- Today started with five miles with Beth. Felt great, running in heat seems easier than cold for me now. My Waco runs have not felt good, apparently I am a warm weather runner.
- Spent a couple hours at Womens Program calling ladies to find them for Pre-natals on Thursday. Lots of our ladies have still not been back since the EQ
- Agathe and I took Margaret, a 59 year old woman and her son to DASH. Doctors Abe and Jen told me they thought she probably had advanced AIDS but we wanted to get a confirmation test. She has probably had it many years to be this sick and frail. Prior to today she did not know what she had. It was horribly hard to see how much pain she is in and to learn that her one wish is to make it to Jeremie to die. (Southwest corner of Haiti). She actually was with her son trying to get on the Ferry to Jeremie on Friday when they told her she was too sick and they would not let her on. As she and her son stood there defeated and unsure what to do some of the neighbors told them about the big white
Heartline truck that comes into the area where they were living pre-earthquake... the son waited and watched for the truck and got her to us. Her son seems to be invested in seeing her through to the end. He is very kind and caring. He seemed pretty scared to learn of her diagnosis. We want to try to help her get well enough to travel to Jeremie by boat. We're taking her back to the AIDS clinic for a more in depth consultation tomorrow and hoping their miracle drugs might help her get where she needs to go ... although I admit I feel like it is so much work for her weak body to go up to DASH again. Her son feels strongly (I cannot tell how strongly Margaret feels - she is too sick to argue much). that they should see what could be done to get her a tiny bit healthier to maybe be able to travel. Basically, I need Sean Penn to come back here with his plane and take her to Jeremie for us ... so she can die in peace and skip all the bumpy drives and long crowded boat rides. Pray for Margaret. Because it is suspected that she may also have active TB, Jen instructed us to wear masks in the car. And, yes, that is the singular photo I took today. Very flattering. Or not. Coincidentally, I have been coughing since four days after the earthquake and have never gotten better, so maybe Agathe wore her mask due to a fear of me? (Jen has had enough of listening to me and put me on some strong antibiotics.)
- Picked up Rosemon and one other patient for an hour or two outside of the Heartline walls. They played and had fun while I tried to track down Troy for an update on the Texas goings-on.
- Went back to the hospital, held babies for a bit, watched the Docs and Nurses do rounds, marveled at how much the patients LOVE having that attention of the whole staff at once.
- Headed to a yummy dinner at the Tluceks house. Came home. Wrote this. Going to bed as soon as I chat with my peeps in TX.
Sean Penn and his plane took three Heartline kids out of Haiti to their forever families on Saturday. Crazy, huh? There are only TWO remaining Heartline orphans, please pray they are also granted their Humanitarian Parole and get the Prime Minister signature and can go and become proud Haitian Americans and be loved by their adoptive family.
t.
