I had a great Thanksgiving with my family this year. I am officially going to be an aunt in 3 days, so my sister-in-law wasn’t allowed to leave home, so me and the rest of my family went to them. I can only think of one or two times in my entire life when we have not had Thanksgiving at my parents has with 5,000 people and children present. And those times, we just moved Thanksgiving and the 5,000 to my grandfather’s house who just lives a couple miles up the road. So, for all of us to people a couple hours away from home and totalling only 8 people (and 6 dogs :) was very different, but it was nice. It was very odd to see mom cook such small quantities of food though. I very much enjoyed the smallness of it though. It was very relaxing and we all just enjoyed each other’s company. I’m pretty sure we are all ready to meet little Brooklyn too!
Also, as an update, the baby shower for our young pregnant girl at TDC was absolutely amazing. It made both the girl and her mom cry. I wanted to cry when I saw all of the gifts that were there for her. They had to get a 12 passenger van and a police escort to be able to get everything home. The other wonderful thing was seeing the amazing changes in the girl in her mom since that horrible day when I confirmed what they both already knew – that she was pregnant. The girl was so flat that day; didn’t cry or say anything. Her mom was obviously disappoint, angry, afraid, and upset. At the shower, the girl was glowing. Her friends and family came to support her and her mother was there with her as well. It was so wonderful to see. She was told that she would be taken care of and she was . . . much more beyond just what she needed.
Needless to say, December will be baby month. Robert will bring his new little girl home. The girl from the shower will have her baby, and I will become an aunt – all before Christmas. It should be exciting times.
Love.
Again, I have been such a poor blogger. I’ve had to limit my stories about my patients a bit and so it has made it harder for me to write. I love telling stories.
I do have a couple really fun stories that I can share.
Do you remember a while back, I had a young 16-year-old girl who came in for a school physical and we found out that she was several months pregnant? Well, her baby is due in mid-December. She and her mom and the father of the baby are all doing very well. They have been plugged in to the Dream Center and they have taken exceptional care of them. They are having a baby shower for her and her baby tomorrow which I am so excited about. I feel like someone in my family is having a baby. I had the best time picking out gifts for her!
Also, Robert and Leland finally got their travel papers to go get their little girl, Mimi, from China. They are flying out to go get her as I write this. I am so excited for that little girl. She has no idea how much work and effort has been put in to her little life and what magnificent changes are about to come her way. It is such a beautiful picture. I can’t wait to meet her.
Finally, last week was a particularly hard week for me at work. During that time, I was thinking about what things I like most about my job and I thought I would share them here. They are in no particular order but are things that I really enjoy most about being at CHC.
1. Our boarding home patients
2. Getting to know and become friends with our wonderful volunteers
3. Our great staff
4. Seeing peoples’ lives changed through the work of the health and dream centers
5. All of our counseling office staff
6. Our dentist
7. Seeing desparate people find hope
8. My great students
9. Having my family pop in for visits
10. The hope and possibility of all that is to come.
I love you all and thank you so much for all of your support. If I don’t write again before next week, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
My sincerest love.
That’s about what I have felt like I’ve had to say for the past couple of weeks. I haven’t been a good blogger because I really can’t think of much to say; that and I didn’t really want to take the time to sit and write :)
Since, I did write last I had my little lake vacation. I have never stayed anywhere alone like that. I stayed down a lonely dirt road in a little house at the back of a slu with literally no one around. I did see one fisherman in a boat come in the slu. I had no cell phone coverage, no internet, and some fuzzy t.v. It was a drastic change from my normal life of constantly taking care of people, documenting on the computer, and responding the mass of phone calls. So, I read, and took a nap, and watched a movie, and slept, and read, and tried to canoe (I was in a two man canoe with a skulling paddle and it was quite windy out. Despite having my dog in the canoe, I didn’t have enough weight for such a large canoe and the wind kept blowing me in circles. I just spun around like I was on a merry-go-round. That’s one advantage to having no one around – or not. I found the whole thing quite funny and no one was there to laugh with me), read some, took another nap, went on a walk, watched another movie, slept, went on another walk, and then got very, very bored. It was good. I haven’t been that bored in a long, long time. Even though that part wasn’t fun, I was very well rested.
I came back to work and it was just as I had left it – which is not really surprising but sometimes I am naive and I imagine things will be different. We now have almost 1200 patients under our care and are continually having to change and stretch as we grow more quickly than we imaged. We are planning a “Christmas party” soon to catch our kids up on their vaccinations (too which our dentist replied “That’s the worst Christmas present ever!” I hadn’t thought of it that way but it is pretty terrible :) We are going to have a Christmas tree and hot chocolate and give shots. Maybe we should have someone dress up in green and be the Grinch – they can administer all the shots and then we can advocate reading by giving everyone their very own copy of When the Grinch Stole Christmas. I am kidding of course but it is an odd combination but a great idea!
I don’t have a good quote of the week this time. I did laugh in one patient’s face but it was because she kept making up lie after lie after lie about why she hadn’t done what I told her. I finally just laughed and told her that I was just trying to help her be healthy and she didn’t have to do anything I told her. Then she started telling the truth. Along those same lines, I have had a bit of an epiphany this week. I have seen much more clearly this week how disarming kindness can be. People still flat out lie to me but the longer I am patient and kind to the people I see, the more of themselves they are willing to share with me. It makes sense but sometimes it is so hard.
