Update from Another Surgeon (long but good description of whats going on)

This update isn't from one our team but is from a surgeon from Michigan who has been donating his team (long before the earthquake) and going to Haiti for an entire week every 4-6 weeks to perform needed surgeries.  He is in Les Cayes where our Team had gone after leaving Port au Prince.   His message was one that I thought you would all appreciate.

Forward from Dr. Bill:

Sent: Mon, January 25, 2010 9:16:41 PM
Subject: Update, 25 Jan

I know this gets excerpted and sent on, for which I am thankful, my wife can fix it up. The internet has been running better at times. Electricity is a bit more stable from 8 pm to 5 am, then very rare during working hours. This is a big problem as we are running pretty much full tilt at the hospital. Starting [Tuesday] we will run both ORs at once for at least part of the day and I really can't expect the American medical people helping to not use the AC. I also use it when doing larger cases, when I have to wear a gown over
the scrubs. For smaller ones we wear just the scrubs). After a week, I am more adjusted to the heat, they less so.

First of all, I have to praise the Lord and thank Him for all the generous givers in the US who have helped us in so many ways. Tonight was the first night I have been able to use the landline we purchased so that the hospital personnel could communicate with the U.S. This has been very useful with complicated problems like bringing home the body of little Gabriel Reinhard a couple months ago, plus his injured father and sister (who are doing fine). Reinhards are helping us tremendously with the work. They normally do construction, coordinating and working with teams in helping build churches, schools, etc for our Haitian people which has come to a standstill for a bit, but they come to the hospital, help us put on body casts for fractured thighs, haul patients in their vehicles to town for x-rays, as our machine is down. They also help with food distribution, hauling supplies and medical personnel up to Bonne Fin. This is true of pretty much all the
missionaries, but I think the Haitian people who know them are especially amazed at how they trust the Lord and keep serving Him in this capacity despite their tragedy. Actually, it seems that all the mission groups have been working together incredibly well, doing whatever needs to be done: God's people working together His glory. What a wonderful example.

Anyway, getting back to the landline phone, it was pretty much a one-sidedconversation, as I could hear Karen but she heard very little from me. She was able to tell me of all the people who have been giving individually and through several churches, so extremely encouraging. As many of you know, almost as soon as I got here, I gathered the committee that runs the hospital together (Administrator Mondesir, Drs. Moise/Moses, William, Adulte, Nurses Beth Newton and Gettie Consolable and me - thought you might
like the interesting names, pray for these people as we try to run this hospital for God's glory) and shared with them that I really felt we had to give these people free care, as most have nothing left. They agreed, but
expressed reservations as to what the total could be, perhaps $250-300,000, as many of these people are very sick by the time they get to us, with neglected wounds, open, infected fractures, etc. I admit my faith stumbled a bit at the thought, still does some, but the response we have already received has shown me the love of God's people for others in need, specifically the Haitians in this instance. As there seems to be more fuel available (Rod and others buy it in gallon amounts out on the street from the vendors, a messy process), there has been an increased number of patients coming from Port as they have given up on
trying to get help. I can't remember how many beds the US ship has (it looked beautiful all lit up at 5 this morning as we went to Port at 3 am in 4 vehicles/trucks, to get 85 of our church members who lost everything and have no relatives to live with. They will live at the camp Rod and Debbie Wray are putting together. It is by the ocean so they can wash, etc.. They have put up tents to house those who won't fit in the buildings, or maybe don't dare to stay inside. Anyway, the patients now coming out in our direction seeking help are complicated cases, due to neglected, delayed care, etc.

Somehow I have inherited the job of coordinating the medical teams coming to our area, trying to get people into the places where their talents can best be used. I am very thankful that Dr. Keith Knepp and his ACC (Apostolic Christian Church) team of 12, including 3 orthopedic doctors , could be put to use at Bonne Fin when they weren't needed in the hospital they went to in Port. Keith asked me on the phone if they were needed here, sent the entire group up to Bonne Fin the morning that Dr. Belding left, the one who did 46 amputations in 5 days, yikes. They are a smooth running outfit, though have needed us to help them get supplies up the hill. Again, I am so thankful for all the missionaries here who drop whatever they are doing to bring people and equipment/supplies to where it needs to be. Being somewhat in charge of coordinating the medical people does not mean I always know who is coming when, and what they will be doing. Since I don't spend much time at the computer, when internet is even up, there can be glitches.

