Beating The Odds

Many people do not know that diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of death among children under the age of 5 in the developing world. At GLA's main house, we are not at all surprised by the statistic.

We live in a desperately impoverished country, where Mothers are so poorly nourished that their babies show signs of malnutrition from birth. The dire consequence of this is that minor infections can be serious and even life threatening to Haitian infants.

For the past month, Port-au-Prince has been struck by an epidemic of viral gastroenteritis. Healthy adults have felt ghastly for a day or two, but have then quickly recovered. For babies and young children, though, symptoms have been more severe and have lasted for weeks rather than days.

In the past week, 15 of the babies in the nursery have been unwell with high fevers, watery diarrhoea and vomiting. These children have required round the clock care and supervision to ensure that they did not become dangerously dehydrated. This has been hard work.

Some babies needed IV's. Some had to be drip-fed Oral Rehydration Solution continuously because this was the only way that that they could absorb it. We found that giving even an ounce at a time resulted in many babies losing more fluid than we gave them through diarrhoea and vomiting.

Keeping these babies hydrated was important, since dehydration is usually the cause of death in children who succumb to severe diarrhoea. One year old Ken was one of the children who had to be drip fed oral rehydration solution after becoming very dehydrated. The next day, he was yelling his head off for a bowl of cereal and getting into all kinds of things!

Even as I thanked God for Ken's rapid recovery, I was filled with dread at the thought of how many babies die of dehydration,in Haiti, just hours before they would have gotten over the virus that made them sick.

Since many of our babies are malnourished, it is critically important to pay particular attention to their nutrition while they are unwell and in the first few weeks after they get better. One thing we give, when we have it, is high doses of Zinc. Zink has been proven to make the diarrhoea less severity, to make it pass quicker and to prevent children in the developing world from catching other stomach viruses in the months after they have recovered.

Research also suggests that the sooner babies children start taking their normal diet again when they have diarrhoea, the faster they get better. Since many of our children have a history of malnutrition and their digestive systems are especially weak, we sometimes have to drip feed this nutrition for a few days, the same way we drip fed the oral rehydration solution. It is hard work, but it is very important to support their bodies, so that they can heal.

It is rewarding to see the difference that this intensive care has made to our 'angels'. We are thankful that they are all getting better and we pray that they will continue to grow stronger over the next few days and weeks.

Some of them were very ill, but they have beaten some grim odds. Other children are not so lucky, children like Frandline and Donley. I am mindful of that tonight.

Send Me Another

Lovely died in the early hours of Monday morning. We think that her organs were too immature, and perhaps, too damaged by malnutrition, to allow for her continued survival.

Honestly, I am too stunned and defeated to ascribe any special meaning or purpose to Lovely's life and death. She leaves behind a broken Mother, 18 years old, sick and orphaned. There is nothing right or fair about that, and I certainly don't want to minimise her loss with flowery sentiments.

We gave Lovely the best that we had to give. The best care, the best medicine, and it wasn't enough. The only thing left is a hope that God has all ready healed what we could not.

No, I have no fancy words, just that hope, and tears for a bereft young girl, and a heart felt cry;

Lord, send me another, and give us the knowledge and wisdom that the world lacks, so that the next one might survive against seemingly impossible odds.

Cold Water To A Thirsty Soul

'Like cold water to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country.' (Proverbs 25:25).

In January, I shared that I longed for life. Too many little lives had been lost in our intensive care nursery. I was weary. We all were.

Today, it is my pleasure to share good news about baby Lovely, who was admitted last week, while I was gone. Born around 13 weeks early, she was all ready 16 days old when she arrived at GLA. She weighed just 1lb 10 oz and her hold on this life was extremely precarious.

Lovely has health challenges beyond what anyone anticipated. However, over the past 24 hours, she has moved beyond stable. I am encouraged to see some signs of progress. On CPAP, and in an incubator, her tiny embattled body is resting and recovering from the stress of her first 16 days in this world.

Over the past day, I have watched her grow and develop before my eyes. Her breathing and heart rate are more regulated, her oxygen requirement is down and she is now able to digest breast milk through a tube.

She is still very frail, but if she survives into the middle of next week, the chances are that she will graduate from our NICU a few short months from now.

It was hard being gone when Lovely arrived. I really wished I could have been here with the NICU staff. When Lovely's condition deteriorated a week ago, I was able to guide the Haitian nurses through setting up CPAP, via Skype and Facebook. With Dixie's support, they did it.

'In your hands , Lord, I prayed,' partly in praise, partly in supplication.

'As always', he answered.

I appreciated the reminder. Although Lovely didn't know it, people all over the world were praying for her, and people all over the world were invested in her survival. Although she still doesn't know it, I longed for her, before I even knew her. She is cold water to my thirsty soul.

I Wish That He Had Come Sooner

The little boy, sitting on the right is three years old. So is the little boy on the left.

Both of these children experienced neglect and deprivation. The little boy on the right arrived here at the age of 10 months. Physically, he is thriving. Developmentally, according to his teachers, he is doing very well. Yet chronic ear infections and severe allergies have left him hearing impaired and with kidney damage that is likely to be permanent.

