We arrive at the Puerto Plata airport via WestJet, back to the DR, this is our 6th trip here to the island and we are happy to be back with our friends here.
JAN 14
Back at the airport to get Denny,Mar and Damian who have arrived for a 2 week stay with us
Jan 15 Friday
Our first day back up to the villages with Jim and Sue...what an experience to be back all the hugs and excitment as the people are so happy to see us
**Ok so my blogging got blogged down, so I will try to pick up when things reall started to change over here. we so enjoyed the 2 weeks we had with Denny, Mar and Damian, our many trips to the villages, and all that transpired there which we try to fill in along the way
January 25 Monday
We were in the village and we heard that one of the twins from a family of nine children was in the hospital in Puerto Plata, after some investigation we found he had been taken to the public (free) hospital which is often only a death warrant for Haitian babies, so I asked Jim if we could go get him and take him to the private hospital where he would get cared for, thus began our adventures
Jan 26 tuesday
Jim and I (Donna) left for Puerto Plata this morning to find the baby. we went to thepublic hospital only to find out they had sent him back to the village the night before. We returned to the village of Acsension and found the baby at his house with his mamma, he is very doing very poorly. Jim decides he needs to see the pedetrition at the private hospital, off we go back to Puerto Plata about a half hour drive with the baby and his 17 yr old brother who the mamma sends along.
We have waited for the doctor for approx 3 hours and then we get to see him, he says the baby is not sick, just starving to death and if he goes back to the village he will die within days... decision time: Can Ido this, or not...I cannot let this innocent little one die without trying to help so we take him back with us to our house....thank goodness , Mar is here to help...I am not used to the mamma thing...diapers, any diapers, feedings every half hour for the first 48 hours, then every 2 hours for the next 2 weeks..he dosn`t have aname that we know of so we name him `manual` in english emmanual :God with us` he is going to need you God and we will too.
Jan 27 Wed
Iam a very tired mamma...thanks to Bill and Mar I was able to sleep a few extra hours this morning, feeding every half hour is tiring....Manual (lovingly dubbed Manny`weighs just under 6 lbs and is 3 months old.
he eats about half oz of formula every half hour or so...
he is so dirty that when we gave him a bath his skin changed colour. he is now a spotty brown with white blotches caused from vitamin deficiencies.
we pick up his perscriptions for all the vitamins he needs and start him on a routine for getting them every day..mega doses..
Jan 28, 29, 30, 31
Baby, baby, baby
he is looking some better and is taking almost an oz of formula at a time. I am sooo tired, God give me strength. Denny, Mar and Damian leave for Canada on the 28th, We miss them so much.
Feb 1 Monday
Manny is doing wonderful and it is time to reassure his mamma that he is alive and doing better.
Little did we know when we left for the village this morning that this would be a day that would test our faith and send us into a path that we had no idea was coming.
We spent the day, weighing babiess and doing the regular visits to the people, did the food package distributions and by 2 oclock we were back at the house..Jim and Sue dropped us off and we were planning the day for Wed and the meal program which we be doing where we feed approx 200 children a meal.
6 pm:
frantic call from Sue, can Bill come right away and take Jim to the hospital, he is not well and he seems to have problems with his armm and leg. thankfully we have our friends car so he can go right away...a 15 minute drive to the hospital, and by the time he arrives there , Jim is paralazed on his whole one side and is only semi conscious, he has had a massive stroke caused by bleeding in the brain, he is in criticial condition, the next 72 hours will tell if he will live...not much hope..the doctor says, we can do alot but this one is going to need help from God.
11pm:
a long long night , as Bill gets Sue to the hospital to be with Jim and brings the little handicapped girl that they care for to me, I now have Manny and Martha as Bill heads back to the hospital to be with Sue and await any more updates to Jim`s condition...many, many people are now praying all across the world as the messages on facebook spread and the emails start to go out.
2 am Feb 2
Bill and Sue arrive at the house, the doctors say they cannot stay in ICU as they don`t have room, only for the patients, so Sue is staying here with us, so if they call from the hospital, they can go right away.
7am
Bill and Sue are gone back to the hospital to see how Jim is doing..no phone call in the night so all is the same..we have now made it through the first 12 hours with no change.
10 am Feb 2 Tuesday
Jim is criticial but stable..thank you God
today is spent drving back and forth between the house and the hospital..poor Sue, he is her everything..but she is holding on the fact that she believes God will look after him. Their daughter is making plans to come from England asap.
Feb 3 Wednesday
the work at the village has to be done, Sue takes Martha to the hospital with her, we take Manny with us and off we go to do what needs to be done...God help us to get it all right..
3 pm:
back at the house, tired but all went well
Jim`s report says he is still criticial but stable.
Feb 4 Thursday
I really have been enjoying following your experiences on FB and was so glad when you started this blog. I wish you had more time to add more each day, but I know from reading what you do tell on FB, and even here, that your time is limited for some things. (I wish I could help in some way with the blogging for you.) Keep it up, I don't know if I could ever be able to let that little one go now that you have had him even this long. You are doing a great work, our prayers are with you!
ReplyDelete