12 hours of sleep

I worked night shift last week, Thursday-Sunday. Monday I went to the beach with some other nurses who were also working nights. What a good break from working, to go and swim in the ocean waves with some friends. It was beautiful weather, and to top it off we had a ride in a mercy ships vehicle, and didn't have to get a taxi. Monday night I didn't sleep to well, and Tuesday night I recovered with a good solid 12 hours of sleep! I really needed it.



I started back to work yesterday with a somewhat busy shift, but it was still nice. I had a little boy who had cataract surgery on both of his eyes, so he had 2 eye patches on, but he was making me laugh. First he started complaining about pain, but when I brought medicine to him, he sat right up and yelled, "I'm not having pain!". It was funny.



I had a woman who had a tumor removed from her face. She has her baby with her, who is a few months old, and so sweet. I can't imagine having major surgery and having a baby to care for too. But of course, the other patients on the ward and the nurses are more than willing to cuddle her little one! I sure was.



So far I can say the encephalocele repairs and other surgeries are going ok. We did have a few unstable kids yesterday, but seems they are moving in the right direction. Praise God for all the talented pediatric and PICU and ICU nurses!

From My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
What Is A Missionary?
"As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you."
John 20:21
A missionary is one sent by Jesus Christ as He was sent by God. The great dominant note is not the needs of men, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in work for God is behind, not before. The tendency to-day is to put the inspiration ahead, to sweep everything in front of us and bring it all out to our conception of success. In the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, the Lord Jesus. The ideal is to be true to Him, to carry out His enterprises.
Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and His point of view is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary enterprise the great danger is that God's call is effaced by the needs of the people until human sympathy absolutely overwhelms the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, the conditions so perplexing, that every power of mind falters and fails. We forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary enterprise is not first the elevation of the people, nor the education of the people, nor their needs; but first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ - "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations."
When looking back on the lives of men and women of God the tendency is to say - What wonderfully astute wisdom they had! How perfectly they understood all God wanted! The astute mind behind is the Mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the Divine guidance of God through childlike people who were foolish enough to trust God's wisdom and the supernatural equipment of God.

Good morning-O

Its about 1 am on my 3rd of 4 night shifts this week. I am happy to give thanks to God for your prayers and for his answers. The week has settled down from its hectic start. The pediatric surgeries this week went well and without any major complications this week! The power even went out one day for a few minutes, and everyone was fine in the OR's, ect. Praise God. Most of the patients have been discharged to local hospitals to continue the care they will need more long term. As I may have mentioned before, the pediatric doctor that is here now, picks his most difficult cases to have surgery on the ship, because of the anesthesia equipment. Without it, they probably wouldn't be able to have the surgery they need. We have been getting a lot of cases where kids have swallowed caustic substances... there is no poison control center you call, either... so a lot of kids have scar tissue in their esophagus so they cannot swallow anymore and need feeding tubes. But yea, I just do really thank God that everything went well this week, despite a few stressed nurses. It is difficult to see how much medical care people don't have, especially coming from the US, where we are used to plenty plenty resources (a lot).

Next week we'll have a few encephalocele repairs...A little medical lesson: An encephalocele is a birth defect where a piece of the skull doesn't close completely, therefore brian matter seeps out and forms a bulge usually in front of the face, between the eyes. Google search it for some examples. :) So needless to say, the surgical repairs can be complicated, and the kids need spinal taps twice a day post-op. We have one of the cutest babies here on the ward. He's getting some medicine for malaria and he is due for surgery on monday. He's 1 yr old and his name is Moses. He's got an encephalocele about the size of a big mango on his face. He is adorable and has such a sweet spirit. So if you want another little one to keep in your prayers, I am sure he would greatly appreciate it, and so would his mamma.

I am also more than excited to report that I have not gotten the stomach bug! Praise God! I slept really good during the day today- a whole 8 hours. :) I haven't heard of anyone else getting sick either. Thank you for your prayers!

Quick update

I wanted to post an update on the child I had mentioned yesterday. I had him yesterday and he did go to surgery and he was doing pretty well postop. They drained about 2L of fluid/infection off his kidney before removing it. No wonder his belly was so distended. He is so cute though! I want to thank God that this little guy did well in surgery, and also for giving me grace to look after him post op- and for the peds nurses that jump in and help whenever needed. But please do pray- there are a lot of sick kids.

