Lukin yu behain

Our time here in Papua New Guinea is nearly gone for this year. It has been eventful to say the least – new friends, new patients, and new experiences. God has placed a never ending parade of life that files before me. What a blessing it is to pray with those I treat and those I meet here on the mission field. Some I can help and others are blessed only by God’s miracles.

Hope all of you are staying safe and healthy while Tyronza and I have been away. Sounds like your weather has been much harsher than last year, but with a good bit more rain this April than last. Here it has turned off dry, no rain for the past six days. It must be a record!

Nothing else major to report. We will be flying your way soon, leaving PNG of the 8^th of May. Please pray for our safe travel. We have been missing all of you.

See you soon,

Dr. P

Maternal Mortality

It has been a while since I last communicated with you folks back home. All is well here in Papua New Guinea. Tyronza and I have been healthy and enjoying the nice weather in the mountains. We have not had any further natural disasters. The temperature here has been nice with sunny days and rainy nights. My cistern has been full, so regular showers continue to be nice. Hope you are enjoying an early spring. We have only one more month before we start back home.

I believe I have written concerning this before, but it needs to be mentioned again. PNG is such a medically primitive nation that many of their health care statistics are woefully bad! Such is the case when talking about maternal mortality. When I last looked, this sad piece of data was the worst on the planet and it seems to be sinking even further!

During my career of nearly 30 years doing obstetrics in Cape Girardeau, I never experienced a maternal mortality. I would like to believe it was because of something I did right, but maybe I was just lucky, or maybe God was looking out for my patients.

The record here has not been so stellar. The first year I came to PNG there was one death under my care. She arrived on Labor & Delivery following a home delivery with considerable blood loss. She was fully arrested and, unfortunately, so deep in shock, I could not bring her back.

The second year there was three deaths. One had postpartum cardiomyopathy. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done with that diagnosis and death is inevitable, at least in the highlands on PNG. The second patient had taken poison. That, too, was ultimately fatal, although it took 3-4 days. The third patient developed acute hepatic failure and died. We were never sure of the cause and lacked the ability to diagnose or treat the problem.

This year I really was feeling good about the situation, until this past week. The woman’s name was Nancy. She had delivered a live child in a nearby village five hours before she arrived on L&D. She had lost much blood and had a retained placenta. Her hemoglobin on arrival was 3.7 gm, but she seemed stable. However, shortly after I got 2 units of blood going she arrested. We worked on her for 45 minutes, but were not successful. I have been a little depressed over this situation, but really don’t know what else I might have done.

On a positive note, a family member is adopting the child. She has come in and is being given ”Lactogen/Lamictal” to start lactation.

You folks stay healthy. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

God Bless You,

Dr. P & Tyronza

A Miracle in Kudjip

Greetings from PNG. I hope all of you are safe, healthy and looking forward to the miracle of Spring. We are fine and enjoying the warm sunshine in the beautiful mountains of Papua New Guinea.

Some people claim that miracles don’t happen anymore. As a medical professional, I can give you first hand testimony that says otherwise. On multiple occasions, I have personally seen and experienced God’s power over the health of individuals facing impossible odds. I would like to think that my knowledge, skill and experience at these times are what made the difference, but that would be a vain lie, and I know better.

I bring you the tale of one such miracle. Her name is Aine (Annie). I first met Aine sitting on the bench waiting her turn to be seen in the clinic. I knew something was not right when I went to call her to the exam room. She was sitting over a large pool of blood and there were bloody footprints leading up to the bench. Aine was 22 weeks pregnant with a low lying placenta. She had developed a marginal separation of her placenta from the lower segment of the uterus. I estimated she had lost two units of blood. She was admitted to the hospital and the bleeding stopped. Aine received two units of blood and eventually went home on bed rest with a live pregnancy.

