Helping Babies Breathe!

Check out this update from Krissy Close aboard the good ship Mercy.  Krissy also happens to be a "home-town" girl from Duluth!

We Welcomed Four Peace Corps Volunteers Aboard A Few Weeks Ago To Learn All About Helping Babies Breathe – A Simple, Low-Resource Algorithm For Newborn Resuscitation That Was Created For The Rural Health Centers Where These Volunteers Work For Two Years.  We Then Sent Them Out With All The Materials Needed To Teach The Class To Their Local Health Center Workers!  I Recently Received The Following From One Of The Volunteers:

Yesterday The General Physician And I Led The Entire Staff In The Introductory And Pre-Testing Portion Of The Help Babies Breathe Training. The Results Were Already Astounding. The Trainees' Enthusiasm For Their Work Grew Overnight. We Spoke Not Only Of How The Procedure Is Important, But Also Reflected On Their Individual Impacts On The Community. 

The Next Morning, The Physician And Several Assistants Rushed To Greet Me. They Were All Smiling Ear To Ear. The Physician, With Whom I Had Worked Independently To Share The HBB Curriculum After My Own Training, Had Amazing News. In The Early Morning The Day After Training, A Woman From A Small Settlement Went Into Labor. The Team In The Maternity Ward Was Struggling To Make This A Safe And Comfortable Delivery. The Middle-Aged Woman Had Already Suffered The Loss Of One Child -  Her Previous Pregnancy Ended In A Complicated Birth In Which She Lost Her Strength And The Baby Died Before She Was Able To Deliver. The Baby Was Born Limp, But The Team Moved Quickly And Cautiously, And The Physician Performed The Skills Acquired During Our Training. Today We Have A Beautiful And Happy Baby Boy! Helping Babies Breathe Is Going To Have A Big Impact In My Village And Surrounding Area!

Wonderful Weekend Without Work!

Out of the previous twenty-one weekends, I have only not worked three.  One I was scheduled to work and the class got canceled, one I had foot surgery and was unable to work even though I was scheduled to work; and that remaining one was a friends and family weekend.  All said, it was absolutely glorious NOT to have to work this weekend.  Or shall I say - not to have work for pay this weekend?

Thankful Thursday!

My beloved daughter spent Wednesday morning baking my (deceased) mother's sugar cookie recipe so my dad could have some for Christmas!  

She didn't frost them, though.  She brought all the frosting ingredients down to Dad's and made HIM help her frost them Thanksgiving Day!  

It was the most beautiful sight!  And for that I am thankful!

The First To Know

Today's post is reblogged from radiology tech Holly Franklin's post, "A Path to Mercy".  May you enjoy it as much as I did.

During week 12, I realized something…

I’m always the first to know.

When it comes to our patients official radiology report, I’m always the first to know what their exam showed. What their official diagnosis  is. And sometimes, it’s not the best news…

I’m struggling with that fact.

With the fact that I’m the one who reads the report & then has to pass that news on to our doctors. Although this isn’t always the case, with our critical patients, I always page our doctors to give the results as soon as possible. And I’m finding that with every digit I dial, a small piece of my heart goes with it. Because I’ll never forget that moment.

I’ll never forget all the emotions that emerged as I read that report & how they crashed over me when I had to speak those words of bad news. 

While we all try to stay positive in these critical situations, we also try to remain realistic.

It’s hard to confirm that the “worst case scenario” pathology that we were all praying wasn’t happening, is indeed what is going on. That realistically, there’s nothing more we can really do for this pathology. That everything we’ve done may not be enough. The patient will either improve, or they won’t.

But no matter the outcome, God has the entire situation under His watchful eye & in His hands. Our knowledge of these patients is not even a spark compared to His blazing flare of understanding. He knows every single thing they need.

It’s His will, not our own, that will be done.

“You hem me in behind & before, & you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” 

-Psalm 139:5-6

And it’s because of that very reason, that we’re in the middle of watching yet another miracle unfold before us. This particular patient came to us extremely sick, so very close to deaths door. While they are not out of the woods yet…not by a long shot…they are still with us & they are still improving. And that, in & of itself, is a miracle.

