Blindsided and Broken…

Psalm 5 (NIV)

A psalm of David.

¹ Listen to my words, Lord,
consider my lament.
² Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

³ In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

As medical providers, we too often see the devastating effects of “treatable conditions,” which are left untreated due to the lack of health care access, which is all too common in Honduras. There have been numerous times over the years that I have had to say through my interpreter, “there’s nothing that can be done”, knowing full well that in the States, this probably would not happen. This really hit home nearly a year ago as I saw a woman in the clinic with bilateral blindness as a result of an eye infection/inflammation after cooking over a wood fire. This past July, that story nearly repeated itself, only this time, the patient came to the clinic before “after the fact”.

Due to cooking over a wood fire, this sweet woman was in so much pain she couldn’t even open her eyes.

The third patient on the first day of the July 2015 clinic was a patient presenting with two very acutely inflamed, painful eyes. Her symptoms started about one month ago, with some mild itching after cooking over a wood fire (the same scenario as the September 2014 patient). The condition continued to get worse, so by the time she was seen, she was unable to open her eyes and was led in to the clinic by her daughter. She had a large corneal ulcer in her right eye, which had caused such significant inflammation, that other structures of the eye were nearly indistinguishable. The left eye was not too far behind in severity. Her pain level was so high, that even with local anesthesia, she could not open her eyes well enough for me to examine with the biomicroscope. Frankly, I was blindsided by the severity of this situation and had never seen anything so acute. I wasn’t sure how to treat this, but the approach had to be very aggressive, knowing what the outcome would be otherwise. Fortunately, I had brought a couple of bottles of a relatively new antibiotic unavailable in Honduras, that could potentially address the issue. The clinic had an ample supply of steroid eye drops, so for the next 6 hours, she receive the antibiotic/steroid combo every 15 minutes. She stayed up all night, as her daughter administered the medication around the clock.

That evening, our team prayed fervently for God’s intervention in this sight-threatening situation. I was rather apprehensive what the next day would be like for her, even with the best treatment available on hand. This past summer, I had been meditating/studying the first ten Psalms, and Psalm 5 became a real prayer for me that night and the following morning before seeing her.

After a week of intense treatment, she can now walk without assistance and she is on the road to healing

The next morning, she was still unable to open her eyes, but there was a very slight improvement in her pain level. We continued with the aggressive treatment, so by the third day, she could finally open her eyes well enough to examine them with our equipment. She commented, “It’s nice to be able to see the doctor who is treating me.” By the fifth and last day of clinic, the infection was well under control. After I left for home, she continued to see Dr. Idis to make sure she was healing properly. The image says it all.

Ironically, on that first day of clinic, another woman came in, complaining of itchy eyes the past two weeks, after cooking over a wood fire. Fortunately, her condition was not as severe, and we were able to treat her before her condition worsened. So, in a span of a little less than a year, I saw the beginning, middle and end of a (potentially) devastating eye condition related to the simple act of cooking. I wonder how often this happens…

For me, the mystery of God’s providential hand in allowing any of us to be used by Him to accomplish His purposes just continues to deepen. He continually sends these patients to blindside and break me (and others), and has provided El Ayudante as the venue to accomplish His restorative plan, both for the patients and for those of us fortunate enough to serve in this ministry. I think what the Lord is saying to El Ayudante and to all of us is, “bring your best gifts, talents and resources, and see what I will accomplish through you.”

Blessed beyond measure!

– Dr. Jeff Johnson