I Despise Medical Care in Third World Countries!

This is an update that I wrote in Oct. of 2011,  just before Achiever had his surgery. I was cleaning out my inbox and thought it was appropriate now. Dr. Mbassi gives me hope...

 

 

Beware - this is a rant... so if you'd rather not read it, read the next paragraph and stop.

 

The upside is Achiever is likely to be admitted to the hospital on Thursday to have surgery on Friday! Please pray, pray for Wisdom for us making decisions and for the hands of the medical personnel involved... Dr. Pahle is the name of the surgeon and he asked me to ask for prayers for him as well.  I'll do my best to keep you posted...

 

On to the rant...

 

I despise medical care in Third World Countries! I am not in love with our over-priced medical system in America either but I don't live in America right now. (that rant to come later I'm sure)

 

Achiever and I have been back and forth to the medical clinic where he will be having his surgery. His overall health has improved so much it's phenomenal. The surgeon that we have been seeing has moved to a private clinic instead of the hospital where he used to work. The new clinic is in the middle of no-where. It's literally surrounded by corn fields and a Banana plantation. This I am o.k. with.

 

The lack of smiles, non-physical touch and general rudeness to the patients that are coming for help I am not! People are in serious pain and no one cares. People are struggling to walk into the medical center because of injuries and/or pain and no one assists them. We are sitting outside of the female ward waiting to see the Dr. and there is a woman who is moaning and crying because of the pain that she's in. I am unsure of whether she is in pain from a procedure or something else. She starts screaming and no one even bothers to go look at her. We peek into the room and she is all alone. You must bring your own caregiver with you to the hospital here or you don't have one. There are no nurses to check on you, there is no pain pump to deliver drugs to you,  no one bringing you meals 3 times a day, and certainly not a CNA coming to be sure you have your daily bath. If you don't have a family member or someone to take care of you, you basically just suffer until it's time for you to go home. So our friend is in bed alone and in pain. Ashia is said by several people who are outside in the waiting room with us. (Ashia is kind of like saying it will be o.k. or I sympathize with you.) I overhear someone else saying that she should be beaten for making so much noise. That's helpful right...Literally all I can do is pray. The woman is so out of it, she can't understand me or respond to tell us what's wrong.

 

We were at the the clinic from 9 until 3:30 or so (nothing is fast here either, there is no sense or urgency for just about anything) In all of that time, no medical personnel checked on our friend that I could see. They may have checked while I was actually in with the Doc. but I can't be sure. No one brought her food, helped her bathe or gave her any pain meds. That $10 Tylenol that we would get in the U.S. won't be happening unless she can pay for it on the spot. Every time you need something done, you or your caregiver must go to the receptionist to find out the cost, you then go to the cashier to pay for it and then you can find a nurse to give them your receipt and you will get what you need. (or at least what you can pay for) A person can literally be bleeding from the head and you will not be helped until you first pay for everything they think you need to pay for. Mind you, a Doctor doesn't see you, a receptionist decides what's wrong and what you need to pay for. AARGH.

 

I ran out of money (money on hand) when we were at the clinic because I based the amount I took with me on the old hospital's prices. The old hospital is heavily supported by the Catholic Church and so their prices are cheaper because of it. The new place is private and has no support so... example - old hospital office visit price was 500 CFA - new Clinic price is 5000 CFA. 10x the amount. One has no way of knowing this until you are actually there. So anyway, in paying for all the things we did, we needed to do a second round of blood testing for a blood donor for Achiever. (no blood bank and no list of volunteers so we had to "find our own." The Doctor literally told me to look for a blood donor and bring them to be tested... Anyway - the blood tests were 16,000 CFA and I only had 13,000 on me.  Fortunately I had a driver with us so I could run to get more money quickly. I asked the receptionist, Can I give you the 13,000, you start the tests and I will come back in 15 minutes with the balance? NO - you have all or we do NOTHING. If you know me at all, you know my blood began to boil. I discussed with her for several minutes and told her I have the money, I will be back in a few minutes and I will pay the balance, please start the tests. It was pointless. I got Mama Grace, gave her the money and asked her to intervene while I ran to the bank.  Silly things like this is why people lose their lives because of stupidity. For the record, in this case Mama Grace got the Doctor who had operated on Lydia (and is operating on Achiever) because he knew that I had raised money for Lydia and they always had what they needed, he told them to do the testing for the $13,000 and do the other $3,000 when I came back. This is fine and good, but what happens when you don't have the "white man" from America who has a track record with the Doctor to help you out?? It shouldn't be that way. Right is right regardless of who you are or who you know. (FYI- White Man is the term for foreigners here, so I am called "white man" all the time.)  Lydia's mother told me stories of Lydia getting her casts on after her surgery. You pre-pay for the amount they think they will need. They ran out and she needed more so someone was sent to get her mother to come pay for more. (who was out back cooking for when Lydia woke up)  The money for the surgery was left with the headmaster of the school Lydia attended because we can't just turn over thousands of dollars to people. He was out of town and the money was in the bank. The staff at the hospital told Lydia's mother that they could not finish putting the casts on until she paid. They fought for over an hour. The headmaster finally called someone to borrow the money and take to the hospital and he paid them back when he came home. Ridiculous craziness but it's the way people live here. Lydia's mother is a tiny margin of the population that's willing to fight for what she knows is right and she would do anything for her child. The average person here just gives up and takes the attitude of, this is life.

