All work no play makes Doctor John a dull Doktar! He is our all around man!

Check out the engaging smiles on these children. Little Jodelyn lost her parents and siblings, lost one of her legs and has a broken hip on the opposite side. She is being discharged with her grandmother. Ben and Alice organized some group therapy activities for the younger patients outside. Alice also is very useful, wiping people's bodies with her cloths and then massaging their limbs with lotion. They love it!!Pin care is such an important part of treatment. More than half of the patients we are seeing have some sort of an external fixator attached to one or more of their limbs. These apparatuses are leftovers from the States, rejected by U.S. doctors because they don't really allow bones to grow together completely, but rather they hold the fracture apart a little too much, not allowing the fractured area to fuse together. But they are better than nothing and have allowed broken bones to begin to mend on many of the patients. Drs John and Mike are doing many procedures which they call Dynamization (sp?) where they tighten some pins and loosen others, allowing more flexion on some of the joints. Weight bearing on the bones is so important also and our physical therapists, Margaret, Ben and Vickie are helping people get up and moving.One of the operating rooms.Getting folks outside was a real treat for them. One of the operating rooms. Drying X-rays A view from the helicopter ride. The Haitian countryside is truly beautiful! Kerven stole all of our hearts.

When you are sick or hurt in Haiti where will the Baby sleep?

Lots of pictures today! Check them all out.

Where to begin?? Each day is a myriad of experiences, from nurses stepping in to be ER docs - two men came in to the ER and had been sitting for an hour and a half and no one had spoken to them yet. One had a hand laceration, requiring stitches and the other had minor abrasions on his arm and knee and needed stitches in his chin. They had fallen off a motorcycle (Motorcycles are Everywhere! in Haiti) and had made their way to this little mountain hospital for treatment. We had to pull one of the docs from between procedures in the OR to stitch them up and sent them on their way.

Making our way from the guest house to the hospital.

Rounds by headlamp and flashlight.

So many complex dressings. So many serious infections!Three wound vacs installed in the past two days. Dr Rudolph (Haitian) and our team's excellent Ortho Docs are putting in such long days and accomplishing so much. The US docs are seeing procedures done in ways that they haven't seen in years. The Haitian people truly "make do" with what they have to work with. One autoclave for the OR, so they have to prioritze surgeries so they can sterilize instruments between procedures. Dr. Rudolph has done more procedures in the past 8 weeks (without a day off!) than the US docs do in almost a year!

PT working hard to get patients up and walking.

Wendesday 3-3-10 We are busy to say the least. Last night Doctor's rounds again ended around midnight. Doctors Mike, John, Adele (retired Navy) and Rudy are tireless and and can keep the midnight oil burning ! Nurses Karen and Dorothy are all over changing dressing up to 50 a day. The PT's are making real progress getting people up and around.

In Haiti when you are sick, your family takes care of you - they are your own CNA's. Yes 24/7, so a place to sleep is under the bed, baby and all.

Today was started with a worship service and a welcome by the local minister.

Mona, our cook at the guest house.

Little children walking through the compound on their way to school.

Family and friends lean through the windows to watch whatever treatment is going on in the wards. And we have noticed - whoever screams the loudest draws the largest crowd!

Relaxing at the guest house after a long day and a good hot meal.










"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." II Timothy 1:7

Monday to Tuesday on our trip to Bonne Fin

Well the wonders of technology! I just lost every thing that was typed due to Internet issues! Nothing is easy in Haiti! So I will try to hit the highlights. Our trip was an adventure of real Haitian proportions! Helicopter ride for Alice, Margret and some luggage. The rest of us piled into the Land Rover and were able to drive up to about the last two miles before the hospital, again witnessing devastation all around, as people's homes were flooded and all of their belongings out in the open to try to dry them out. Some of the staff came down from the hospital and helped us with of our luggage. So we did a Haiti hike.

We had supper at the guest house on the hospital compound and then went and did rounds, changing many dressings until 12:30 AM. Because the nurses were unable to get to the hospital over the weekend, dressings were unchanged for several days. These injuries are very traumatic with most being amputees, some of which are healed, but many that are still open. The hospital has had over 300 orthopedic procedures since the earthquake. Dr. Rudolph here has amazing stamina! The orthopedic surgeons on our team are quiet impressed and are stepping right up and scheduling surgeries. Right now they expect to do over 20 procedures while they are here. The major problem with a lot of these patients still here is that they are dealing with serious infections.

Monday Les Cyes

We have been organizing supplies which have been piling up in Tim & Joan Reinhardt's basement. The physical therapists in our group are helping at the Lumiere Clinic and the doctors from our team are also at Lumiere, helping Dr. Bill with surgeries there.

The road up the mountain to Bonne Fin Hospital is washed out real bad and we are told that we might have to hike or hire a helicopter to get up to the hospital where it is reported that we are badly needed. Because of yesterdays rains and flooding (local folks said that they had between 18-25 inches of rain!) the Haitian nurses who were supposed to work the weekend were unable to get to work. There is a woman up there who is a physical therapist and a doctor from Pensacola, FL and they are holding down the fort until we get there.

Sorry for the short note but all is well and we are working to make things a little better.

This truck belongs to a nurse who works at Lumiere Clinic and is a neighbor of Tim & Joan's. It was in her driveway on Sunday morning when the Reinhard's left for church, but because of the mud, came sliding down and over a retaining wall that is under construction.

"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harves, that he will send for laborers into his harvest." Matthew 9:37-38