any care since the initial surgery with sutures still embedded so tightly that they could barely be removed while others had their fractures addressed surgically but had not had any wound care since. These people were extremely happy to have their wounds addressed. We spent most of the day there then traveled into the countryside to one of the small villages in the middle of a sugar cane field. This place was called batey 7. I have never in my life seen a group of people have so little but be so happy. These people lived in small makeship homes but all the children had the biggest smiles on their faces. Many didn't even have clothing but even that didn't make any differnece to them. They loved having their photos taken as most of them had never seen photos of themselves. That night was spent back at the mission house sorting all the supplies we had brought in. Thanks to many people but mostly Vanessa and Roni Jo and the people of Douglas Georgia and University Hospital in Augusta, we had almost every wound care supply known to mankind and approx 25,000 doses of oral antibiotics. Our next day began around 4am while getting ready to travel into Haiti. It was about a 4hrs ride across the border. We were stopped numerous times by military roadblocks. I held my breath as we crossed to border hoping that we would make it and not get told to turn around and go back but we were told to go through. We finally arrived to a church compound outside of Port au Prince. The church had collapsed partially but a small room in the back is where we set up our clinic. We treated patients as the crowd gathered and the children played outside. The number of patients wasn't large but suddenly a young woman appeared walking with a stick and limping. We were told by the translator that her foot had been crushed in the earthquake and she had not had any medical care since it happened. Looking at the wound I was praying to mysellf that we would be able to do something for her. Vanessa worked feverishly cleaning this infected,foul smelling nasty wound while all the time knowing what she was working on was very serious. Once the wound was cleaned it was obvious that she had a very serious crush injury to her foot that was massively infected and the bones were broken and protruding through the skin. How on this earth she had been able to withstand this pain not to mention the pain of having the area cleaned is beyond me. I expressed my concerns to Pastor Pedro that this wound was very serious and she would most likely need to have her foot amputated and needed to be taken to a hospital. The team agreed to pack everything up and try to take this lady to a hospital. She had a 5 month old baby which she was breast feeding and 2 other small children she had to leave behind. Thank goodness we had baby formula with us so we were able to leave this with the father. We found a rural hospital. I finally got to talk to a Dr. that was an American Dr. who was overseeing this hospital and he made sure she was admitted. It was amazing that he was an American doctor but his father was also a retired doctor who at one time was the head of the radiology department at The Medical College of Georgia where I attended school. You can't tell me that God puts you where you are needed if only you will put your faith in him. When we left the hospital, we still had supplied that we wanted to leave in Haiti so our translator told us he knew where to take them. He took us into the heart of Port au Prince to the large hospital there. Riding through these streets was overwhelming. Seeing the massive amount of people in the streets among all the rubble was heartbreaking. We arrived at the hospital and met an International medical group and then were introduced to the Clinton foundation group who very gratefully accepted our supplies. We then headed back to the Domincan. The following day we returned back to the hospital to continue care for the Haitian refugees. The next day we began our long day of return travel home. I finally got home around 2am friday morning. I was physically and mentally exhausted but comletely fullfilled knowing that even though we were a team of just 7 strong women, we made a difference. If only a small difference, it was still a difference. We may have touched these peoples lives but they have touched ours more that they could ever imagine. If God is willing, I am hoping to return to the Dominican in June and continue working with these people in the Bateys. I am forever changed.