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I realized something else in week 12…

I’m in big trouble when it comes to our ortho kids…

BIG trouble. 

They had me totally & completely wrapped before they even made it into the room…& they knew it. Seriously, they could not be more adorable.

Some of the simplest things in life, things we all take for granted, these children have never been able to do…

Walk without pain.

Run.

Climb into a chair by themselves.

Kick a ball.

I can’t wait to watch these sweet kiddos discover what it’s like to walk normally & on straight legs. To watching them discover that walking doesn’t have to be…& shouldn’t be…painful. Watching them take of running for the first time in their life. Watching them climb into a chair…or up onto the x-ray table…

by themselves.

Oh how I’m looking forward to all those moments.

-Please join us in prayer for all of our patients, both critical & non-critical alike. Pray for comfort & peace throughout their time with us. That their healing will be swift & without complications. Pray for all of our little ortho patients as they go in for their surgery & as they began their road to recovery. Pray for all of their caregivers & parents as they try to provide comfort.-

Until next time…

YMCA Swimming Instructor V6

That, my friends, is the name of the course I took at the Burnsville Y this weekend in order to keep my job as a swimming instructor there.  Class was scheduled from 1-5 p.m. yesterday and 9 a.m -2 p.m. today.  When we stopped at 4:30 p.m. last night we were all thinking, "Yes, we'll be done early today, too!"  We were pumped!

We started in the pool right away this morning and we watched the hours tick by, soggy, wrinkled and beginning to chill - without a break.  Finally, around 1:30 p.m. we finished our in water component and got ready to review for the written test.  At 2:20 p.m., I walked out of there with my V6 certification and the knowledge that the Vikings were ahead.  And did I mention - exhausted beyond all belief?   

 

New Speed Record Set!

Matt was working at the front desk at the Y this afternoon when he heard a long whistle.  He knew that meant all hands on deck and he decided to see which pool someone had puked in so he went over to the windows to take a look.  What he saw was a man down by the hot tub and he knew we had an emergency situation.  Even before the pool staff could push the emergency button, Matt had raced in there with the AED and the oxygen tank and had notified his co-worker to call 911!  He has now set the fastest response ever by the front desk.  Way to go, Matt! 

I know you!

Meanwhile, I was sitting in the Y Swim Instructor Class V6 when we heard the alarm go off.  Since the Midway Y Aquatics Director and our Assistant Aquatics Director and one of our lead staff were in the class, class was temporarily suspended.

I went out to see what the commotion was and a little girl I later found out was in kindergarten, pulled on my shirt and asked me, "What happened?"  I explained to her that someone had gotten hurt by the pool, but if she looked, she could see that we had a lot of people in there to help him out.

That's when her mother turned to me and said, "I know you!  You were my teacher!"  And you know what, she was right!  The Molly I knew was a second grader at Washburn and she had a sister Maggie in kindergarten.  Seriously, that had to have been when Sam and I were first married, so almost twenty years ago.  And now she's the mother of three . . . Only at the Y! 

The. Margo.

Tuesday night I taught CPR and First Aid for ISD 196.  One of the men in my class was named C_____ K_____.  Oddly enough, that was the same name as the father of two of my swimming students.  So I asked him, "Are you the father of N_____. N_____ and N_____?"  An awesome shocked look appeared on his face.  "And,"  I said, "The husband of K_____?  I am Margo."  He responded with, "You're THE Margo?  The one my entire family talks about?"  I replied, "And you're the dad who makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world - not that I would ever know!  I just hear about them!"

Well, it was cookie baking night at the K_____ house last night and the girls came to swimming lessons with a bag of the BEST chocolate chip cookies I've ever had.  Not that I got to have a lot - by the time I was done swimming, Matt had eaten three!  Bless my son . . . 

Thankful Thursday!

