Can Haiti count on you
I choose to tell this story today months after the earthquake and some months after it happened. Most people think of victims of the earthquake in terms of people that got hurt during the event on January the 12th 2010, but a large number of people become victims of this tragedy long after it happened. This is the story of a young woman name Judith. Before the earthquake she was kept at the general hospital in the service of maternity. She was 6 months pregnant with high blood pressure. She was being monitored to prevent an eclempsia. But when the earthquake hit, she along with many others, was sent home to make room for the thousands of trauma patients that were arriving and she has not had the chance to see a doctor since.
I’ve met her in Haiti about two weeks after the disaster. She was sleeping on a cupboard in a shanty tent. She was remarkable because she could not stand up without some help when she woke-up in the morning because she felt so heavy. I talked to her and explained to her the importance of keeping her blood pressure under control but the kind of news she was receiving every day did not help. She lost parents and friends but worst she could not get the treatment needed for her pregnancy. One night, two months later, her blood pressure rose so high that she was having a headache and seeing lights. She could not go to the hospital since she had no car and there was no taxi or ambulance service available at night in Haiti. So she waited until the next day and made it to the general hospital in Port-au-Prince with the help of the US Marines.
There the doctors performed a C-section to save the life of the Baby, a beautiful baby girl. Mom had lost so much blood that she needed a transfusion. Yes, you guessed it right, no blood was available at the hospital. They could not find a match in the family so they tried to mobilize people from their church to locate her type. Meanwhile Judith went into a coma that lasted about seven days. Later she was transfused and began a slow recovery but because of her coma and the lack of good nursing care, she developed a pulmonary embolism as well as a lung infection that reactivated an old TB. A group of doctors, volunteers from a New York hospital, diagnosed her also with a cardiomyopathy and weak liver function. She was kept at the hospital for more than a month with no good outcomes and no good prognostics.
In June during my visit to Haiti with Rogers, we visited her. She looked very weak and could not feed or carry her baby. She was breathing Oxygen from her tank and could barely talk. One of Her medications (inject heparin) was about finished and she could not locate any in the country. We unsuccessfully tried to get it at the Albert Schweitzer hospital and connected her with a doctor that promised to help. The last communication we had with her was that she had to go back to the hospital because she could not renew her oxygen tank. Now she is trying to get a pulse oxymeter and O2 compressor that would help her to use her oxygen more efficiently, but she cannot afford it. If somebody can help or wants to help Judith in any way: now is the time, your time to make a difference. Community mission for hope will extend your help to Judith. The story of Judith is not unique. Women’s care is being neglected because of the earthquake; nevertheless you can join us to make a difference
Dr Raymond my brother in Christ How are you and you family? I hope that you and your family are doing wonderful. I want to applaud you for this great job that you are doing in Haiti, our country, our pride. There is no one who can pay you for this kind job that you are doing for our brothers and sisters back home. You have a wonderful heart. Only God can repay you and all of your friends who are helping Haiti, in this time of need. May God continues to bless all of you, bye my brother. God bless you. Take care yourself my friend and brother. Good job my brother God bless you, bye
Compliments pour tout ce que tu fais, je suis super super fiere de toi.
Keep up the good work, if anyone can it’s you.
your blog’s design is simple and clean and i like it.
OK nice to see- interesting comments are always helpful!
your blog’s design is simple and clean….
Mind if I use some of the information from this post if I provide a link back to your site?…
I desire you never stop! This is one of the best blogs Ive actually read. Youve acquired some mad skill here, man. I just wish that you simply dont eliminate your model since youre absolutely 1 of the coolest bloggers around. Please continue to keep it up because the online wants an individual like you spreading the word.
Good post and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you as your information.
Greetings.
First of all, your work is admirable, so necessary, and hope-giving to many people here and I offer my compliments with all but one thing you show on your website. I have an issue with the ‘beauty and perfection’ of the inside of the mobile clinic.ALL that could have been done more effectively for so much less money. Maybe a simple (but expensive) one-piece counter (for hygiene)could have been used, but for the rest simplicity would have been in the right place here. Storage place etc needed – agreed there – but for the difference a needed piece of equipment could have been purchased. Sorry about the minor criticism on such a great project. Am in Haiti and at a real low pint on poverty-mostly because (farther out in the country) nothing has changed in over 10 years.