 

A lady who works at the orphanage was called because her husband was sick at his job. She hired a taxi to get her and pick him up and go to the hospital. While she was there paying for everything her husband died in a chair in the waiting room. He hadn't been seen by a doctor. It's a mess and there is nothing I can do about it. She was walking with me yesterday asking how such things can happen? I don't have answers for her. Her final statement to me, this is our life. My thoughts are it doesn't have to be this way...

 

So many things are running through my mind. I am one woman that isn't a doctor and I can't change the medical system in Third World Countries. God has to be the one.  I have been a patient and a caregiver in these hospitals and it makes me sick to my stomach to see how people are treated. As long as I am able, I will fight for change and do my best for the people I'm helping. This is part of the reason why I am here. For now, my job is to pray for the people here and help wherever I can. In a meeting with the founder of a Medical School here, she told me, we need help, we need more training and we need better medical equipment. Can you help us? I don't know how much I can help. It pains me to admit it. There is only so much I can do. Yaya in herself can do nothing, but I know the one who can. My flesh struggles with not being able to fix every problem I see and help each person that is in need.  I selfishly asked the Lord to put blinders on me when I can't help someone that I see/feel is hurting. My heart hearts for them and I obsess with trying to find ways to fix whatever the problem is. I am not the fixer. I know The Ultimate Fixer and my job is to point people to Him.

 

This week I decided that I'm a bridge builder. The bridge connects things that may not otherwise be connected. It brings people together. My prayer is that I can be a bridge to bring people to the Lord and people can see Him as a dear Father who loves them and not some ominous ogre who lives in the "great by and by" directing our lives with a whip. If the bridge can connect and help with some physical needs that's great but the bigger picture is to connect with the Father above. He is the one that can "fix it all."

 

Pray for the people around the world who face these types of obstacles on a daily basis. This includes people in America. People in the U.S. who don't have health insurance can be seen in our hospitals but they are sometimes treated just as badly as the people in Third World Countries.  Do what you can to help in all of these situations. Ask the Lord, what is my part? then listen and OBEY what HE tells you to do.

 

In the meantime, I will fight for good medical care and provide the best help I can to Achiever and the Orphanage staff when he has his surgery. As a ministry, we will keep working to build a medical clinic here that will provide the best care we can provide for everyone regardless of their ability to pay. I'm fortunate to have had people fight for me when I needed medical care and couldn't afford it. Paying it forward is the least of what I can do.

 

Please know that I realize people in medical facilities in Third World Countries are basically doing the best they can with what they have. I understand that you can't just give everything away. I also understand that if this is all you know, you can't do differently. There is just something in me that wants human dignity for everyone and sympathy when people are in pain. People dying because they don't have money doesn't make sense to me, yet it happens everyday around the world. (even in the U.S.)

 

My prayer is for healing of our nations, our hearts and our bodies. I wish that Doctors were not necessary. I'm glad that the Lord has given them knowledge to be able to help up but dang it sometimes I just wish that He would do a Miraculous healing of everyone that's sick. I know He can. Until He comes back, I will do what I can to help lead people to Him, the Ultimate Healer. If that means meeting people's physical needs to build a relationship with them, in order for them to have the Ultimate Relationship, then so be it.

 

Thanks for joining me in this journey and for listening to my rant. feeling better knowing that He's got it.