There is so much to be thankful for but I'm going to limit my thankfulness to just three things today:

• My sophomore year of high school, our football team won on Friday, October 13th - ending our dubious record of the longest football losing streak in the State of Iowa.  Today, I am thankful that that same high school played in the Iowa Eight-Man State Football Championship.  Unfortunately, we didn't win, but we've come a long way in such a short amount of time!
• I am thankful for my girlfriend who shared the right perspective yesterday.  She's had to put her mother in assisted-living; her oldest son is struggling with his college courses and her youngest is struggling with mental health issues.  Yet, she said, "Other people at work have it so much worse.  They're struggling with cancer . . . "
• And last, but not least, I am thankful for man's best friend who totally licked up the entire glass of milk I spilled on the kitchen floor last night - happily!  I didn't want to deal with it and Annie took care of it.  Of course, I did mop it today!

Of course!

Off course is more like it!  I arrived at the Y yesterday morning to teach a full CPR-PR class only to find out that my room had been absconded by Youth Sports for team pictures.  Not only that, but Youth Sports had taken both gyms.  All the classrooms upstairs had classes in them.  And we no longer had an MOD (Manager on Duty) to make an executive decision for me.  

So Shalom from the front desk did it - peacefully!  She told Youth Sports they could split the large gym in half and have their two gyms.  I was teaching CPR in the small gym.  Problem one solved.

Things went totally great in class - they were an excellent group - until we finished.  Everything I needed to clean the manikins was MISSING!  On the one day that I had hoped to get out of there early because I was going to do team building for Micah's youth group that afternoon, I had no cleaning supplies PERIOD. 

The second aquatics staff I talked to told me our supplies had been borrowed by another department, but she was pretty sure we were out of bleach.  She helped me "take" a bottle from the custodians.  Yup, you could say we stole it because we did not ask anyone if we could have it even though it was in the aquatics area!  And I did find the rest of our stuff in the kitchen - where I never would have looked!  Problem two solved.

I had really hoped to be home by noon and it was now 12:15.  The cleaning was done, the manikins and supplies were back in the closet and I was going to the aquatics office to finish my paperwork.  

Danae was in there and after a few minutes she asked me how soon I would be leaving.  I told her I was hoping to gone in ten minutes.  She said she was done for the day and she wondered if she could get a ride home.  She is a new staff who is going on her third month at the Y and I had heard her car had died a few weeks back.  You know what I said - "Of course."  Problem three solved.  Because you never know when you just might get to be Jesus with skin on.

 

Only. God.

This post is reblogged from radiology tech Holly Franklin's blog, "A Path To Mercy."  It is our good God who does good things on the good ship Mercy!

I stand in total & complete awe of our God. 

He never ceases to amaze me.

The last time you heard from me, you learned about the miracle that unfolded before our eyes here on the Africa Mercy at the end of week 9. Well that miracle has continued through weeks 10 & 11.

Our aneurysm patient, whom we almost lost, 

has continued to make great strides in his recovery. 

In week 10, over the span of a few short days, we witnessed him go from:

• Unresponsive to responsive & able to follow commands…
• From responsive & reclined in bed to being able to sit up in bed…
• From being able to sit up in bed to being able to sit up on the side of the bed unassisted…
• From sitting up on the side of the bed to being able to stand to join ward worship…
• From standing for ward worship to slowly walking around the ward…
• From slowly walking around the ward to slowly walking in the hallway
• From slowly walking in the hallway to steadily walking down the hallway to visit his friends…

How? How is that possible considering 

he almost lost his life just a few days earlier?

Only. God.

“Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.” – Jeremiah 33:6

And what an abundance of healing, peace & truth He brought. 

I think everyone on board could feel His presence as we began a new week. 

He renewed our hopes for this patient & our spirits for our purpose here.

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Weeks 10 & 11 also began our orthopedic screenings.

All of these little guys & gals are such troopers.

The severity of their bowed legs & knocked knees is unbelievable.

Yes, I’ve seen lower extremities bend in that way before,

 but as the result of a horrible accident.

Yet there they are, laying on our x-ray table…with us twisting & turning them every which way trying to accomplish the view we need…in complete stillness & quiet. And every time they look at you, they give you the sweetest little smile. It doesn’t matter that their right knee & foot are twisted to left & their left knee & foot are twisted to the right…

(think 5th position in ballet, but backwards)

…they’re still content & overall, happy.