Today I said goodbye to my bunkmate, Erica, and another friend, Sam . Sam was the one who so graciously provided The Office Season 3. I will miss both of them, its sad to say goodbye. :(

I did get some mail today, and it was very exciting!

I'm sorry some of the pictures on my blog are not working... not sure why. Hope that will be resolved soon as I want to keep you updated on what I am doing here.

Sick kids, sick nurses

Hi All! I'd like to post a few prayer requests if you would please pray.

1. This week they are starting to do a lot of complicated pediatric cases here on Mercy Ships... for the next 3 weeks, which means we are seeing a lot of really sick kids coming in for surgeries they wouldn't have a chance of having without the technology on the ship.
-I and some of the other nurses are not used to having pediatric patients, let alone sick or unstable ones.
- That we as the health care team on mercy ships would give them the overall very best care we possibly can
-That the surgeries would go well and God's hand would be over all, to give these kids a better life and that they would heal well with no complications at all.
-That God would strengthen and give wisdom to the nurses, and pediatric nurses
-We had a 2 year old boy come in for removal of one kidney due to severe hydronephrosis, and damage to the kidney. He looked very thin, with a big rounded belly. He had a fever >102 when he arrived for his scheduled surgery. His mom was very scared probably due to the rumors circulating Liberia that Mercy Ships is killing people and stealing their kidneys. So when the doctor was explaining the risks of surgery, the mom was freaking out a bit, understandably. Please pray for this little boy. My heart just goes out to him! He's so small and already so sickly and malnourished. I don't know if they will go ahead with his sugery. A part of me wonders if there is some other etiology to his illness. Maybe a virus that attacks the immune system, like HIV? But I had to forcefeed him tylenol last night for his fever, which he threw up, and then I give him suppositories while he screamed, "No, Oh no, momma, momma, oh no!"

2. The nurses. A stomach bug has been circulating the nursing team (and other crew members on the ship) . A few of the nurses even needed IV fluids or IV anti nausea meds. A lot of the recovery room nurses are sick. So please pray this would stop, that we would be healthy and strong and able to serve the people of Liberia and see God work in their lives. I have not gotten sick yet (Hallelujah!!) but a few of my roomies are sick, and its just miserable to be sick on the ship!


I am thankful though, so far, things have been going ok. Last night we had a busy night with all adult nurses on the ward watching over kids, and although busy and challenging, everything was going pretty well by the end of the night. We had no major complications. Thank you so much for your prayers!! May God bless you!!!

The cutest patient ever and pics of the fishing villiage

The weekend

Yesterday was the 30th Anniversary of Mercy Ships, which we celebrated with a day of competition in 1o different events. We formed teams of 6, our team wasn't formed until yesterday morning, and while most teams came in matching uniforms, (all very creative), with team names like Dentimental for the dental team, our team members just so happened to show up wearing blue shirts and we then came up with the name "Code Blue" -we were all nurses, so it was fitting. Some of the games included water balloon toss, bean bag toss, darts, table tennis, the onion run (similar to carrying an egg on a spoon)... anyways, it was a lot of fun and the patients did enjoy watching us look foolish :) Our team got the award for "Consistent 6" which means we didn't stink too badly. Then we had a barbeque on the dock, with hamburgers and it was really nice.

Today, I went to a local church, it was very western. It was nice to sing familiar worship songs, sit in pews, shake hands on the way into church, and all read the words on powerpoint. Then it rained this afternoon.

I want to leave some words to a song that I really like, and which are really challenging me. They played it at the end of the church service tonight on the ship:

I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned,
In awe of the One who gave it all
I'll stand my soul Lord to you surrender
all I am is yours

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-YUU-MRjw4

Saying goodbye to a patient

I am working on A ward as I write this update. It's a quiet night. We have 7 patients between the two of us, me and my coworker. I miss the last VVF patient that left yesterday. She had been here for over a month, getting dressing changes a few times a day. Since she came, her english has improved quite a bit. I had the chance to be her nurse on and off while she's been here and had a few opportunities to pray with her. She had a VVF repair, and was still leaking after the surgery and has an open wound that will take a while to heal. She is older, in her early 60's I would guess. She had started to get tearful and wanting to go home. After all, a modern hospital ship is not her normal environment nad too far for her loved ones to come and see her. Fortunately, one of the nurses realized after praying with her, that she lives in the same town that has a clinic where a few midwives were trained on VVF care. They came to the mercy ship and learned from the nurses here. So she finally got to go home and have the medical care that she needs. Praise God! We can only do so much and then we have to step back and remember that it is God who said He will look after the orphans and the widows.

