To She Who is Faithful

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The sight and smell of the wound haunting my thoughts the moment I saw it…...lasting days beyond the visualization.   My brain was scanning files of wound care ideas tucked away in my brain.  Never in my 20 (gulp) years of nursing had I seen such a mess of decaying, dehisced, tissue.  Even with the abundant choices of wound care bandages in America and medicines, this wound seemed beyond bandages.  Never mind the fact that here in Papua it appears that the wound supplies are limited too: Betadine, antibiotic powder, thin stringy gauze and….well that about sums it up. 

The doctor at the local hospital explained to the lady she needed a mastectomy.  The missionary family who knew the lady, just asked if I would come to evaluate the situation.  Before she even lifted her shirt, the breast was 3X the size of the other, the pooling blood in her lap and the stench of decay told me that her problem was in need of a miracle.  I urged her to follow the doctors advice.  Explaining in broken Indonesian that no bandage could heal her wound.

She listened with the sweetest smile.  For the hour I was with her, that smile and peace never left her face.  She assured me that God would take care of her.  I tried to argue that sometimes God uses men to help take care of us.  With blood pooling in her lap, she continued to smile politely and reiterate that God would provide.  So we talked about washing the wound and keeping it clean and dry.  We talked about if she needed money for the surgery, that we could help.  And then we prayed.

Prayer has always been my favorite part of nursing care.  Though I don’t like to do it without serving and listening first.  I have no doubt that my prayers change and affect me, way more then they help my patients, but I know that God does help my dear patients also.   So as I prayed for her, I marveled at her simple faith and I hope that I will be found as faithful as she.

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