Yesterday I was able to spend a night at the local government run hospital here. It was an eye opener as to how much we as US citizens have so much for which to be thankful.
Friday morning we got a call from Carla, a young mother in the church. She had to take her daughter to the small private hospital in Ojojona. She was sick with a fever and was in a lot of pain. We called her a few hours later and she reported that the doctors diagnosed Isella with a amoeba cyst, but she had bought the medicine and was resting.
Around 6:30 pm that night, we got a call from a frantic Carla. Isella was crying every time she moved and her fever was back up. She asked if I would take her to the main public hospital. I left with Bro. Ernesto (for my security), Carla, Nora (her sister), and Isella. Normally Jason is the one who makes hospital runs as Hospital Escuela is not the safest place in the world.
We arrived at around 7:30 and stood in line. We couldn't even figure out where the line was so we had to ask. There were probably about 100 people in this little room and only about 30 chairs. Once we figured out where the line was Nora stood in it while Carla and I rotated holding Isella. The line was progressing fairly quickly. It only took us about an hour to make it to the chairs. Once Carla had a seat, Nora and I stood off to the side and talked.
The line was moving fairly well and Carla was soon in the front row. It was about 10:00 pm and I was thinking we would soon be on our way home. However, I didn't expect to have one emergency after another.
One young man was brought in by ambulance. We heard yelling and screaming in pain and then looked outside and saw the ambulance. They sat outside with the young man in the ambulance for about 30 minutes before a doctor came out and saw him. They then proceeded, with one man on each side of him holding his arms, to walk him into the examination rooms. My first though was why don't they have a stretcher to put this young man on. They also brought in two new-born babies. One was brought in one of the plastic new-born bed you normally find in the hospital. The other was just in a plastic box. It made me so happy that I didn't have to come to this hospital to have my children.
The doctors had to come out several times and tell the people to stop opening the examination room door and walking in to insist that their child be seen first. Unless it is an emergency, they would be seen in the order of arrival. One young lady said her baby had been having convulsions. The doctor just looked at her with disbelief and said, "Tell me the truth, when was the last time she had convulsions?". The mother honestly admitted that she hadn't had any in two days and took her place in the line.
Carla sat in the same chair from 10:00 until 1:45 when thankfully, she was finally able to be seen. I didn't get to go into the exam room, but I watched when Carla went in. I was shocked to see some of the beds covered with a sheet that hadn't been changed for at least that night. Others were just covered with big black plastic bags.
She was in and out with the doctor confirming the diagnosis of the other clinic and then prescribing her the medicine needed. The doctor said that part of Isella's problem was that she was given a prescription for an adult and that was tearing her stomach up even worse.
When we finally had everything done we had to go to the pharmacy to get the medicine. The first order of business was to find where the pharmacy was in this building. We found it, but I was shocked as I walked down the halls to see how many people were laying on the cold, hard floor sleeping. Some had brought newspaper to lay on. On our way to the pharmacy we saw probably 200 or more. I was never so thankful that I was able to go home and sleep on a nice comfortable bed.
We left right at 2:00 am and I was never so glad to leave any place in my life. The floors were very dirty, the bathrooms didn't have water, lights, or even toilet paper. Two babies had thrown up when we were in the waiting room and when we had left that hadn't even been cleaned up yet. It made me so thankful that we have a private hospital to take our children to.
We had to stop by a pharmacy to buy a dosage syringe since they didn't give you any way to measure the medicine you were supposed to give the patient. After that I had to stop for gas and then I was free to go home.
I pulled into the gas station and they started filling my tank. I was finally done and was putting my debit card back in my purse when I was side-swiped by a drunk taxi driver. Thankfully all he did was transfer his white paint to my bumper, but he drove off like his tail was on fire. Bro. Ernest and Nora were able to get the number on his taxi and told me that we needed to stop and report it. So, we had one more stop on our way home.
I was unsure if I should stop or just drive by the police station. Normally there is someone outside checking the cars that drive by. When we got close there was a car in front of me that stopped and the police in the building rushed out and saluted. I rolled down my window and one of the police tried to wave my past, but I signaled that I needed to talk to them. Soon my car was surrounded by police. They took the information and called to the other police in the area to look out for this taxi. They were very nice. I thanked them and we were finally able to go home.
I finally got home just after 3:00 am. I was so glad to have had this experience and I was doubly glad that Carla felt comfortable enough with us to call us when she needed help. This is something we try to encourage in the people in our church. They don't always make use of our help though. I was also thankful for the time to get to know Nora. Her kids are faithful in my class, but she has never come to church. I will be writing another blog to introduce you all to this sweet lady.
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