Bedside Vigil

I am composing this thought at the bedside or our now 11 day old pneumonia patient. His name is Miguel Angel. He is a beautiful Honduran baby with lots of dark hair and big eyes. He is so sick. I learned his name today so that if he dies, I want to say I knew him. Amber and I are praying hard and doing all we know to do to help him and he is fighting for his life. It is 1:35 am and Amber and I cant leave his bedside. We have been here at the hospital all day already. We were able to sneak a quick nap in this afternoon...I know what your thinking....NAP?! Well, let me tell you it was much needed. Since my last post, Amber and I returned to the hospital in the evening to respond to a crisis with Miguel Angel then we went back home for 2 hours of sleep. Up at midnight to return to help John with a delivery (Healthy baby girl at 0105 9/19) then back home for a few more hours of attempted sleep (Amber had Richards snoring, I had a monkey howling at me all night!). Up at 0730 to head back to the hospital....Whew! So, we needed our nap! Ok, back to baby Angel. He has continued to decline with more episodes of decreased oxygenation and color changes. We have to "bag" him in order to bring his sats up and we have had to do this more and more. God brought us to Honduras for baby Angel. Of this I am sure. The nursing care here in Honduras is very different than in the states. the Honduran nurses do NOT have the same training as we do and are unprepared to care for such a sick baby. Plus, they are incredibly overwhelmed with patients currently. It is now 0206 on September 20th. He is doing better. Equiptment down here can be unreliable. You have to make due with what you have. we were using a very old and used baby saturation probe that only gave us an accurate reading when the wire was in one place. Very frustrating when you have such a sick kiddo. Richard went on a hunt and miraculously found an adult finger probe that, with some manipulation by Amber, worked much better. Now, we are running out of O2. The oxygen compressors which are supposed to produce 5 liters dont appear to be working that well. Everytime we have weaned Angel to 5 liters or less we try to switch to the compressor to conserve the cannister oxygen. When we do, his sat levels drop and we have to start all over again. So, he has to stay on the cannister O2 and we pray it will last until someone brings the new full cannisters. 0520 am, Making progress with Angel. We just had to leave him alone! He is septic (infection is in his blood) so stimulation causes him to desaturated. Sats are stable however, when he is resting and not stimulated. He is even sucking on his oral catheter (a tube into his mouth down to his stomach). What a good sign. A little ray of hope. Thank you Lord. Now if we can just keep the Honduran staff from messing with him! So, now it is 4 pm on the 20th. Amber and I slept from about 930 to 2ish. When we left Angel, the pediatrician was in and our replacement was an american nurse anesthetist (sp?) so we could sleep well knowing he was in good hands. But, he also wasnt doing as well he had been because of all the morning noise and activity. (blood draw, xray, ect.) Quick report from Richard is that he is fairly stable. We will be heading down soon to check on him. Our prayer is for healing for baby Angel. This is a hard place to live and he is strong, but he is still just a newborn. He needs all our prayers. The Lord has a plan and we are fully ready to participate in the plan as he sees fit. We just so want that plan to be healing. Well, this is the end of a very long post. I tried to import pics but with no success. Will definitely be checking with my geek friends to try to figure it out. Have lots of pics to share so far.
Hug your children, kiss your family, and count your blessings....The Team

Busy, Busy, Busy Day

Whew! Day one is over and my goodness it was a busy one! Amber and Lori hit the ground running this morning and spent the day at the hospital doing a number of things. We helped care for a 10 day old baby with GBS pneumonia. The family walked 6 hours carrying a sick baby in order to get medical attention. This kiddo is SICK! He has had a couple of episodes of very low sats and requiring some manuel ventilation (bagging) to bring his sats up. Nurses....you would be freaking out. I want to transport him to our NICU. I would if I could. He is getting all that we can provide. IV antibiotics, IV fluid and now has a makeshift "rebreather" in order to maintain sats. Pray for him. He has all that is available so its gonna have to work. We also helped with suturing for a machete wound to the shin and a laceration from a motorcycle accident. We also did some wound care today! something Lori hasnt done since nursing school, and Amber hasnt done for years. Lots of learning. Its been great. Our "jack of all trades" Richard was busy preparing for his big steel project. Church tomorrow and prep for the week. The plan is for some Ob/Gyn clinics in the mountains and out on the islands. More updates to come and hopefully we can figure out how to add pictures!!!! Keep watching. God bless you all. We ask for continued prayer for our safety and that He will use us in a glorious way.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

The team were dropped off for their flight day today. Due to low cloud at San Fran their first flight was canceled. So instead of flying through New York, they will be flying via Houston. And so the adventure begins!!

Packing

Last week the team packed all the wonderful donations ready for the trip. They are so grateful to everyone for the wonderful thoughtful gifts.

3 weeks to go

Well there are 3 weeks to go until the team leave for this year's mission trip..
Here are a list of needs. We have not had much come in so far, so if you can donate we would really appreciate it!

1. Gauze and rolled gauze for wound care
2. Scrubs
3. Tape for nurse use
4. IV extensions (up to 4”)
5. A variety of over-the-counter meds especially children’s.
(if you are not sure what to get, we have a some medical people who can get meds at cost if you so choose to donate funds to the mission trip...Thanks!)
6. Prenatal vitamins.
7. Infant (especially preemie) and children’s clothing to age 8 years
8. Toothbrushes and toothpaste


The team will also be involved in a project to repair road grates at the hospital.

If you have other items you think will be of value please check with the team. Space is more limited this year due to the small number of team members

Plans sometimes change

Well it has been a while since the last update we know...

The story so far is that we currently have a confirmed team of 3 for this years trip.

Richard and Amber Shields and Lori Bell.

In other news John and Penny are in the US for the next three weeks. John will be visiting Jacksonville this coming weekend. He will share about the work in Honduras after the second service this coming Sunday March 28 (Palm Sunday).

The current team and past team members are looking forward to also spending time with John while he is in Jacksonville.

It is also hoped that maybe a few more people will feel the Lord calling them to go on this year's trip.

The team take this opportunity to wish everyone a very blessed and Christ filled Easter..

Planning and Preparation for 2010

Yes it is that time already. The possible team members will be meeting on January 24th at 11.45am to gather information for the 2010 Honduras Mission Trip.

So far some members from previous years are planning on returning to Honduras, while others cannot make it this year due to other commitments. A few fresh faces are also thinking and praying about making the trip.

John and Penny will be in the US in July and plan to visit Jacksonville too.

So keep an eye on this page and the facebook group for more information as it comes to light.