I love seeing our hallway full of these sweet kiddos & hearing their bursts of laughter. I love to see their eyes light up as we give them their own sticker covered balloon. My coworker, day crew & I love to hit the balloon back & forth with them while waiting for are images to process. You would be surprised at how quickly they can move on those little bowed legs of theirs!

After a few really difficult & emotional weeks, 

it’s been so refreshing to look at these precious faces everyday.

I’m truly enjoying every single step taken upon this path. Even those that I’m unsure I will be able to take. Because with every step I take on this path, I become stronger…both in myself & in my walk with God.

And I’m humbled, grateful & honored that He laid this path before me. It’s a privilege to be traveling it. 

“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” -Psalm 16:11

-Please continue to pray for our patients & their healing..especially these kiddos who are about to undergo surgery to realign their lower extremities! Pray for peace & comfort for all who are in the process of being treated & their families/caregivers.-

Until next time…

Not Sand Creek . . .

But better!  This afternoon, Sam, Micah and I joined the livingWATERS junior high and senior high youth at their fall retreat at Camp Omega in order to do some team building with them.  We have always loved their youth pastor, Paul, and his heart for God.  Now, we love his youth, too!  It was an absolutely delightful time! 

Seventy and Sexy!

You so can't make these stories up!  Yesterday at the Y, a lady changing close to me put on a hot pink bra with matching undies and said to all of us changing right there - "What do you think?  Not bad for seventy!  Why can't I get a man?"  All I could think of was "Ummm . . . you look a bit like a Shar Pei - in hot pink undies!"

Free Sub!

Matt and I stopped at Subway for lunch this week.  We had a coupon - buy a sub and a soda, get a sub free.  So I got a 6-inch sub and my hungry son got (and ate!) a foot-long sub and soda.  When I was paying, the person at the cash register said, "Are you from Okoboji?" since I had on the sweatshirt.  I said, "Yes."  He said, "I'm from Spencer."  I said, "I'm from Lake Park."  He gave us the foot-long for FREE!  Bless that hometown boy!

Thankful Thursday!

I am ever so thankful I was not lifeguarding at the Y today when my second class (and only class today as no one in the first class showed up!) went into action!  My four year old and five year old were swimming and listening and doing great!  My two and my three year olds - spouting water, throwing toys, so not listening!  The lifeguards will be thankful that this class was split and now the five and three year old siblings will be on Tuesdays!  

I am also thankful that my family ate the purple sweet potato souffle that I made last night! 

Happy Birthday!

Micah turned 17 today!

Pictured above with little bro Lincoln.

 

Only at Sand Creek . . .

Can you spend quality time with the St. Francis varsity women's hockey team!  And celebrate with four different people on their birthdays!  Or send two missionaries who are here for a conference down the zip line!  And best of all - zip yourself on a glorious autumn day!

Thankful Thursday!

How can you not be thankful on this Thursday for . . .

• The next-door neighbor who put supper in the oven for me because I was donating blood with my daughter (we could have had supper late except Matt had taken an extra shift at the Y and had to be back to work at 6:00)?  And that was after the neighbor's colonoscopy!
• NOT totally passing out after giving blood (like, really - I had the head person stick me and she did it wrong - she told me that! - which meant it took over 15 minutes for me to donate blood and I went woozy by the time she was done with me) like the girl before me!
• NOT passing out in the car.  Those stop sign jerking motions did not help my motion sickness at all, but laying back with my feet elevated and windows open sure did!
•  Children who took care of supper and let me sit in the recliner and rest while they brought me beverages!  I may not feel good for the rest of the evening!
• The MONSTER bruise they say say is coming to my arm.  I'm icing it in anticipation already!
• A loving Heavenly Father who is blessing us with all this awesome weather!  Maybe I should have spent today outside instead of giving blood . . .

Somaya

A Whopper of a Tale!

When I walked Annie at noon today there at the end of Brian and Jill's driveway was a package of Whoppers.  

I picked it up.  It was full!  It wasn't smushed.  It looked fine.  I ate it.

A little further along in our walk was a Hershey's chocolate bar.  I picked it up.  It was full!  It had been run over and it was melty.  I left it.

The best walks are obviously the day after Halloween!