Wadley, the spindly limbed, swollen-faced child on the left weighed less than 17 pounds when he arrived 3 weeks ago. He comes from a hard place. We suspect that he has not gained weight since his mother fell pregnant with his younger brother, 2 years ago. At that point, she would have stopped breast feeding Wadley. Clearly, she had nothing to give him in lieu of breast milk.

Wadley is extremely underweight. His growth is stunted and his hair is orange. He is weak. He is anaemic. His bones are soft from severe Vitamin D deficiency. His liver is damaged from years of malnutrition. His immune system is compromised from lack of protein, and, he has contracted an antibiotic resistant ear infection.

My heart ripples as I watch him shuffle across the nursery with a hunched back, and bowed legs. I hurt, every time I stick him with a needle; Wadley doesn't react. There is no sound from him. His nose wrinkles, slightly. Otherwise, his expression is unchanging. It is frightening to watch this lack of emotion. It is a sign of severe physical and emotional deprivation. Wadley has learned that all the crying in the world will not make a difference in his life.

Wadley's appetite is voracious. He cannot regulate his intake yet. He has to learn two things; what a full stomach feels like, and that there will be food at the next meal. He smiles, often. I am glad that he is happy here, with us. Yet I don't believe it is wrong to say, that I will be even gladder, when I see tears. Then, I will know that he is truly on the road to healing.
I wish that he had come sooner. I pray that he wont suffer permanent physical, emotional or cognitive affects from his malnutrition. Sadly, I believe that he will.

Alleluia!

He came to us as at 6 months of age. He weighed 8lb and he was chronically ill. Psychologically, this neglected and abused baby was not doing well, and his weight gain was painfully slow.

By October, I feared for Peterson's life, hoping, against hope, that our best efforts would be enough to to heal his embattled body and wounded soul.

Two months later, we had a breakthrough. Peterson's weight had shot up from 14lb to 18lb! He had an incredible appetite, his general health had drastically improved and he was making enormous strides in his development.

Today, he is bonding with us, and the only head shaking he does is to tease us. 'Stop that!' we will tell him, remembering the disturbed head-shaking he engaged in such a short time ago. In response, Peterson will light up from the inside and break into a devilish smile. Laughter bubbles forth, and slowly, he starts shaking his head again, keeping one eye on us. Come and make me stop, he challenges us!

Alleluia was his first word. I am not kidding. I have video proof, if only I can upload it, and at this point I can't.

Alleluia! Sometimes, tender, loving care and good medicine really are enough!

Sonia: A Reason to Celebrate

At the end of a difficult and emotionally taxing week, there is reason to celebrate:

Little Miss Sonia has been off her oxygen for 8 days. She has been oxygen dependent for the past two months. For much of that time, dozens of people in North America have been working hard to try to secure the care that Sonia needs, overseas. They are hitting many obstacles and, at the same time, coming across many new opportunities.

Those of us who are working with Sonia in Haiti celebrate that she is now stable. Please pray that she will remain healthy over the next few weeks. Many children with Downs syndrome are deficient in a particular immune protein, which, makes them very susceptible to infection. This may explain why Sonia gets so many severe infections, and why it takes so long for her to recover from illnesses that other babies bounce back from very quickly.

For now, Sonia does not leave the nursery with our volunteers. She does come out of the nursery with me and she gets plenty of love and attention from all of the NICU staff. Although she is a little bit spoiled, Sonia is a very sweet baby, and completely undemanding. She is still weak from her most recent illness and finds it difficult to suck from a bottle. Despite this, she continues to make progress in her development.

I believe that Miss Sonia will surpass everyone's expectations of her. It is highly likely that she will leave GLA, very soon. It is my privilege to love her and care for her, even if it is only for now.

Longing For Life

Francisca died in the early hours of Monday morning. She had, what I think was a severe septicaemia. Her last 10 hours were the fight of her life, a struggle, all the way to death. The Haitian staff say, if only Francisca's mother sought pre-natal care sooner.... I say, maybe if the baby had received different antibiotics....

Tania followed Francisca in death last night. In the first photographs we took of Tania, her lips were blood red, cracked and bleeding. As she became better hydrated, they healed, leaving underneath the scab, a horrifying, unatural pallor. Tania was profoundly anaemic, and died before we could obtain donor blood for her. If only we had gotten it in time. If only......

Over and over, babies pass away. I am sure that these defeats are etched into my face. Time and again, jagged breath fades, colour drains, fists uncurl, and the weight in my arms becomes emptiness. Shoulders sag, and eyes dull. Even so, we go on. We owe it to the next child, and the child after that. I long for them.

Francisca might have lived had we had a drug that would neutralize the acid in her blood. Tania might have lived had she received a blood transfusion in time. We will be taking steps to make sure that both of these things are available to the next infants that are entrusted into our care. Though the dying takes it's toll, for love of life, we have to move forward.