katie loves haiti: Waiting, waiting, and even more waiting

Today, we needed to take some of our children to the orthopedic clinic in Carefour. As much as I love clinics for the medical care that they provide...I also REALLY dislike them. Mostly, I just dislike them because I'm American and not accustomed to having to wait 8+ hours to see a doctor.

The way almost all clinics in Haiti work is that you need arrive as early as possible because the medical care is first come first serve. After you sign in and get a number, you wait, and wait, and wait some more. The clinic we went to today was specifically for orthopedic problems. It is run by teams of American doctors and nurses that are volunteering their time. Our first time at the clinic, one of our kids got sick to his stomach after five hours of waiting (and not seeing a doctor). So, we had to leave early. The second time there, we did not arrive until 8AM and they were no longer giving numbers out. So, today the third time was the charm.

Dorothy and I woke up at 5:30 AM to get the kids ready and make sure we had plenty of snacks, water, formula, diapers, and wipes packed. By 6:20 we loaded up our truck. We had our driver Samuel, Dorothy, me, a nanny, and three young kids. Before leaving our neighborhood, we stopped and picked up an American nurse and two of her kids that also needed to go to clinic. As usual, our truck was filled to the brim with two people in front, five in the backseat, and three in the bed of the truck. The drive to Carefour takes at least an hour with all the Haitian traffic.

When we arrived at clinic, we realized by the huge amount of people already there waiting, that we should have left the house earlier. Luckily, because this was our third attempt at unsuccessfully seeing a doctor there, they remembered us and brought us to the front of the line. Although the staff explained to everyone why we were allowed to go first, they all assumed it was because we are white...very frustrating.

After we signed in, they assured us that we did not need a number and we would be seen right away. I was so excited and had hopes that we wouldn't be there too long! But, this is Haiti and things just don't work out like that. Instead, we realized after a few hours that there was miss communication among the clinic staff and we actually WERE supposed to have a number. So, the waiting game continued.

This time, we were lucky enough to get a space on a hard wooden bench to sit (we had to stand last time we were there). Most of the day is just a blur of sitting and waiting. At some point around lunch time, an American in scrubs stopped as she was passing by our bench (I think it was Tamara's adorable smile that lured her in). She struck up a conversation with us. Her name was Angela, and it turns out she was a nurse anesthetist and her boyfriend was the surgeon that we were waiting to see. So, she helped to speed things up for us to see the doctor. When I say "speed things up" that means we only had to sit and wait in the hall for 8 hours as opposed to 10 or more...but hey, I'll take what I can get!

Throughout the afternoon, we got to have some more conversations with Angela and some of the other American medical volunteers. They were from North Carolina and were all using their vacation time to come bring medical supplies and work for free. Because they literally live at the hospital while they are here in Haiti,(yes, they seriously sleep at the hospital on cots) they were really curious about "the outside world". A couple of them are even considering moving to Haiti for a couple years to volunteer their time! I am always so thankful to God for the amazing people that I've been able to meet here.

Finally after 8 hours of waiting, we were called into the tiny exam room (our new friend Angela cheered when it was our turn, haha). They looked over Tamara's x-rays first. If you've been reading in the past, you know about our tiny two year old Tamara. Today, we took her to the clinic because after getting her leg casts removed, she had a LOT of pain in her legs. Our Haitian pediatrician thought that maybe it was an infection in her legs. So, he recommended getting x-rays done. When we arrived at the clinic, they did a quick once over of her legs. They told us that they did NOT think she had any infection or problems, but if it would make us feel better, they would x-ray them.

After seeing her x-rays, the doctor informed us that she has a break in her leg that is calcifying. Also, he could see that there have been multiple breaks in both her legs in the past. We were SHOCKED to say the least. It turns out that Tamara has Osteogenesis imperfecta. OI is a congenital disease that causes extremely fragile/brittle bones. There is no cure for it, but we can possibly do some things to treat it one of them being a possible surgery. Before we can do anything for her, we need to get several blood tests done at the lab. The main reason that we were so shocked to hear what she has is because several other American doctors and therapists have checked her out in the past three months and no one even suggested that she might have OI. We are thankful to know what we are dealing with, but we are heartbroken to know that she has such a serious condition. Prayers for Tamara would be GREATLY appreciated.

Youvendji was checked next. He came to us with TB, sickle cell anemia, and very malnourished. He is three years old and he still cannot walk. His mother has explained that sometime when he was a baby, he broke his leg. So, we took him to the clinic in hopes of finding out if there was anything that could be done to help him walk. After reviewing his x-rays, the doctor explained that the break in his leg caused one leg to grow longer than the other. So, he will need something put into his shoe to make up for that length. When he is older, he may need surgery to help repair the problem.

Frantzo was seen last. He is five years old and has been with Dorothy since he was a baby. He got meningitis as a baby, and that lead to him having a stroke at 9 months old. Now, he is physically and mentally handicapped. He has learned how to walk, but his left side is much weaker than his right. He was fitted for an orthodic that may or may not help him walk better. We are going to give it a try and hope for the best.

So, after all our hours of waiting, God provided our kids with great medical care. We are so thankful for the help that we received today and are hopeful that our children will be able to make progress.