I had a little boy come to clinic this week who had been burned.
His burns looked awful. It looked like he had probably fallen in a charcoal cooking fire. His mom said that hot water had been spilled on him. I said this "story doesn’t add up."
Steam and water burns are clean. And this boy's burn was very contaminated. She told us that she used a white powder to help heal the burn — although she didn't know what kind of white powder she was using.
So, I would assume it probably came from a Witch Doctor.
After a little while, she admitted to us that she had also placed burnt egg shells — and cow manure — on the burn. She ALSO told us it had been five days since the burn happened!
It looks like it will be a long road of dressing changes to try and get the burns to heal. The boy is three years old, and he didn’t want any part of us helping him. I gave him my EMS speech, the one I give to uncooperative patients, but it didn’t seem to help! HA!
It took 6 of us to get his burns bandaged. So, it is going to be an even longer road to recovery for all of us.
A successful dressing change
On Wednesday, I was the only one in the clinic for bandage changes and didn’t know if we would get it done or not.
When the child arrived, he was sleeping. I had his mom lay him carefully on the table. I was actually able to undress, debride, and redress all his burns without him waking up! It was such a blessing for him (and me!) that he slept soundly through the entire process. I'm praying that he'll return regularly for his dressing changes, and that he'll heal with minimal scaring.
I realized the other day that I have never introduced you to my good friend, Jackenson. Almost since I arrived in Haiti and started working at the clinic, Jackenson has been helping me out. He is almost 15 now and is a BIG help around the clinic.
Jackenson helping with the babies during malnutrition clinic
He helps us with things around the clinic. He translates for me a lot. He is my right-hand-man during dressing changes on Wednesday’s and Friday’s. He hands me supplies and does all the translating for me with the patients.
There are many days I would be in trouble during dressing changes if he wasn’t there to help me. He even goes out with me when I have to run errands incase I run into someone who only speaks Creole. He is very smart and often times reminds me what supplies I need for a particular patient.
The other day I was late getting done with dressing changes and is was starting to get dark and I had walked to clinic. As I was locking up he said "hold on a minute." He ran to the back of the building, and a few moments later, he comes back and says "I got Karen to give you a ride home."
I told him I could walk, but he said, “NO! It's getting dark.” He said, “you take care of me, and I take care of you!” He is very thoughtful.
Unfortunately, Jackenson is a Sickle Cell patient. So, I do often take care of him.
When he has a Sickle Cell crisis he ends up in the hospital for a week. Some time ago we were talking about it and how expensive it is to have him in the hospital for a week for IV fluids and pain medications. We decided that we could do all that right here just as easy.
Jackenson getting a “Piki” during a Sickle Cell crisis but still wanting to be in the clinic. He didn't see the humor in my artwork on his IV bag.
So, at the first sign of a crisis he gets a “Piki” (Creole for "shot," so we always say piki just before we poke someone with a needle). We start pain medications and we can get him through his crisis much sooner than when he waits till he is really sick.
The other day we were talking about how many "shots" he's had over the months. We decided we were at almost 13 gallons of IV fluid. He has been doing better lately as we have been working on ways to prevent him from having a crisis.
Please pray for Jackenson that he will remain healthy!
He has been fortunate thus far to never have a crisis effect an organ — and we want to keep it that way!
I got called for a house call the other day. It was about a little guy named Kiko, from a special needs orphanage, who is an asthmatic. He was having an asthma attack because of a respiratory infection.
Trying to explain to Kiko how to do a breathing treatment through a translator.
I got him a breathing treatment and set him up on some antibiotics. I hope he is doing well now and back to having fun with his friends!
The orphanage has asked me if I would be their emergency care provider. They said when they take kids to the hospital they often die. So, they want me to be on call for their emergencies with their seizures kids, asthmatics, and other serious emergencies.
It's not easy staying cute when 1 out of 5 kids wont see a 5th birthday.
This is one of the many little cuties that makes clinic such a blessing! It so rewarding and makes all the struggles worth while when you can give these little ones hope through good health. It’s always a little plus when you pick them up and they tuck their head into your shoulder and hold on to you as if to give you a hug and say thank-you for keeping me alive!!
If you haven’t become a part of the mission of Kelby’s Kids in Haiti, now is a good time to start. Keeping kids healthy and happy comes with a price. My clinic expenses for the first 45 days of the year were almost $2,800.00
A new and fun way you can support Kelby’s Kids is to shop! Kelby’s kids is now a part of Amazon Smile. When you shop on Amazon they will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Kelby's Kids!! Just click on the following link to get started.
https://smile.amazon.com/ch/81-1167821
For those of you who have partnered with the ministry of Kelby’s Kids, I think this little man says it best…
Mèsi anpil (Thank-you very much)!!
Until No Child Dies,
Kelby