I have been to heaven on earth and hell on earth

I have been asked frequently how my trip to the DR and Haiti was since I have returned home. Heaven on earth and hell on earth is the best way I can describe it. The Dominican side of the island is the most beautiful, most peaceful place I have ever been to while the Haiti side of the island has to be hell on earth right now. Total chaos,total destruction,overwhelming loss and the blank faces of the people-that is what is etched into my mind about Haiti. Our trip began after a long day of flying from Atlanta to Miami to Santo Domingo Dominican Repulblic. 7 strong women-no men. All of us saw a a calling so overwhelming we had to go. We all had skills that we felt God was wanting us to use even though at the time we didn't know exactly how. We were greeted at the airport by pastor Pedro and travel what should have been a 4hr trip into Baharona but at night on winding moutain roads took about 6hrs. We finally arrived at the mission house exhausted but very happy to see all my sister's Dominican family. Not friends now-they are family. I was greeted by hugs of these people very grateful to see their "sister." Sister in Christ. The following day began with the group dividing into 2 smaller groups. Me,Vanessa a RN from Douglas and my sister Gale headed to a local small hospital that housed Haitian refugees. We didn't know what we would encounter. When we arrived there we were asked to care for these refugees by attending to their wounds. Many had amputaions that hadn't had any care since the initial surgery with sutures still embedded so tightly that they could barely be removed while others had their fractures addressed surgically but had not had any wound care since. These people were extremely happy to have their wounds addressed. We spent most of the day there then traveled into the countryside to one of the small villages in the middle of a sugar cane field. This place was called batey 7. I have never in my life seen a group of people have so little but be so happy. These people lived in small makeship homes but all the children had the biggest smiles on their faces. Many didn't even have clothing but even that didn't make any differnece to them. They loved having their photos taken as most of them had never seen photos of themselves. That night was spent back at the mission house sorting all the supplies we had brought in. Thanks to many people but mostly Vanessa and Roni Jo and the people of Douglas Georgia and University Hospital in Augusta, we had almost every wound care supply known to mankind and approx 25,000 doses of oral antibiotics. Our next day began around 4am while getting ready to travel into Haiti. It was about a 4hrs ride across the border. We were stopped numerous times by military roadblocks. I held my breath as we crossed to border hoping that we would make it and not get told to turn around and go back but we were told to go through. We finally arrived to a church compound outside of Port au Prince. The church had collapsed partially but a small room in the back is where we set up our clinic. We treated patients as the crowd gathered and the children played outside. The number of patients wasn't large but suddenly a young woman appeared walking with a stick and limping. We were told by the translator that her foot had been crushed in the earthquake and she had not had any medical care since it happened. Looking at the wound I was praying to mysellf that we would be able to do something for her. Vanessa worked feverishly cleaning this infected,foul smelling nasty wound while all the time knowing what she was working on was very serious. Once the wound was cleaned it was obvious that she had a very serious crush injury to her foot that was massively infected and the bones were broken and protruding through the skin. How on this earth she had been able to withstand this pain not to mention the pain of having the area cleaned is beyond me. I expressed my concerns to Pastor Pedro that this wound was very serious and she would most likely need to have her foot amputated and needed to be taken to a hospital. The team agreed to pack everything up and try to take this lady to a hospital. She had a 5 month old baby which she was breast feeding and 2 other small children she had to leave behind. Thank goodness we had baby formula with us so we were able to leave this with the father. We found a rural hospital. I finally got to talk to a Dr. that was an American Dr. who was overseeing this hospital and he made sure she was admitted. It was amazing that he was an American doctor but his father was also a retired doctor who at one time was the head of the radiology department at The Medical College of Georgia where I attended school. You can't tell me that God puts you where you are needed if only you will put your faith in him. When we left the hospital, we still had supplied that we wanted to leave in Haiti so our translator told us he knew where to take them. He took us into the heart of Port au Prince to the large hospital there. Riding through these streets was overwhelming. Seeing the massive amount of people in the streets among all the rubble was heartbreaking. We arrived at the hospital and met an International medical group and then were introduced to the Clinton foundation group who very gratefully accepted our supplies. We then headed back to the Domincan. The following day we returned back to the hospital to continue care for the Haitian refugees. The next day we began our long day of return travel home. I finally got home around 2am friday morning. I was physically and mentally exhausted but comletely fullfilled knowing that even though we were a team of just 7 strong women, we made a difference. If only a small difference, it was still a difference. We may have touched these peoples lives but they have touched ours more that they could ever imagine. If God is willing, I am hoping to return to the Dominican in June and continue working with these people in the Bateys. I am forever changed.

Haiti update

My brother in law returned from Haiti yesterday following this stay there with a search and rescue team. They found 135 kids alive at the orphanage. He said it was worse than anything he could imagine. He told a story of seeing a young child at a clinic that had his leg crushed up to his hip. He said he was crying and when they asked what he needed, he said he was hungry. They went back to their bags and got whatever they could for him. This is truly heart breaking. Anyway, I was hoping to be able to go to Haiti. We have decided instead to go to the Dominican and work there where the people from Haiti are being brought in. We will be leaving on the 31st. Pictures will follow when I get back. Please pray for our team that God will continue to lead,guide and direct us. Pray that he works through my hands and receives all the glory. It's going to be a busy week getting all the supplies ready but I have never felt such a strong calling and can't wait. Maybe this is why I have done pediatrics and Emergency medicine for the past 15 years. Strange combination but now I am prepared to treat both adults and children. Will update you as soon as I can!

Hang on people of Haiti we are coming!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that my brother in law is on the ground in Haiti. Hopefully I will be going Sunday. My brother in law is a small town outside of Port au prince at an orphanage. Last we heard was that they made it there safe but haven't heard anything since they arrived yesterday. It is a little nerve wrecking that we haven't heard anything since the new 6.0 quake this morning but I have faith that he is OK. I am such peace about going. Everyone at work ask me "aren't you scared?" NOPE!! When it's God will why be worried but continue to pray for all people there and those trying to help.

Godbless this place

Seeing all the devastation on the news following the earthquake in Haiti really bothers me. These people have 80% of their population living well below the poverty level. Their extremely wealthy people are what we would call middle class here in the US. People do you realize how fortunate we are. We have roofs over our head and clothes on our backs and if you are ready this I am pretty sure you have food to eat. You have hope. You have a future. These people don't and now many of these people don't even have some of their family members. Can you even begin to imagine the devastation. I'm not trying to be a downer with this post but people take a minute and look around where you are sitting right now. Most likely in the warmth comfort of your nice home with your loving happy healthy family. Do you realize how fortunate you are? We all have aches and pains and things that don't always go as we had planned but in the grand scheme of things life is pretty good. Do you have any idea what could make this better? If you knew the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior it would be better. There would never be a need unmet or a want unanswered, Now whether you like the answer is another story! Our Preacher at church tonight preached from a great passage in the bible and I would like you all to read it and tell how reverent you think it is to what's going on in the world right now. Read Luke 13 verses 1-5. Do you know him? One thing is for certain and that is that tomorrow may never come. Live you life like you are dying and tomorrow is your last day because it may be. Wrap your arms around your loved ones and let them know you love them. You never know if it's gonna be your last chance. Smile like you have never smiled, dance like you have never danced, love like you have never loved and pray like you have never prayed! God bless you all!