As I was giving her a hug goodbye and telling her how I will miss her, she wrapped her arms right around me and we prayed. And I realized in a new and deeper way how important relationships are. Even if they are short. That God is pleased when we share our lives with one another and give of ourselves even when it would be easier to stand back at a distance and not be vulnerable. That is still a little stretching for me. To love with Gods love and that holds nothing back. Please pray for her, that her wound will heal without complication, that she will have all the supplies she needs, and that God will send people to watch over her.

A trip to the hotel...

Hi! Things have been going pretty well. This past weekend, I worked 12 hour day shifts on the ward. We spent a lot of time talking and getting to know the patients, it was good. I was tired by Monday, though, and rested most of the day. Yesterday, I went to the market, bought some fabric to have a sun dress made at the tailors. I forget how exausting it is to go out into Liberia. Fun, but tiring. Its a city of a think 1 million people, after all, it is the capital city of Liberia, and there are more jobs in the city. So there are plenty-plenty people everywhere, its loud, lots of horns honking, music blaring, young men hollaring at us their affections. My favorite from yesterday was, "Hello, how are you? Fine? I looove you." another one, "Hi, I want to marry you". After some shopping, we walked up the hill and there is a big hotel that was really nice and beautiful before the war, and during the war it was ruined, but the structure of the building is still there, so we went up and had a tour of it. Here are a few pictures from the hotel. I guess it is now owned by the Libyan government, there was 2 security gaurds there, supposedly to keep people from living in the building and to show the visitors the grounds. We talked to a few people who live in the surrounding houses, who lived there during the war. Below is a picture of the hotel on the hill- its a view from the mercy ship.

A few views from the top floor of the hotel:

These other tall buildings were also damaged during the war.

Unfortunately, its not appropriate to take pictures up close within the city of houses, people, ect. So this is a small taste of Liberia from 8 stories up. :) Looking at some of the destruction of the war, I'm reminded of a quote by a teenage boy in a video we watched on the ship called "Sliding Liberia", he said, (and I'm paraphrasing) "when I was a boy, I thought the rebels were animals or monsters of the forest, I didn't realize they were human beings because of the terrible things they were doing. I didn't think people would do those things to each other!"

I am thankful the war is over in Liberia, and that they are in a rebuilding season. I'm glad I never lived through that.

This week I had the opportunity to go visit the Mission of Charity, an international organization started by Mother Theresa, to care for those who are critically/terminally ill. They have a children's ward, a women's ward and a mens ward. They have varying illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, TB, or other debilitating stuff. They are given medicines to treat symptoms, ect. I went to the women's ward, and we had a time of singing Liberian worship music, some of the women ended with dancing, too. I cannot tell you what it is like to see women who are terminally ill and in a room with 14 other women all day singing and praising G0d. Singing things like, "I worship you, Papa, Thank you, O papa", "If you see me singing, if you see me clapping, if you see me dancing, it is the favor of God". They are not praising God because of their circumstance, but because of who God is. Then a short discussion on asking god to give us pure hearts, and trusting Jesus with the sins in our hearts, that he will take them away and give us a new heart like His.

Then we did a craft with them with that mesh plastic type thing that you put the yarn on- I don't know what you call it! But we did cross shaped design. At first I was a little intimidated -What do you do or say to these women? But soon I was helping a few of them with their crafts. One lady (a teenager) said she needed help, that she was unable to sew it because she had a bad wrist. She was coughing pretty bad, looked really thin, and had a respiratory rate of 45 (sorry, the nurse in me had to count). So after sitting with her and not talking to much for about 45 minutes, she showed me a picture of her son, one year old. She said his father died, and the baby was with her mother. She missed him. In that small sentence is a world of pain for her.

