The Little Man

As I introduced to you in the last post, we have a new member of our family in El Crucero, Nicaragua. We brought little Griffin back on the plane with us from Waspam last week. He is 2 years old and about 16 lbs. He is frail and weak but he can hold himself sitting up, and just the other day he began crying liquid tears! (as opposed to just making the noise but being too malnutritioned to have any tears to cry)


He is staying in La Mascota (the public children's hospital in Managua) where as of yet, they are telling us he is fine medically apart from the severe malnutrition. Meaning it doesn't appear as though he has any other diseases or sicknesses to worry about.

The biggest issue we deal with in keeping him there in the hospital is the conditions and relationships with the staff that have to be dealt with. I had to wait a while for my frustration and anger that comes from it all to subdue so that I could write a blog that was not in all BOLD CAPS screaming my complaints about the medical system.

The public hospital is not ideal (among other reasons, here are some I pointed out before :)

But here's the kicker. The baby is sick. He needs fluids from the IV, he needed special tests to make sure he doesn't have any other diseases, and these are things that are only available in the hospital. There is the possibility that hospital staff is prejudice against us because we are white bringing in a Nicaraguan baby. There is a chance that we are treated differently because they think it's our fault this little boy is so severely malnutritioned, but it's also possible that the staff and doctors are simply overworked. And they treat all people like objects simply because they deal with people who come in day in and day out for things that may or may not need hospitalization. They are taking care of patients who pay nothing for their care and may or may not take care of themselves with that thought in mind. I'm not saying they have an excuse to treat their patients as they do, but I am saying that I, myself, have to come into the hospital with a mentality different that I want to. I want to come in ready to fight and argue (not to say that sometimes that isn't necessary to get the treatment, and help you need) just because I am anticipating the issues that I will have, and I can't do that.

One of the women who works in our home is named Elda, she took a shift after me staying the next night with Griffin. When I picked her up I was anticipating her venting about her emotional roller coaster ride, but that isn't at all what she did. The first thing she told me, "Wow Lauren, those poor moms in there with their kids. They are just so exhausted and their poor little ones just not feeling well. But you know it gave me the best chance to witness to them. I told them all about how we go through trials and tribulations, but that God is always with us, and will always help us through. I told them about how Jesus was there as a support system, and that they just had to lean on him, and trust him with all their burdens." There was my slap in the face. I had been in the same room, with most of the same women, dealing with the same hospital staff, but she had chosen a different approach. She saw this as an opportunity to share the Gospel, to share Jesus, and to be a light to the other people, as opposed to get frustrated and annoyed with things and personalities she couldn't change.

So look at how it all twisted around. I started out this blog with the intention of holding back my venting to a controlable level; sharing with the world the state of the public health care system, and now here I am learning a lesson myself about how to take advantage of even the least ideal situations. I am not saying that I no longer have issues with La Mascota, I'm just saying that regardless of the situation, I have to remember who I am, and remember to give respect even to those who I don't feel like deserve it.

So regardless, keep Griffin in your prayers and thoughts as well as the wonderful ladies who have been spending time with him in the hospital.