Day 11 of my daily Lenten blog journey

I’ve been thinking about this oxymoron for awhile:  Tough Love.  Every parent understands the concept, and yet it is often hard to put it into practice.  Who wants to watch their child suffer?  Whether it is physical or emotional pain, our instinct is to protect and avoid.

In medicine, this concept is a daily truth.  Every day we have to put people through a small bit of torture on the road to better health.  Whether it’s starting a painful IV in order to give infection-fighting antibiotics, or doing physical therapy after a traumatic injury, healing is usually a painful process.

This made me think about a patient that I cared for a couple years ago, whom I nicknamed, Donny V (not his real name…).  I blogged about him awhile back (click here if you want to read).  He had gangrene in his lower left leg and we had to do an amputation.  He went on to have infection of the stump, and became deathly ill.  I really thought he was going to die.  We had to return him to the OR to open up the wounds and drain out all of the purulent material (pus).  Then, we went through an arduous daily process of changing his dressings and draining fluid, which was agonizing to him.  He would often howl and sob in pain, but we persisted, as it was saving his life.

He made it through the trial, and I just saw him last month.  He was being evaluated by our prosthetics team (who comes down from Washington State, Yeah!) for a new leg.  It’s so cool to see beauty made from ashes.  He’s going to be kicking goals on the fútbol field in no time.

He also doesn’t have any eyeballs, that’s why his eyes are closed.  Really sad.

Naw, just kiddin’, he blinked…

Back to Tough Love.

For those of you who have a hard time trusting a God who allows suffering in this world, I get it.  But look, it’s not part of the deal.  Bear with me, check this out:

Jesus says in John 16 (NIV):  “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  ‘trouble’ is in the contract, it is a given.

And then the Word says:

James 1:2-4 (the Message) says:  ‘Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.  You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.  So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely.  Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.’ 

Wait, bad stuff is part of the plan?  But I’m going to grow from it if I persevere?  So just lean into it?

Oh, ok.  Let’s do this.

I really hate to give you any homework, but this video is just so dang good, so consider it.  This guy is named Matt Chandler, and I have a bit of a man crush on him, because he seems to be a really genuine guy who loves Jesus.  The cliff notes version of his talk is from Minute 39:16 to 44:00.   CLICK RIGHT HERE.  But, if you have 50 minutes to spare, it will be time well spent to watch it all.

Photo of the day:

Basketball court just behind El Camino bilingual school (where my daughter Juliet attends). Doesn’t get used much.  There’s this little game called Fútbol (soccer)…

11 down, 36 to go.

Day 10/46 of my daily Lenten blog journey

This post is a little more medically technical.  A working knowledge of anatomy is suggested, so parents may want to screen it first.

I don’t ever want someone to use the word PROBE and then refer to my body in the same sentence.   It conjures all manner of horrific scenarios. Continue reading →

Day 9/46 of my daily Lenten blog journey.

It was a hectic morning at the hospital, as usual, with a swarm of patients in the waiting room biding their time.  On occasion, there are folks that sneak past our triage system and try to catch the doctors as they wander past, hoping for a quick hallway consultation. Continue reading →

Day 8/46 of my daily Lenten blog journey.  Are you still with me?

Today, a 25 y/o lady came in with lower abdominal pain.  Her name was Marsha (which is not her real name).  It had been going on for a couple months, but worse in the last 5 days.

So, I put my slightly better than mediocre medical assessment and deduction skills to work, in search of an answer for Marsha’s symptoms. Continue reading →

Day 7/46 of my daily Lenten blog journey

Who remembers the old SNL skit, Headwound Harry, with Dana Carvey?  Any time I get a patient just spurting blood out of their noggin’ I always think of this sketch and giggle a little.

Continue reading →

Day 6/46 of my daily Lenten blog entries

I sent 39 yr old Daphne (not her real name) home, today, from the hospital.  She was admitted to the ward for 3 days, for Heart Failure.  Yes, she seems too young to have this condition, but unfortunately she does.

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is an infirmity where the heart muscles become weak and aren’t able to pump the blood efficiently.  Eventually, the heart becomes congested with too much blood, becomes floppy, and fluid leaks back into the lungs.  These exacerbations cause a person to become very short of breath, weak, and usually they have very swollen legs.  Eventually they can have complications such as strokes, heart rhythm problems, and eventually death.

We don’t exactly know how Daphne developed this problem.  She actually sustained a stroke because of it, and now we have to keep her anti-coagulated all the time (on blood thinners) to prevent clots.  One of our theories is that she contracted Chagas Disease, which is an interesting insect borne, tropical infection that can affect the heart and esophagus (I’ve mentioned it before...).

She has permanent deficits from the stroke, including hemiplegia (weakness on one half of her body) and speech impairment.  Also, her heart is just so weak now that she can hardly walk without getting short of breath.

The reality is that if she lived in the states she would probably be a good candidate for a heart transplant.  In the very least, there are some other interventions we could offer to improve her comfort and survival.  However, in light of our limited resources we do the best we can.  Unfortunately, it would not be shocking to any of the doctors here if Daphne passed away in the next year.

Our prayer is that the Lord would continue to sustain her, so she can be there for her family as long as possible.  Also, that she would grow in her faith and have courage to face the tough times ahead.

Photo of the day:

People wear shirts that are ‘hand-me-down’s’ from the States.  Since they are in English, they often don’t know what they say.  I’m kinda hoping this guy didn’t know what his shirt said…

6 down, 40 to go…

Day 5 of 46, of my Lenten daily blog

If you are not into poo-poo/bathroom humor, I advise you to sit this one out…

One day I borrowed one of the other missionaries vehicles, to run an errand.  This missionary (Let’s call him Alex so as to protect the innocent) is very generous with his vehicle.  His automobile is in excellent condition, and he takes good care of it, so I had just a little bit of trepidation in using it. Continue reading →

Day 4 of my 46 day Lenten blog challenge:

Augustus, (Not his real name) 18 months of age.  This little guy came to us with quite a few issues, but his main challenge (and blessing) is that he had Down’s syndrome, also known as Trisomy 21.  It is the most common chromosomal abnormality in humans.

He was unfortunately born with a condition called ‘imperforate anus,’ which I have blogged about before.  He underwent a series of surgeries to repair this malformation, most recently this past week.  Yesterday in the middle of the night, he developed some complications and went into respiratory failure.  We called a ‘code blue,’ and our team converged upon his room at 2 o’clock in the morning. Continue reading →

Day #3/46 of my Lenten journey of stories.

Today I saw Shaggy (not his real name), 40 years old.  Shaggy was jolly, with a big smile;   generously proportioned;  and I would later come to find out, a hugger.  He came in today to discuss some ‘pelotas,’ or ‘balls.’  Not his genitalia, but some balls in his skin, what we like to refer to as ‘nodules.’  He had one on his chest, and one on his back. Continue reading →

Day 2 of my self-imposed goal to share a daily story for the 46 days of Lent.

Scrappy-Doo (not his real name), 4 yrs old:  Scrappy’s mom works for our hospital, and today she showed me a picture of his cute little noggin’.  There was a lump on it.  He had another lump on his back.  ‘Could this be what I think it is’, I thunk to myself?  Only one way to know. Continue reading →