A part of me saw the infection control risk- yes, 15 women in the same room, some have TB, in the US we'd all be screaming and calling the health department. Where are the fitted masks and negative pressure room!? I think of all the fomites for those TB droplets. And then I see the people in the beds, the individuals who smile and sing and hope of heaven. I see them in a room with their friends. They are clean, they have shelter, they have food. Jesus many times reached out to the lepers, who everyone else was afraid to touch. He was not afraid.

Then in the afternoon on Wednesday, I went to observe a surgery in the OR. It was an eight year old with a tumor about the size of a clementine orange in her parotid glad. It was wrapped up in her facial nerve, so the surgery went pretty long. It was neat though to watch. I won't go into detail for the sake of the squeemish. At the end, the doctor thought it was probably malignant by the looks of it but they will send it for testing. A lot of times, if they do find burketts lymphoma (frequent childhood cancer) here, they can send the kid to a local hospital and mercy ships pays for the chemotherapy which is 80-90% effective. That was encouraging to hear.

Samaritans Purse came and visited yesterday, they ate dinner with us and we gave them a tour of the ship. Then they stayed for church, it was so fun. The hospital wards here have been pretty busy. So today, I plan on resting and watching some of the office-Season 3 :) It's waffle day at Starbucks.

Pictures from my weekend in Roberts Port, Liberia

A cozy ride...

Below you see one of the more broken bridges

We fit 6 people and a taxi driver in a taxi for 3 hours... it was bonding time for sure. We caught a ride back from Roberts Port with people serving with Samaritans Purse, and their vehicle broke down, it was fun times. Hopefully they will come and visit us on the ship this week. Notice the rainbow in the picture above :) Overall, it was really nice to get off the ship for a night, and be outdoors.

Beautiful Liberian Sunset from the ship

Psalm 19

The Message Bible -a poetic modern translation of the Bible

1God's glory is on tour in the skies, God--craft on exhibit across the horizon.
2Madame Day holds classes every morning,Professor Night lectures each evening.
3Their words aren't heard,their voices aren't recorded,
4But their silence fills the earth:unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
God makes a huge domefor the sun--a superdome!
5The morning sun's a new husbandleaping from his honeymoon bed,The daybreaking sun an athleteracing to the tape.
6That's how God's Word vaults across the skiesfrom sunrise to sunset,Melting ice, scorching deserts,warming hearts to faith.
7The revelation of GOD is wholeand pulls our lives together.The signposts of GOD are clear and point out the right road.
8The life--maps of GOD are right,showing the way to joy.The directions of GOD are plain and easy on the eyes.
9GOD's reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,with a lifetime guarantee.The decisions of GOD are accurate down to the nth degree.
10God's Word is better than a diamond,better than a diamond set between emeralds.You'll like it better than strawberries in spring,better than red, ripe strawberries.
11There's more: God's Word warns us of danger and directs us to hidden treasure.
12Otherwise how will we find our way?Or know when we play the fool?
13Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins,from thinking I can take over your work;Then I can start this day sun-washed,scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
14These are the words in my mouth;these are what I chew on and pray.Accept them when I place them on the morning altar,O God, my Altar-Rock,God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

A great day

Today I went to visit a friend that I met. He lives at his house in Liberia, but works on the ship as a medical translator. His name is Dennis -below in the light blue shirt. He wants to be a doctor and is training to work on Mercy ships as a crew member. He took us to his house to visit his family. They live about 20 minutes from the ship. His father is blind, which I did not know, but they were so nice to us. It was such an amazing opportunity to go with him through the community. People didn't look at us as much as strangers, but because he took us there, we were so welcomed! He brought out chairs for us and we sat outside and we were welcomed "African Style", with cola nut and spices and salt. Wow was it spicy! But I felt so warmly welcomed!

All the neighborhood kids gathered around and they were laughing at me :) I said hi to one little girl, and she screamed and ran away. A few of the other girls kept giggling when we looked at them. It was funny. I love being here! I love going to visit my friends in Liberia.

They sent us home with so much wonderful fruit. Avacados, things like baby mango's, coconut, cucumber, oranges and lemons. This one says, Welcome to Liberia, our home... on the other side it says "The joy of the Lord shall be your strength". How this family blessed us, they do not know.

Random pictures