In His Time . . .

There is no better time, than in God's time.  Let's go meet Baby Bernice.  She's two and she has no mama or papa. She lives in an orphanage and the woman who brought her to the ship is one of the workers there. On Thursday, Bernice was scheduled to go to the operating room when Melissa, her nurse, found that her leg was hot and swollen. Little Bernice sat in her big bed, staring up at the staff with big, wide eyes, surrounded by a whole team of doctors and nurses as they talked through what might be wrong. It was decided to hold off on surgery until they could figure it out.

An x-ray of the sore leg made the path forward much easier. Bernice's little femur had been fractured, probably a couple of weeks ago judging by the film, but there was no reason she couldn't have surgery to fix her cleft lip and palate. In fact, as the crew discussed their options, they realized that yet again, God had placed the right people on the ship at just the right time.

The general surgeon who has been operating on hernia patients in A Ward just so happens to be a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, too. Except that they're not doing orthopedic surgery this outreach; six months just isn't long enough to ensure good physical therapy follow-up afterwards. There was no reason for an orthopedic surgeon to even be on board, but God made sure that they had not only the correct specialty, but also one who is trained in pediatrics.

So Bernice had a full afternoon on Thursday. Dr. Gary closed her palate and carefully stitched together her lip while Dr. Alex busied himself with her leg, correctly aligning the bones and placing a long cast from hip to toes. Instead of a lifetime crippled from an unhealed injury, she now has the chance to run and play again. She's been recovering in D Ward since then and is much happier now than she was at first. She's still a solemn little thing, but she reaches up to be held and carried, and the nurses are more than happy to oblige.