Yesterday morning I went to church with one of my OR nurses, where I had never worshiped. I know the pastor pretty well from operating on several of his kids, etc. About an hour into the (7 am to 9 am, before it gets too warm), in come 12 Americans, making a total of 13 of us who stuck out rather clearly among 1500 Haitians. About that time the songs and announcements ended and the pastor got up to preach. He had the U.S. pastor who led the team give a brief greeting, then announced how nicely coincidental it was that this team he had arranged to come for a week to work with me had arrived the same day I happened to attend. This was the first I knew of their coming! We do seem to be doing very well together in our first day, but surprises never end.

Since I suddenly had another 12 medical types to add to the situation (and already had 2 Family Practice docs from Missouri helping me for a week, which has been a great help), I thought I would run to Cayes General, the government hospital, to see if some might be needed there. I have only been there once, about 3 years ago. Dr. Moise and I stopped there on the way home from church. There were hundreds lying everywhere on pallets, on the bare floor. Many had not been seen yet despite being there for a week or more. Doctors without Borders had arrived there on Saturday, the day before, and they do an incredible job, doing medicine more like I do, which is trying to help the most with the little resources we have. I had a brief conversation with heir medical leader. He has been having to deal with considerable ego problems with the administration in the situation, and said they might have to pull out tomorrow if they can't get resolution. If they do, there will be hundreds more with delayed care. Without God changing our attitudes, we can be our own worst enemies. Pray that this situation will be ameliorated quickly.

As mentioned above, Rod Wray and another missionary have brought pickup loads of people from our churches in Port who have lost everything, planning on about 200 people out at the camp, buying fuel along the road. Since we seem to have a little more available in Cayes right now, he asked if I wanted to split the driving with Tim, his son, for a 4th vehicle convoy early this morning so I could see firsthand the terrible situation. The holes in the road were huge, defying navigation; the university of 3 stories is now 1/2 story high. At the hospital in Leogane, where the wall is about 4 feet further out towards the road at the top than the bottom, there were bunches of men standing on the top of buses lined along the roadside of the
wall, trying to push the wall back, or so it seemed. Since we were making an early morning run in, trying to get the people out before traffic picked up, we didn't have get long to see, but though it has made for a long day, I appreciated understanding better the devastation and also seeing the appreciation of the people we can help, even for just a few months. Getting through the streets of Port was difficult as thousands of people have just strung a covering on poles and put their bedding in the street, using damaged vehicles, etc to block the roads. They either cannot sleep in houses which no longer exist, or just don't dare, they are so afraid of the earthquake coming back. Even the large church where we picked up the 85 people who had made it a central gathering point, and where probably 2000 plus people were worshiping the one time I was there in 2003, held its services out in the parking lot yesterday, as people are afraid to be inside. A big chunk of a cement ornament they have on the front wall had fallen off onto the roof, bending the well-made steel trusses, but things aren't falling now. Yet the incredible fear persists and one cannot reason with them as no one knows whether it will indeed be safe now. Tomorrow will be two entire weeks since the earthquake. One lady I saw for the first time today had a crushed arm which I think I can fix once I get
the wounds healed and the infection out, but she has lost her husband and all her children and just cried continually. I have put the team's pastor to work helping her and others, as the psychological stress is sometimes more severe than the physical/medical burden.

I have rambled on considerably today, but I wanted to express some of my feelings of thankfulness for all the support and encouragement from so many and ask that you continue to pray as we serve these people with such incredible physical, medical and emotional wounds and so little hope for the future, only fear of it. Also, pray for God's direction for my plans for the next day, week, etc, including when I can properly pull out of here, not sure yet when that might be. A lot depends on how things pan out as far as patient flow and availability of help. I think I have really felt my age being on the top side of 35, what with the intense days and long nights of helping my youngest doctor with the complicated cases such as typhoid perforations (which I fear will increase a lot if it rains, as sanitation is nonexistent), so will head to bed for a good sleep, as Dr. William, my most able doc, is on starting tonight for the next week, PTL.

Thanks again very much, Bill