Headaches and Heartbreak

Today was not an easy day. Being that this was only the second day of actual clinical work it sounds kind of wrong to say it was the hardest day so far. But it was, the hardest day of the trip so far.

I’m writing this after spending the entire day in triage. Triage being the entry point in to the clinic, everyone passes by me to get to the doctors. Meaning I am responsible for getting all of their information, brief medical history and whatever ailments they may have. The one thing that keeps popping up, HEADACHES. Everyone has a headache. For some its early in the day, for others its late in the evenings, for some its just a constant thing, for others its just from time to time. Regardless of age, sex or background everyone has a headache to start their list of things that hurt. If it were me, walking into triage right now, my list of things would start with heartbreak.

Today, my heart truly broke for these people. Easily over 200 people were seen by the medics on the trip with us. Poor Rob our eye doctor saw nearly 40 more patients than he is supposed to be able to see in a given day. Every time he tried to get up to take a 5 minute break someone would plop down in front of him and he would just smile and go back to work. Sherrie I learned was trained as a wound technician and helped to clear up a very, very, very gross looking wound in a woman’s arm and leg. Jennifer could best describe what the wound was like because I had to look away or I would be neck deep in a garbage can losing my lunch. As I looked around at all the faces of the people who came, the big, the small, the young and old, my heart just continued to break.

My heart snapped open when I saw the shear numbers of people who began to walk up. You could clearly see the need in their eyes and the hope they held for being seen by the medics. For some the hope was simple, a headache to clear up. For others it was more serious. My heart snapped again when the rains came and the people continued to wait, in anticipation of having a medical need met. My heart literally shattered open when I saw a woman walk up with only one ticket to be seen. The way the clinics work, its one ticket per person. She was clearly sick. She needed the medical attention. But her 7 year old son, was the one she wanted to be seen. I reached over and filled out a form for her as well and they were both seen at clinic today.

The medics we have on this trip are absolutely amazing. Going above and beyond the call of duty and being flexible enough to adjust based on the needs. Gods hand is easily evident in each member. We have natural born leaders, great listeners, hard workers, big picture thinkers and detail people. A few Type “A” people and a few people who just want to serve. Where I am weak, my triage partner Margaret is strong. It’s like we were all different pieces of a puzzle God finally placed together on this trip. Not only to fix these people’s temporary ailments, like the 200 plus headaches we saw, but also their eternal ailment by getting to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The only one who can cure the heart, from the inside out.

Looking back on the day, it seemed like for every headache that walked in, my heart would break a little more. Not in pity for these people, but in hope. A hope that tomorrow when they wake up and feel no pain in their heads, or neck or wherever the pain was, they would remember the group of medics giving them the meds to make them feel well for today and telling them about the love of Jesus who can make them feel well for eternity.

Carlos