His name: Baby Joseph. Okay so that's not his official name, but it's the nick name the team and I have given him over the past week. He is three and a half months old. He only weighs about 9 pounds and most likely has bacterial meningitis. But he has the cutest little mouth and the adorable face he makes when you give him his bottle is enough to get anyone hooked.
I always vowed I would never do this - never be the "blan" who gives lots of handouts to one person. That's why I am participating in the collaborative projects this summer with Dartmouth/PEPFAR/CHI/MSPP. I figured this work would be longer lasting, more sustainable, help more people by helping improve the system that cares for them, etc. That's why I didn't bring a suitcase full of toys for an orphanage or food for malnourished children. I really only packed for myself. This reasoning is why I usually turn away when random Haitians on my way to work say "Hey blan, gimme one dollar!"And for the last 2 and a half weeks I had been sticking to my plan pretty well. I have made lots of connections, sat through lots of meetings, collected a lot of data, spent all afternoon on emails, working tirelessly on changing/ improving the system...
But then Baby Joseph's mom brought him to mobile clinic this weekend in Les Anglais. I know, many will tell me that there are a ton of baby Josephs out there, many with the same cute faces and just as in need of medical treatment and baby formula for food. But with the encouragement of the Haitian doctor in Les Anglais and the blan team supporting me, I helped get Baby Joseph to Les Cayes. With the help of Pastor Yivonne and some donations on the American side, Baby Joseph's parents tracked me down at HIC yesterday - probably was pretty easy since I am the only blan medical student that works there. I checked them in and held Baby Joseph while the interns and the Pediatric team poked and prodded. The Pediatrician - a bubbly, middle-aged Haitian woman - was awesome. She admitted him to the inpatient infant area of the ward, ordered his medicines and lots of tests and then rounded up all of her interns and residents to go over the case - looks like Baby Joseph is getting to be the little star around here.
I again broke the rules and helped pay for his medicines, chest x-ray, and labs. I literally sat there all afternoon today waiting for pee to dribble into his specimen cup while I held it. I couldn't stand seeing him in dirty clothes, all smelly, when he was trying to fight off infection. So I gave him a baby-wipe bath and put him in a clean diaper and a little blue onesie I purchased at market. The mothers milk has dried up and she couldn't remember what she did with all the bottles of neonate formula we had given to her in Les Anglais (she probably sold them or gave them to her other toddlers at home - but more on that part of the complicated story later). So I went out and bought powdered formula and prepared a bunch of little bottles for him. I fed him this morning, over my lunch break, this evening, and even took a moto tonight to give him his nighttime bottle. Each time I changed his diaper, cleaned him up and made sure his fever medicines were on schedule. The nurses here are amazing. They have been giving me the update on his antibiotic schedule and they let me hold him when they do his blood draws. They even act as my interrupters - translating my French into Creole so Baby Joseph's parents can understand my instructions.
The last few days have taught me that life is complicated. While it's important to try to play by the rules and follow the original plan, life is not black and blan. Sometimes an exception to the rules, a very cute exception, comes along and it's okay. So tonight I decided that for my next four and a half weeks here I am going to work very hard at my original projects, but I am also going to try my hardest to take care of the cute little exception I found. I think if you saw him smile at me today during one of the feedings, you would also agree with this plan...
No comments:
Post a Comment