Is it seriously Thursday?

The last 48 hours have been absolutely insane. Here is the quick re-cap:

10 o'clock Tues night we are hanging out upstairs dosing the Mamba and chatting about the day.

10:15ish I discover that there is running water as of 3 weeks ago and we have a good laugh about the fact that nobody told me and I was still using bucket water!

10:30ish one of the ladies from downstairs comes up to tell us that Patrick from the RC is bleeding a lot. He has a very bad decubitus ulcer because he is paralyzed from the waist down and earlier in the day, one of the doctors from the team here opened up the wound to help it heal. We run down there and realize that he his having a pretty massive hemorrhage. He had already lost a ton of blood so I hopped up on the bed on all fours and put all my weight on the site while the others started two IV's and got things ready to find the source and stop the bleeding. After holding pressure for about an hour and getting the doctor who was sleeping down the road, we used a machine to cauterize all of the spots where it was bleeding. It was really scary, but we changed the dressing this morning and it seems to be doing better. He is still very weak and will take a while to recover from all of the blood loss. Licia took this picture in the midst of the madness and the flash was in the dark, but you get the picture. Literally.



3:00ish go to bed.

7:30ish wake up and head downstairs to see that Delva and another kid had died. Meanwhile, there are so many patients to be seen. The team that was here did many wonderful things, including seeing women for yearly exams and PAP smears (this is something I am super excited about, more coming on that!) They were leaving in the afternoon so we had to wrap up all of the research they were conducting so I spent a lot of the day collecting the charts, surveys and specimens. Many patients were seen, which was really great! Lori and I wrapped things up in the clinic while Licia, who had been translating all day, taught a class on malnutrition.

6:00ish We were worn out so we grabbed our dinner and sat down to relax and watch a movie. We didn't make it through without having to run downstairs and deal with something in the RC, but we did finish the movie and got to bed fairly early.

This New Year's Eve day we have been very busy with dressing changes and other things going on around here but I am so very thankful. I am so thankful for my life and all of the inummerable blessings and I am even more thankful that today I am here.

Ten years from now I hope I am doing the exact same thing.






Happy New Year's Eve from Haiti!!!!

My life went on

I left here a few months ago, and my life went on. But things did not change here. Lori and Licia are just as funny. Patients are still sleeping outside. The Rescue Center is over capacity and kids are still dying.

Meet Delva



He's dangerously sick from malnutrition and other possible complications.



He has stayed on the oxygen all day today and is receiving several different antibiotics. Every now and then he mutters a couple words and it is precious. Praying for his miraculous recovery!



Great things are happening here, too! This is the board to keep track of all the kids on Medika Mamba and how many tablespoons they get. Thought you would enjoy reading all the names, ha!



This 3 pound baby came through the clinic today and will go the place where Loner was sent.



Speaking of Loner, we were sent this picture today. Go back and read this post and compare the pictures. INCREDIBLE! This 2 pound baby who we sent also lived and is home with his family. God is so good!



And just another precious face for you. He is saying "Hey blanc, get that camera out of my face have you ever tried eating spoonfulls of peanut butter?"



Goodnight y'all!

love and kisses from Haiti!

I made it here this evening after a fairly easy and uneventful day of traveling. Mr. Zach picked me up and we had a great time catching up on the drive over. When we pulled in the driveway Trey, Henley and Amos were waving and yelling my name, I just wanted to cry! We unpacked the bags and I have made myself comfortable in my usual spot in the office with Lori and Licia. I am so glad to be back with my friends :)

Amos wanted to send lots of love to his Mama and Papa and brothers and sister!!!! (Jamie, he came in and found me at the computer and pointed to the camera because he remembers taking pictures before, such a smart boy!)







Love y'all!!!! Stay tuned for all the exciting things going on here!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

Merry Christmas to y'all!!!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends, sharing in the joy that comes only from Jesus!

We had an incredible (chilly!) day here in Houston full of gifts, yummy food, lots of laughter, naps and board games. Couldn't have asked for a better day!

What was even more exciting was that I have spent the last couple days opening all of YOUR gifts for my friends in Haiti! I am overwhelmed by your generosity and want you to know how much this will mean for the people there. This is what my room looked like...











The real fun came when we had to figure it out how to pack it all. Let's just say I am going to be batting my eyes at the nice little ticket man tomorrow morning! I am almost completely packed and so excited that I will be there this time tomorrow! Check back here for all the upates from Haiti.

Pulse Oximeter needed

*** Update: Literally, Lori found two machines in the lab today. Man God is good! Now we are working on using the funds to fill another great need. Stay tuned!!!***

The response to the needs listed for my December trip to Haiti have been incredible! Not only are we going to be able to go way over 50 lbs stuff our bags, but we are going to be able to purchase a continuous pulse oximeter for the clinic and rescue center!!! I am so excited about this, as I saw a HUGE need for this in my time there this summer. For those non-medical people, a pulse oximeter is a machine that measures the amount of oxygen (which we have to have to live) carried by your red blood cells. It is a diagnostic tool, and now that there is an oxygen concentrator (administers oxygen) we need a way to measure the amount of oxygen in the body. It is an easy way to know how sick someone is or if they are getting better, such as in asthmatic crisis or someone who is malnourished and protein deficient with not enough red blood cells to carry the oxygen.

Remember Malorie? Read her story here.

Of all the children that died in the time that I was there, Malorie was one of the hardest for me to lose. Mostly, because we could never find out what was wrong with her. This machine might have helped us save her life.

Every single ER, clinic, even school nurses's office in the States has one of these machines and it is time that we have on in Haiti. It is such a blessing to be part of this and know that each of you who has contributed are part of it too!

So do any of you know someone who sells medical equipment? We have the funds to purchase the machine, I am just wanting to do some further research and would love to buy from someone you know! So please leave a comment or email me at cctigner@gmail.com if you have ANY connections to someone in the world of selling medical equipment.

Thanks for being a part of this.

Oh and are you still Christmas shopping??? Because you should check out the GIFT HAITI.