Alicia in her make-shift car seat, ready for her first car ride to the hospital in Quiche
Today I returned to Antigua after spending four fabulous days at Hogar de Vida with Norm and Vickie Sutton. In fact, the time was so captivating that Katie decided to stay an extra few days and return with them on Tuesday. I wish I could have stayed longer myself, but I had work I needed to attend to here, and also will be meeting a friend, Katheryn, at the airport on Tuesday. So, it was with somewhat mixed feelings that we set out this morning.
Vickie and Norman were taking Alicia to the National Hospital in Quiche to see a visiting neurosurgeon from the US. Alicia is eight months old and not rolling over, nor will she support her weight on her legs. Vicki had asked if I minded coming to the hospital with them since I’m more familiar with this type of thing than they are.
The doctor was one of the kindest men I’ve met here, and also one of the best teachers. He explained in detail what he thought Alicia’s problem might be, and recommended she see a neurologist for a complete work-up. We will be trying to make arrangements for this at Hermano Pedro on Monday.
I also met a couple of moms who were there with their little ones with hydrocephalus. One would be receiving surgery today to put in a shunt. The other had a shunt which was functioning, though the doctor took a lot of time explaining to the mom why the child’s head would not get smaller. He also “taught” me about how to check to see if a shunt was functioning, and gave me some other new information about treatment options for hydrocephalus. This turned out to be quite the education for me.
I visited with Jessica, from Agape International who had brought in this particular team of doctors. We talked about the need for wheelchairs in the area, and I hope to be able to connect her with Hope Haven or Bethel to help with this need.
As we were leaving, Sally, an ultrasound tech who lives in Quiche and does a lot of work at the hospital came up and said she had an in-patient she’d like me to see. Francisco is a twelve year old who has been a patient at the hospital for the last year. They have been looking for a more appropriate placement for him, and thought maybe I could help.
I was more than a little apprehensive as we went back into the hospital proper. My experiences in the National Hospitals here have not been the greatest. I had noticed that this facility was brighter and cleaner than others I have visited, but still was anxious about what I would find. I was warmly welcomed by the male nurses on the unit, one of whom went to get Francisco for me. Francisco is autistic, and no one there knows how to work with him, though they seem to care a lot about him.
Francisco came out dressed in oversized scrubs, but clean and healthy looking. He immediately crouched down by the windows, but touched my hand for a moment when I offered it to him. The nurse took him into the nurses station where he found a couple of plastic bags with a piece of sweet bread the nurses had saved for him. This he took back into the hall and ate it crouched down in a corner, as if to protect the food. I felt like I had stepped into the world of Victor, the “Wild Boy” of Aveyron.
The nurse explained that he had been being raised by his grandmother, who kept and fed him with the dogs. He had originally come to the hospital with a large dog bite on his head, and has stayed there because the staff did not want him to return to that situation. Francisco now spends most of his time alone in a room, and has all the characteristics and behaviors of a child who has been raised with dogs.
When the staff had described him to me, I expected an aggressive, fearful child. Instead, I found one selectively withdrawn from the world around him. As I crouched down next to him and gently rubbed his back, he sort of “melted” into me, and even began looking me in the eye for brief periods. He seemed a bit wary of me, but also quite curious about me. I’m not sure he’s seen too many white women before, and I doubt many have gotten down on the floor with him.
It only took a few minutes with this sweet, lost child before I wanted to burst into tears. Seldom do I feel like I want to scoop up a little one and take him home with me, but this was definitely one of those times. I instantly knew I needed to spend time with Francisco.
I asked the nurse if I would be allowed to work with him if I came back and spent some time in Quiche. Without hesitation, the nurse said, “Please come.” I explained what approach I would use in working with him, and the nurse thought there would be no problem doing this within the confines of the hospital.
I reluctantly watched Francisco walk willingly back to his room, and went to ask Sally where I could stay if/when I came back. She was so excited she seemed to jump up and down, and said, if there was no room available at the Agape House, I could stay with her! You can see how much she cares for this child.
So, in August I plan, God willing, to make a trip back to stay in Quiche for at least a week. A week will not be enough, but I hope it will be a start. In that time I hope to find some techniques that help Francisco connect with the world more effectively, and help the nurses find better ways to work with him. If nothing else, this twelve year old will get a weeks worth of “mothering.”
In the mean time, I will be checking all my resources to see if we can find a better placement for him. I have to admit, though, that while far from and ideal setting, I might be hard pressed to find a staff who will care more deeply for Francisco that the staff already caring for him at the National Hospital. It’s pretty amazing. . .
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