Support Samaritan's Purse as I run the Sunburst 5k...

So I'm finally going to run that 5k I've been talking about! But I decided if I was going to run, I might as well make it worth my while. So I decided I wanted to raise some money for Samaritan's Purse, the organization I just got back from Haiti with. So if you would, check out my fund-raising page and give if you can to this great cause...


You can make a donation by visiting my FirstGiving page: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/sherinater/sunburst5k

Check out this story on the Cholera Treatment Center in Cite Soleil that I worked at for 2 weeks with Samaritan's Purse. It was a great life changing experience. Toussaint, the nurse mentioned in this story, and I spent some quality time together in triage during my 2 weeks there and I have to say it was a blessing to work with her!

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/reaching_out_to_the_least/

Some things are better left unknown...

So we drove the same route to the CTC every day. But it was funny how every day you would see something different that you had never seen before. We would comment how it seemed the ride got longer every day. On a particular stretch, there was always a distinct sulfur smell that hung in the air. Never really thought much about it...Haiti is full of very distinct smells! Well toward the end of the trip we switched team coordinators, a new perspective. As we would drive we would talk and ask questions on the ride to work. On prior trips to Haiti, I had driven this stretch of road and knew that there was a large memorial site for earthquake victims as well as a burial ground for thousands. (picture compliments of my lovely new friend - Nicole!) I had just never put 2 and 2 together to realize THAT was what was causing the smell. The rest of the week as we would drive that stretch and I would catch that smell a lump would form in my throat. Almost wished I never found out that piece of information, except that it puts the Haitian life in greater perspective...I leave and have the memories of the things I've seen there. Might be uncomfortable at the time for me, but they have constant day in and day out reminders of the last year and a half. My prayers for the people of Haiti continue...

The wrap-up...

Well I have been trying to work through my last couple of days in Haiti in my head so I could get it on the screen and it make sense. Thursday and Friday had to be the toughest 2 days of the whole trip for many reasons. First off, there is always that sadness because you know you will be leaving soon. The staff at the CTC only worked 3 or 4 days a week so we had to start saying our goodbyes before we were actually ready. Then the staff at the CTC found out that it looks like it will be closing the end of May...so sad for all our friends who will be losing jobs. Most of the international staff had left so we were "short-staffed" too, so the few that remained had to kick it up a notch to make up for it. On Thursday, we had a 7 month old come in who looked dehydrated but I couldn't get a line in him. After 3 unsuccessful attempts and a triage tent that was filling up, I called one of the SP staff to come take a look. I got busy with other patients and they had taken the baby to the back so I didn't know what was going on. About 45 minutes later, one of the NP's comes running out to triage and tells me I need to get a line in this baby "NOW." I head to the back to find the baby now with a fever of 105.9 and labored breathing. Definitely not choleresque! (new Sheri word!) The staff and I start talking to the mom more and decide that he never exhibited signs of cholera and we need to transfer him sooner rather than later. In just those few minutes of trying to set up the transfer you could see the dramatic decline in the baby. He was becoming less responsive and his breathing was getting worse. In our American minds it seems so easy to transfer someone to a hospital that can actually take care of the problem, but here in Haiti it doesn't work like that. We were a cholera treatment center, specialized for just that. But families would bring patients with all sorts of problems to be seen. The problem is, once they show up at the CTC you basically have to prove they don't have cholera before any other facility will accept them...thus wasting precious time in this case. If this child truly had cholera, there would have been nothing for us to do, except treat as best we could with what minimal resources we had. In the end, the baby died either on the way to the hospital or soon after they got there. Still hurts to think about it. Probably one of the most hopeless feelings there is...