What do you do?

I don't know if I've ever told you guys about a little girl named Lovelace. She was a possible patient here on the Africa Mercy back in April/May. I say possible, because at the time, all we knew is that this little 5 year old had two rapid growing tumors. She and her father came on board to see if there was any way that Mercy Ships could help them. After weeks of waiting on tissue biopsy reports to come back, the answer was "No, we can't help."

And, it's not that we didn't want to help. Little Lovelace just had a tumor that is inoperable, which leaves our hands tied in helping her, even though the desire to do so was great. In the six weeks that she was here, waiting to see what the results would be, a lot of us in the hospital fell in love with her. It was hard not to. She was quiet, but gentle and oh so very sweet. She spoke English, since she was from Ghana, which made the ability to communicate and get to know her a lot easier than it is to do with our Togolese patients, who usually speak either Ewe or French.

A drawback to her being from Ghana is that our Palliate Care Team (the nurse, Harriet, is my cabinmate) cannot go to see her. She lives about 2 hours from the ship...and in between the ship and her home is also a country line. Just a few more complications in helping this litte one...a few more reasons for people to forget about her.

Luckily, she hasn't been forgotten, and she has an amazing father who wants to make sure that she has the best care possible. If you had clicked on the link for Lovelace's name in the opening of this blog, you would've been directed to a friend's blog. Sarah is a nurse here on the Africa Mercy. She and a few of the other nurses here have been to visit Lovelace a few weeks ago, only to note that her condition has worsened. And yesterday, her father showed up on the dock, with no where else to turn to, but to us here on the Mercy Ship to help his little girl. After consulting with our newest max-fax doctor on board, we were able to send Lovelace's father back to Ghana with a supply of more dressings (for her open head tumor), pain killers (as I have heard that she is no longer up and walking due to pain), and some steriods to hopefully help with her pain and stimulate her appetite (a common thing in palliative care).

Now, before I came to Mercy Ships, I worked on a palliative care unit. So the uses and the doses of the drugs were something that I was comfortable with recommending and dispensing. The thing that broke my heart was that this...whatever this was...was the most that we could do for her. I know that a lot of people would care to argue with me and say that what we are doing is a lot and it is enough. But, when you come from a first-world country, and you know what is available to those who are palliative...you know and understand just how limited we are here. And, it can be frustrating. We are here to help...but how much are we actually helping? Who's going to check up on this little one? Who is going to make sure the medication is controlling her pain and that she isn't suffering from side-effects? Who is going to see that she is eating and getting the nutrients that she needs? Who's going to know if she will pass away peacefully and relatively pain-free...hopefully surrounded by her loving family? What are they going to do, if she lives beyond the means of medications that we've given her and the Mercy Ship is gone?

So...what do you do? You do the very best that you can, with the means that are available to you, while keeping that patient's best interest in mind. And, you pray to God that it's enough...

And, that's exactly what I did last night, alone in the dispensary. I prayed that in this situation that seems so hopeless and sad...that my God show Himself mighty, merciful, and loving. Harriet welcomed me to her world, as she is already wondering what she is going to do with her patients when the ship sails.

So, now...I am asking you to pray...for our little Lovelace and the other patients that our palliative care team takes care of. Some times, when you don't know what to do, or what else there is to do...the best thing to do is pray.