I'm now in Fort Myers, FL at the ECHO center for a Health, Agriculture, and Community Development program. It has been great. The connections are amazing, and it is a breath of exhilarating fresh air to be around people headed in the same direction as me. It's inspiring to hear the stories of the other nine people at the conference - wonderful testimonies of grace, God's calling, and their response. I'll be here for a week total, heading out on Saturday so I can be back to work by Sunday.
THANK YOU for praying for the previously mentioned patient with the symptoms of Hantavirus. It ended up not being Hantavirus and the patient is doing fine, though several of his lab values are abnormal and no one can figure out why. A medical mystery. As a result of the possible Hantavirus case, I am presenting a CME lecture on April 1st for all clinicians at the Navajo Hospital. I am excited and thankful for this opportunity, but nervous all the same.
A few day ago I had a harrowing experience at work. I was seeing a 15 year old boy for a hand injury. He was there with his step father, and his stepfather was answering every question I directed at the boy. Even when I asked that the step father let the boy answer, the step father was still very persistent in answering all the questions. The boy had a very flat affect and something about the interaction did not seem right. After I sent the patient for x-rays I went back through his entire chart, from birth until present. He has had close to 10 broken bones, head trauma twice, contusions of numerous sorts, and he was diagnosed with anxiety at the age of five and placed on anti-anxiety medications by age six. The history behind all the injuries were vague, and my suspicions of abuse/neglect were only intensified as I continued to read through past notes.
When the step father and boy came back from x-ray, the step father was being very aggressive towards me, and I was concerned for my own safety as well as the boys. My heart completely broke for this boy, and I was fighting back the tears of injustice. I don't often get emotional at work, but it took every ounce of me to stay composed this day. As I tried to figure out what I could do to help, and after three phone calls to various pediatricians and consults with other staff members, I was finally told that the only thing I could do was file a social services request with the hospital in hopes that the public health nurse would go visit the child at his home. I never said anything to the step father or the child about my suspicions of abuse for several reasons, which I would be happy to explain to you in person, but as they left I literally thought "that boy may very well end up dead because of a step father who has beaten him to death."
I deeply hope that my suspicions are not true. Crimes against humanity are unwarranted, and crimes against children cause my heart shatter. In instances like this I turn to Jesus, and admittedly ask not why, but when oh Lord will your justice reign down on the earth again?
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