MAY 2012

"Caring for our sister's in Christ - one Woman at a time!"

May brought another big surgical team.  What an amazing team that worked together to provide Obstetrical and Gynecological care for women.  Dr. Maxene was a great partner in facilitating the patients.  Christ Pour Tous Hospital is being known as a place of God's love.  The phrase, "Dr. Cheryl - we have another emergency!" now is born.

We were able to bring Girl Scout cookies from my daughter Corinne's troop to Haiti.  What a joy for the kids at the orphanage.

Baby Cheryl now is two years old!  She is healthy and beautiful and is an absolute joy!

Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. 
(Romans 15:7)

JULY 2011

"Please Lord, teach me a servant's heart."

This trip was the first to bring my older daughter, Lauren to Haiti.  What a fabulous long weekend of delivering babies, fellowship, and reconnection with each other and our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Dreaming for the Future

January's trip became was an administrative trip.  We were able to unpack a new ultrasound machine.  What an amazing gift to "see inside the womb!"


So much equipment is out dated and broken that despite having it at our location in Fonds Parisien, we are simply unable to use it.  The purpose of this trip was to make plans for the future.  We have survived the earthquake and the mad increase in patients and those in need.  We were taking each day as it came.  However, God had very different plans. 

This January I visited an local area NICU.  I was overwhelmed at the lives they were saving with basic equipment.  I knew there were babies that passed away and became angels just because we didn't have the oxygen to help them breathe, or the nutrition to help feed them.  The seed was planted in my heart to bring a NICU to HCM.

We have now hired a third midwife to join the team.  Dr. Maxene Cenatus, Ob/GYN along with Ms. LaPaix and Ms. Michele welcome Ms. Izema to the group.  Together, they are going to take care of a lot of women and children in Haiti.  God bless them and their ministry to serve.

Bridging Countries, Becoming Partners

Please welcome Dr. Maxene Cenatus back to Christ for All Hospital.  He has finished his OB/GYN residency and is now back at the mission serving as an amazing resource to the women of Haiti.  

The midwives are excelling and women from all parts of Haiti are coming to receive quality obstetrical care.  Praise God, we are making a difference!  I joined Dr. Maxene as well as an anesthesiologist from Port Au Prince in performing two difficult gynecologic surgeries. The first removing an extremely large ovarian cyst and the second being a partial hysterectomy for a very large fibroid uterus. In difficult cases, two heads are better than one and it was a great pleasure to partner with Dr. Maxene! The women did very well, recovered quickly, and had excellent care!

Too Small, Too Early

This October trip was as emotional as ever. The Labor of Love Project was launched with a team traveling to Haiti to bring supplies to the midwives and to help with gynecological surgery.  While there, a patient came in and very quickly delivered a baby over 6 weeks premature. Sweet Baby "Marie" was also very growth restricted and was extremely small weighing 1 pound 8 oz. Normal protocol back at home in the States is that the baby would be taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, She would have receive IV nutrition, oxygen, and the medical care needed to "catch up" on her weight and be healthy enough to return home to her family.  Haiti is another story.  

After wrapping the baby in plastic, blankets, and a hat to keep her warm we tried to transfer her to two hospitals.  Neither would accept her.  We were forced to bring her back to the mission to provide neonatal hospice care.  After hours of prayer, the Lord called Baby Marie home to her eternal life and her family in Heaven. Although we are making great strides in helping the women and children of Haiti, we are forever limited by access to medical supplies and care that are often taken for granted in the United States.  I praise and thank God that he is the ultimate healer and can help the Haitian people in ways I can only dream.

A Mother is Saved

On the third day of our February trip, another high risk patient was brought to the Formosa Obstetrics and Gynecology Center.  Her mother had brought her in because she was having "fits".  She was seizing due to dangerously high blood pressure and preeclampsia, or toxemia.  In the voodoo culture that is so prominent in Haiti, it was because of the bad spirits that she was unfit to bear children and she was so sick.  

After gathering emergency medications, and with the help of terrific Labor and Delivery nurses on the team, we were able to stabilize her blood pressure and stop the seizures.  However, her baby had passed away due to the placenta tearing away from the uterus. The next step would be to induce labor so she could deliver the baby that was gone. This procedure is so dangerous as the hospital doesn't have any blood products or advanced lab testing to see if the patient had a bleeding disorder or another complication from the preeclampsia. 

After several prayful hours, we delivered a beautiful girl angel.  

It was difficult to transverse great cultural differences when one loses a baby. There are so many babies that pass away in Haiti. Upwards of 50% of the children pass away in pregnancy or within the first year depending on where in the country they live.  The access to proper women's maternity care is just not prevalent.

So plants the seed for the Labor of Love Project to start. If with education and funding we can continue to save women like this, and hopefully provide them care to save their children, then the dream is realized and the goal comes to fruition.

Great Things Come in Pairs...or Twins!

The February 2011 visit was a true test of endurance and perseverance.  We were delayed in leaving Joplin, Missouri due to a blizzard leaving greater than 20 inches on snow on the roads and highways.  Having great faith that the team was supposed to be in Haiti, we waited for some of the snow to melt and flew out two days later than planned.

HCM seemed like an oasis upon our arrival.  Leaving record below zero temperatures and arriving in Haiti where the high was in the mid 80s it was a joyous break from the devastating winter we were experiencing in the states.

On the second day of our visit, the midwives called me to come over and evaluate a patient who was having "too big of a baby".  Upon examination and a quick ultrasound, we determined that it wasn't one big baby but rather twins! The first baby was positioned vertex, or head down, and the second baby was breech, or bottom first.  I discussed with the midwives that in the States this presentation was usually delivered by C-section.  However, the patient was fully dilated and was pushing despite us telling her we should do a c-section. Soon it became apparent that we would need to proceed with a normal delivery. After all, if there wasn't an obstetrician available, the midwives would have to do this delivery on their own.  The first baby delivered without difficulty once we aligned the baby to come out the birth canal.  Let the teaching begin!  With hands on experience I directed the midwives on how to deliver the second baby that was breech.  Of great concern was the baby's head.  If it was bigger than the rest of the body, we would be in grave danger that the baby would pass away if we couldn't get the baby out.  After a few nervous seconds, a sweet baby girl was born!  Praise God!  In knowing all the things that could have gone wrong, we were truly blessed that none of them did!