So last Thursday Dr. Karla and I were taking 3 little children to lung doctor appointments with their mothers. These little ones are all in the special needs program and have had chronic respiratory problems including pneumonia, and severe sinus infections. One of the little ones name is Edwin. He is 4 years old and has been in and out of the hospital the entire time I have been here. He has black hair, the longest eye lashes I have ever seen, a tiny body, seizures, a waist that I can reach almost all the way around with one hand, his chest looks like a basketball from all the work he does to breathe, and he has the brightest smile. Another of the little ones is a 5 yr old little boy named Patrick. He has dark blonde hair, and the same body type as Edwin, and does not focus on you with his eyes but smiles at the sound of your voice. We have been trying to get him health insurance but his mother/family legally does not exist…they are not registered with the government…so insurance is a work in progress still. The last little one is a precious girl named Dayana. She is 2 years old, has blonde hair, and was very weak, gasping for breath and in very grave condition when picked all of them up. In the car on the way to the lung doctor appointment, Dayana almost died.
She got very pale, she was gasping wildly, tongue out and heaving to get some air until she threw up a lot of phlegm and began to cry ever so quietly. Another one of those hopeless moments where my heart ached for this mother and child and all I could do was encourage and pray. She needed to go to the ER and so off we went rushing through the crazy Nicaraguan roads to get little Dayana to the hospital as fast as we could. She began again to get very pale, nearly passed, and gasping wildly. Her mom was patting her back and holding her upright and praying nervously that her daughter be okay. Dayana’s little body needed oxygen and fast. When we arrived at the ER no one was at the admissions desk so I walked around until I found some one that would attend to her. At this point Dayana was breathing minimally with every muscle she had and very weak. Finally, they got her attached to a monitor to check the amount of oxygen in her blood and I gave her mother Dr. Karla and I’s cell phone numbers and left her for the hospital to attend to her. We got a call a just a couple hours later from Dayana’s mother very worried because Dayana was intubated (meaning a tube was inserted into her mouth down to her lungs to get air to her lungs) after Dayana had been gasping, fainted, and stopped breathing. Dayana was now in intensive care and her mother was left outside of the hospital to wait for word from the hospital doctor. We visited first thing the next morning and learned that Dayana’s mother slept on a cement bench all night without food, or water. The love of mother is so strong, loyal and special. A friend had come and brought her clothes. The love of a good friend is so important and the wind under your wings when we are weak. Dr. Karla and I gave her some food, and money. We checked on Dayana and she was still attached to the lung machine and heart monitors and not able to breathe on her own. I am glad we had brought her to the hospital when we did and that she is now in a place to get the advanced care that she needs. We will be following Dayana and her mother through this process and praying that Dayana’s body become healed and strong soon.
Love,
Ayla Landry
“Great things are done when men and mountains meet.” William Blake
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