I did not see Aine for two weeks, but as often happens in these cases, her water broke and she returned. Her baby was still living and she still had plenty of amniotic fluid. I thought there might be an outside chance and decided to sit on the case and see where it led. She received steroids and was placed on antibiotics and monitored for sepsis. All went well for a week; however, her fluid slowly dwindled until the baby had no room to grow and develop. Because of the lack of fluid the umbilical cord was compressed and the baby died. I decided it was in the patient’s best interest to terminate and started vaginal Cytotec to effect delivery. When I came in to Labor & Delivery the following morning, Aine was in the back and looked pale and lethargic. A quick hemoglobin check was very low at 2.7. A stat ultrasound revealed much free fluid. I started two units of uncrossmatched blood and took her to surgery. The patient had a condition known as placenta percreta and had ruptured her uterus. In surgery, a hysterectomy was needed_. She remained fairly stable during surgery, but did received six units of blood and multiple liters of fluid. That night she did fine, but by morning was having difficulty breathing.

A chest x-ray showed what I already knew; Aine had developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, ARDS. This diagnosis carries a mortality rate of 50%, even with technology and a ventilator. I kept her vertical and gave her strong diuretics and oxygen. By that evening, she was covered with perspiration and her respiratory rate was over 60. Her pulse-ox, even on 100% oxygen with a mask was less than 70. I thought she would not make the night! Sometime in the night, God came and by morning she seemed slightly better. She slowly improved over the next three days until she was finally safe. She did contract malaria from the blood transfusions, but is now nearly ready to go home.

God is so good to those who are faithful. Prayer was the only tool that could save Aine. Her doctor, family, friends and all those on this station prayed long and hard, and God heard and came.

The next time you hear doubters, tell them about Aine and the night God came and performed A Miracle In Kudjip.

So long for now,

Dr. P and Tyronza

School Packs

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries is one of the many arms of the Nazarene Denomination. It is a tool for bringing needed supplies and aid into areas of the world that has either faced destruction, illness or simply great need. It is often first on the scene after storms and is often a door opener for further ministry and evangelism.

NCM was experienced in Kudjip and the surrounding areas this week. Many churches in the US participated in preparing “school pack” boxes. These boxes contained 10 large Ziploc bags with composition notebooks, pencils, pens, colored pencils, scissors, ruler and erasers. A large shipping container of these boxes, in addition to boxes of blankets, bedding, afghans and baby accessories was received on station this past week. There were thousands of the packs and they are eagerly received by the fortunate recipients.

Several of us, including the MK elementary and high school students and teachers, had the privilege of passing a large number of the packs out. Just outside the Kudjip Nazarene Hospital Station is a large public elementary school. Grades 3 through 8 are taught there and there are a little fewer than 1,000 students. There is also a small Christian school outside the gate with around 40 students. We also went to a small village school that is close to the river. The remainder of the boxes is to be distributed by local education authorities. The gift of school supplies to the students and teachers was like Christmas. They were so excited and appreciative!

School packs, crisis care kits (contain personal hygiene items) are some of the ways that Nazarenes around the world care for and share love with others. It is wonderful to be able to share with others the love of Christ, even in a small way.

Blessings upon you,

Tyronza

After the Storm

The storm that occurred on Wednesday afternoon, March 6^th, only lasted about 30 minutes, but the cleanup will be ongoing for days and maybe weeks. We were without power for 3 nights and on Saturday afternoon were very thankful to have power again. It was wonderful to take a long, hot shower and be able to wash dishes and put on a load of laundry.

As you are probably aware, Scot is rather ingenious. He disconnected the pipe from the end of our cistern and was able to collect water into pans. We have a gas stove, so were able to heat water for bathing and dish washing. It took many pans and trips back and forth to collect what was needed. We were able to wash off in a large basin. We both reminisced about how are grandparents would have lived. We are very thankful to live in the age of electricity, flush toilets and water coming from an indoor faucet. (Scot says, “even if it is cistern water.”)

We have had a fairly typical Sunday here. Scot was called to the hospital for an ectopic delivery. We had the Meyers’ family, Jeff, Susan, Jessica and Ethan over for dinner; also a medical student, Leeann. She has been here for two months, but departs in the morning.

We are well and enjoying our time here. Of course, we miss family and friends back home and enjoy hearing from you through emails or facebook comments.

Take care,

Tyronza