Familiarity and Confidence Gained...

I have been placed in the PICU the past two days, and I am beggining to realize what a blessing this type of familiarity has given me! Like I said, in one of my earlier blogs, it was hard for me in the beginning to just sit back and observe, because the Indian nurses were always so concerned with my comfort. But, in this somewhat familiar environment, I am gaining the confidence needed to actually start DOING more, to help out where needed! I have also realized that if I just do, instead of ask, they are fine with it! They are even starting to ask me more questions about how we do things back in the states, so I have been able to share some of my techniques!

First of all, when I showed up at the PICU on Tues, all of the babies were new, except Spoorthy, but she was looking a lot better, that's for sure! And, only about an hour into the shift, she got the orders from the Dr. to go to the PEDI FLOOR!!! I was SO overjoyed, and when she got the news, I saw for the first time, those precious cracked lips form a sweet smile! Her mom was happy too! BEST NEWS EVER!!!

One of the new babies there was named Vinay! He was a 3 y.o. who had inhaled some lysol. It also got into his eye, giving him an eye infection! He was a sad little case, because there was this look of complete despair on his face the whole time! He kept saying, "Kara", which me "take off or remove" (b/c he didn't like the tubes in him) and "Amah", which means "mother" over and over and over. He was so restless, and his breathing had SUCH audible crackles (which means fluid and inflammation in his lungs). At one point, the doctor was talking to his dad and his grandparents about how they were doing everything they could, but there really was nothing more they could do for now. They just had to watch and wait! In my head, that was so wrong! There had to be something they could do! The family was getting upset and telling the Dr. that they wanted to take him to another hospital, but the DR. assured them they would say the same thig! I was thinking suction, or Chest Physiotherapy, but they don't have suction here, and she didn't know if CPT would cause more inflammation. I did, later on that day, adjust his pillow so that he would be lying more upright to help him breathe better. I also found out later that the only reason his mother had not come to see him was because she, herself, was in the hospital with a lower respiratory tract infection. Can you imagine, your baby being sick, and you, yourself, have to be sitting in a hospital bed away from him! On Weds, though, he was sounding a little better, and I found out his mom had come to visit him some! He is so calm when she is around, but all he wants to do is be held by her, and she was so weak that it took everything in her to hold him for a couple minutes! After lunch on Weds, I had not planned to go back, but God kept telling me I needed to! He told me, "Trust Me! I will make it worth your while!" So, I went! When I got there Vinay was standing up on his bed crying for his mother, and so I went over there, and he practically leaped into my arms! So, I held him for about 20 minutes, trying to console him until his mother got there, and patting his back (to help get some secretions up) and humming, which made him seem to calm down more. He liked to look outside too, and me, being among the tallest people in India, was able to lift him high enough to look out! Then, his mother got there, and so I handed him over, and she said thank you, with such gratitude in her eyes, even though the pain was still evident! I thought to myself, if that was all I was needed for, thank you, LORD for making me come! It was only 3:00 at that time (which is when I normally leave, but God for some reason was telling me I needed to stay until at least 3:30). I just sat down to watch and pray. About 10 minutes later, a new baby was brought in (making it 6 in this ICU, with only ONE NURSE). The nurse started an IV on the baby, and then laid him back down. He was probably only 2 months old. His oxygen reading started to drop, because he just kept crying, so I went over and just lifted him up. His saturation level went back up, which is good, but he was still crying, so I picked him up to rock him a little. He was still crying and the nurse said, "He's fine you can put him down. He'll stop crying." I felt bad just putting him down, so I sat him in his little bed, and began patting his back. He just needed to be burped! After that, he stopped crying! I have watched after mother's feed their babies here. They just rub their back instead of burping them, so that's all he needed. I laid him back down and he fell asleep. Once again, though, his saturation level started to drop, so I lifted him up again until his mother came to hold him. I explained to her about the oxygen levels and how sometimes they just need to be sitting upright (especially, because this baby has a respiratory infection, he would probably be spitting up a lot, and needed to be sitting up, so he wouldn't choke!) After all of this, I was able to leave, and all I could say to God was, "Thank you for choosing to faithfully love your children, even if it is through unwillingly obedient people like me"!

I have one more story. Mid day, a new baby came in. He was a 5 month old little chunk. He needed an IV to be started, so the nurse went over, and I got to be the one to take his attention off of being poked, so I played with his belly, and talked to him in words, I'm sure he didn't understand, but he was laughing and would NOT take his eyes off of me (probably because he had never seen someone with sich light skin or eyes). But, the same nurse kept trying and trying to get an IV started, and because he was a little chunkier, it was difficult for her to get a vein. The mother finally came in and saw him crying, so she told them to stop. She did not speak Kannada (the nurses' native language) or English, so they were truly unable to communicate with her. So, they stopped, and sent for someone to try and tell her the necessity of the IV. I had also decided in my mind that if they were going to try again, that I was going to ask if I could do it, because I couldn't stand seeing him be stuck any more times! We left the mother with her baby, and I looked in the charts to see what the religion of this woman was. She was Hindu. So, I began praying over her! I also sat back and watched the other parents in the PICU try and explain to her why she needed an IV in the baby, showing her thier kids, and finally one of them was able to get through to her. The nurses didn't try again though, until the DR. came and talked to her. I walked over at one point and just played with the little baby again, and made him smile! This made his mother smile, and I was able to pat her back while she cried! I cannot imagaine being in a new place, where your baby is sick, people are poking him and making him cry, and you cannot understand anything they are saying to you...and on top of that, not knowing the GOD you can trust in!!

All in all, I have thouroughly enjoyed my time in the PICU and that is where I am headed right now! I'm glad I was able to tell all my stories! Praise be to God who gives me strength beyond strength, who provides overflowing, making me more desperate for Him! Until next time....please be praying for all these sweet babies and their families! :)