2/11/12

For anyone out there who has been praying for me in overcoming my language barrier, THANK YOU! Of all languages in the world, Pigeon is probably the easiest to pick up since it is like broken English. I’m beginning to be able to see patients alone in clinic with some basic medical terms because the medical story is scribed in English by a tech before the patient sees me. I haven’t yet gotten to the point of being able to have a more extensive conversation with anyone alone yet. Thankfully the ER is staffed by nurses who can speak English and translate for me and often in clinic there is a tech who can help some.

It was pouring rain last night (as it does every night in PNG) and about 10pm I got called for a 21 year old man who had HIV, profuse diarrhea, and a blood pressure of what they told me was 60/40!  When I got there, suddenly the power went out and the generator had not kicked in yet, so I am trying to make due with a small flash light in a critical situation.  On top of that, suddenly there is a large black shadow that runs out from under his back, falls off the bed onto my foot. It was the largest cockroach I had ever seen, thankfully scurrying away into the darkness.  

After he was stable, I had an opportunity (with the help of a nurse translator) to ask him about how he was doing emotionally and spiritually since he had recently been diagnosed with HIV. He told me he was a wreck at first, but a few days ago gave his life to Jesus and was experiencing more peace than he could understand. So here I was, a small American Chinese girl doctor, standing beside a 6 foot-tall Papua New Guinea man with HIV who was on the verge of death.  I hadn’t known when the phone rang that night that I would be called to the bedside of my brother.