The Never Ending Friday...

Last week was ‘Nurses Week’ and we had a pretty rough/hectic week in general (which you can read some about in my last blog) but our Friday, was the icing on the cake. We just got a donation of new laptops for the clinic and they got them up and running so Friday was our first trial with them. It was a terrible mess!! The computers were not working and it created worse problems than before when we were using the old ones! We had to paper chart, we couldn’t look up old info, we had to handwrite all the pharmacy labels and I could go on and on! Basically the day was chaos x100 because of the computer issues. Only blessing was that we didn’t have as many patients as usual. It was just a really tough day that capped a tough week and we were so glad to go home at the end of the day.

We had barely arrived home and I had just sat down to have a nap (Kate & Alisha were hanging out in our living room & still in their scrubs), when we heard Adam (another volunteer) yelling for help!! So we headed down to the street to see what the matter was and found a whole bunch of our neighbours were very distraught. Alfa; a 60 something year old neighbour of ours from down the alley, collapsed on her upstairs porch and they were calling for help. We arrived on the scene and found her unresponsive, not breathing and we couldn’t get a palpable pulse. From what we could understand from the family, she had just gotten up to grab something from the fridge and collapsed and it was probably about 5 mins before we got there. She has a cardiac history and was a known patient at the clinic. But basically as soon as we discovered she was not breathing, we started CPR. We did rounds of CPR while we others called for help and discovered the ambulance was too far away, so they found a person with a random truck. We moved her down to the truck (carried her on a sheet) and then we continued CPR on the back of a pickup truck driving at scary high speeds to the local hospital. I was pretty sure on our way there that our efforts would not be successful, and sadly the hospital doesn’t have a defibrillator anyway, but this is what the family wanted and we were not about to stop compressions. So we took her to the hospital and they unloaded her into a bed but they didn’t really tend to her, they just put some oxygen in her nose and shooed us out of the room. It was difficult for us to let it go because we wanted to give report to someone and ensure that things were continuing... but they just kicked us out onto the street and locked the door. We heard later that they declared her deceased shortly after arrival at the hospital and ruled cause of death a massive heart attack. But we did what we were trained to do and did our best. We provided the best care possible and if nothing else, we acted which gave the family the chance to feel as though they did everything they could.. and it gave her a bit of dignity not to be left in her home around a crowd of concerned neighbours and family members who had come to gawk. I'm proud of our efforts even if they were unsuccessful and I would do it again if the situation arose again.. although it has been discouraging that some at the clinic disagree with our decision to step in and figure it was a waste of time. Oh well, I can only be responsible for me.. and I am totally comfortable with my decision to use my skills to aid the patient.. again, even if it was unsuccessful. 

Interesting continuation of that story is that after being kicked out of the hospital we realized that we are all wearing scrubs (well I was wearing gym shorts and a tank top..) but none of us had pockets, little alone money! So we weren’t sure how we’d cab home! We ended up taking a cab and getting the driver to wait while I ran down the alley to grab money and then return and pay him. Saddest thing was that as I ran by Ms Alfa’s house, a young boy stopped me and asked “What happened to my mama? Where is she?” (Note: they often call their mom & grandmother or whoever is raising them mama)... and all I could do is tell him was that we took her to the hospital. It was heart breaking.

So after the whole situation was over, we returned to our apartment but we were exhausted and still pumped on adrenaline! We decided to continue with our evening plans to meet some friends for supper at the local Thai restaurant. So we headed out for supper and when we walked past the house we were informed of her passing. Then later that night when we walked back by, we got to experience some of the local grieving traditions as many friends and family gathered to remember her and celebrate the great life she lived. It was sad for us too because she was such a permanent fixture in the neighbourhood. She always smiled and said good morning as we walked to clinic etc. It was also hard because it was the first time Kate & Alisha had truly experience death like that and been so closely involved in it.

So as if our Friday wasn’t chaotic enough already, the clinic ended up getting a pediatric inpatient admission over suppertime. We were called in to work a shift and they were struggling to find someone to work the night so I ended up working the overnight shift. So I spent a full day at clinic, then had our crazy CPR experience then supper, then I went and worked the night at the clinic. My body wasn’t really sure what to do! I was absolutely wrecked the next day.. my muscles ached from the compressions, my body craved sleep and I was just frustrated with the way the whole week had gone! We had experienced a lot of disrespect from other clinic people this week and it’s been hard to deal with and then it came to a crazy climax on Friday. I came home on Saturday morning, slept 2.5 hours then got up and continued with my Saturday plans as usual, like making jewellery with some local girls at Bob & Debi’s. By the time Saturday night came, I was fit to be tied! They tried to call me back in for the second night but I just couldn’t. I was exhausted!!

Sunday was spent seeking God and His will in all this craziness! I have been getting discouraged for awhile and He has been the only thing keeping me sane.. but Friday certainly stretched my limits. I know God won’t press us further than we can bear but I think I’ve been gaining a new appreciation for that! And it is certainly His strength not mine that is getting me through because I gave up trying to do this with my strength, patience, endurance, energy and love... a VERY long time ago!! It has been a hard week and harder weekend, but He knows what is best and I’m hoping that there will be much good come from this in the long run. Overall, its been quite an adventure!

We are here for just two weeks more, who knows what might be in store for this last bit... well, I’ve got a 13 days left to find out! :) Bring it on!