Hi All:

I normally do an update while in Haiti, but thought I would share a few things from the USA end. As noted in the last update, we made it home smoothly, though with a chilly reception around midnight in GR. The weather has been less than accommodating for a frigid Haitian Donkey, I was dragging a bit after being home a week, some of which I attributed to the nasty prep for my 36th CT scan on the 26th, as it was downtown and there are not a lot of way stations with bathrooms enroute, so was careful with my fluids for fear of accidents. But, it hung on and I had constant nausea and no appetite, a good sign an infection is brewing. However, my temp and white blood counts remained normal, so just kept working and waiting. Tuesday night, it spiked in the middle of the night, so went to the hospital outpatient lab the next morning, in the total whiteout we were experiencing. I drive the highway to work every morning, feel like I know every bump along the way, etc, but could not see the exit in the snowstorm and almost missed it as in the exit lane but couldn’t see far enough in front of me to catch the ramp. 

I started on antibiotics that night and have had considerable improvement. How to keep the nasties away is a more difficult decision and appreciate prayer for wisdom in how God would have us proceed.  Due to the infection, I again was removed from another study for the time being.  We are scheduled to return on the 9th of March again with a team of 12, so need to be up on my game by then. This group will measure and give eyeglasses to those that need it, a new service for our patients that I am sure will be greatly appreciated. One of the last patients I saw in Haiti had gone to a Christmas celebration/party, where alcohol was abundant. Apparently he got in an altercation and the other side took a chunk out of his nose with a bite. He had gone to the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital in Cayes, a private Canadian hospital specializing in these disorders, nothing was done and by now it had healed well, just minus a section. I likely would have tried a small graft if it was fresh, but at this point, will see what he looks like down the road and consider revision? 

I also wanted to share our statistics for 2018 for those of you who support our work in prayer, financial support and otherwise, so you can see what medically, at least, has been accomplished for the glory of God at Centre de Sante Lumiere. 

We did 512 Surgeries

66,933 patients were seen in the outpatient clinic

913 was the average number of hospitalizations per month/some would include ER overnight observations for stabilization

33,090 Lab tests were done (and that includes some down time with the machine, which hopefully we have fixed (thanks, Dan))

We also did 274 deliveries

As we don’t try to turn away anyone who cannot pay for their care, we have a Poor Fund that many of you contribute to on a regular basis, and we ended up with a total of $116,610 that we were able use to care for those unable to afford even our low rates, for which we are thankful. This represents about 17% of our budget total and thus allows us to care for many patients with limited capacity, as there are very few patients who have some form of insurance in Haiti. 

In His Service,

Bill, Dan and Duane and the rest of the Haiti Team