Also, we do have a big need if you or someone you know can help us. We need volunteer bilingual spanish translators. Yesterday afternoon, I had 3 spanish speaking patients. My spanish has gotten so much better. I can understand most everything that is being said but I still have such a hard time speaking, especially when it come time to teach/instruct the patients about their self care. We desparately need people to help us so that we can serve more and more of the spanish speaking population. If you know of anyone or if you want to volunteer, email info@christhealthcenter.org.
I hope you all have a wonderful week and weekend.
My sincerest love.
Since I was a slacker last week, and didn’t want to write, I am a little back-logged in my head with stories. There is a whole lot of good going on at CHC/TDC. Here is some of what I know.
*I’ve been asked to limit my details/change some details to “protect the innocent” so these are completely made up names. If I use your name, it’s because I’ve run out of names in my head, or I think it is funny to use your name :) *
So, update #1 – A, our young girl that wanted to abort her baby that I wrote about a few weeks ago, is now going and getting her prenatal care at one of the doctors offices in town. I haven’t seen here but was able to talk to her on the phone and she is doing very well.
As an aside, RRR posted on his facebook page about the number of young girls from the neighborhood that are getting pregnant at such young ages. There were a slu of posts following that of people who wanted to help. I am so excited! These girls need someone to help guide them along as they become mothers and continue to have navigate being a teenager and learning about themselves. We will see what comes of that.
Now for update #2. Several weeks ago, B, came in wanting medical help. I realized that, like A, he needed someone to step in to his life and help him also. He got hooked up with TIL and now is planning to continue his education and pursue dreams that he has had since he was a child.
Last week, I met C and got the exact same impression from him as I did from B. I hooked him up with TDC and he was beside himself. He has been trying really hard to stay out of trouble but lacked any real guidance. It was like I gave him the best Christmas present ever! and all I did was walk him over to the next building. We will have to see what comes of that one too.
So, finally, after months and months and months of talk, the dentist office and pharmacy are going to open the last week of October. I believe them this time too. Our patients are so excited about have reduced cost dental care and medications. Both of these are going to be meeting huge needs, especially for our adult patients.
Also, for those of you that don’t know, I have had several people ask if they are allowed to come to our dentist or to see me or RRR if they have insurance . . . and the answer is YES! It actually helps us a lot to see insured patients – it balances are very reduced prices that our poorest patients pay.
Finally, thanks to RRR and L, I get to be off on Monday and go stay at the lake (somewhere :) I can’t wait. I desperately need to get away and have a break. It is supposed to be sunny with a high in the 50s in this weekend. There couldn’t be more perfect weather. Thank you! thank you! those of you that helped me get to do this!
Much love my dear sweet friends.
Do you remember picture pages? I don’t know what in the world made me remember that! I didn’t really want to write this week so I thought I would copy Time and publish “This week in pictures.”
I began the week with a baby shower for my sister-in-law and a birthday party for my brother with my entire family.
Then this little man FINALLY decided to grace us with his presence.
Then I finally got to meet this sweet little girl. We are going to be hanging out much more now!
And alas, the quote of the week: (I have no idea who T. Magic is but we will just call them the author of this quote :)
“I am not a negative person. I am a positive person. I am positive that I am absolutely miserable.”
We had a great week at the health center and dream center; we have a lot of growing and much more impact. Again, it is hard but good.
Much love my friends.
Since I have written, last the seasons have officially changed. Apparently the weather, at least here, decided it would change with the official date and it has been beautifully cool and sunny here. How much I have much the sunshine! and it is back with all of its glory and with gorgeous days. I am loving it.
It seems changes are a theme these days. At CHC, we have no officially been open for 6 months and we are quickly approaching a total of 1,000 patients under our care. It has called for much thought, adjustments, and change; thoughts of how things can be done better and differently and how to continue to provide the best medical care possible to a rapidly growing number of people.
The Dream Center continues to become more of a pivotal part of the neighborhood. It is now hosting classes for women on how to heal and become whole. There are more Saturday activities for the kids in the neighborhood. Sav-a-life is training volunteers to help us with our pregnant mothers. There were also some young white students down at the dream center and they ran into the Woodlawn football team – these kids all met out and now are all meeting together! I’m sure there is much more going on over there than I know about. It is just exciting to hear about it all.
I could share story after story each week, I’m sure. The one that stands out most to me this week is a teenage girl that I saw last week. She started cutting at age 12, had a child at 15, was arrested for meth at 17, and is now 19. She has had such a remarkable (and not in a good way) life so far. I saw her last week and she seemed to be so uninterested in what I was saying. I actually don’t even remember why she came in. I talked to our counselors about her before she left. She was completely opposed to seeing them. They gave me a book on cutting to give to her, which I did but I don’t think I assumed she wouldn’t read it but I never thought she actually would either. She showed back up this week and was much more present. We talked some more but every time we would change to some sort of substantial conversation, she would look like she was about to cry, and she would shut down. I had completely forgotten about the cutting book and she brought it up. She told me that she really enjoyed it and then saw someone with “fresh marks” and she gave the book to them to read. I was completely caught off guard. Then had brought me a small gift. I had no idea that any sort of impression was made at all at her first visit, but she was like a blossoming flower at this second visit. I am very excited about seeing her again now. I gave her some more reading and she is coming back to see me again in a few weeks. It is just a blaring reminder that we have no idea what sort of impact is going to be made with anyone, regardless of how they respond. I will keep you all updated about her.
And finally, the quote of the week. I am seeing this very obese young man who has both mental and psychological problems. He is the sweetest guy though. Currently, he has no true chronic medical problems aside from being overweight. I talked to him at the last visit about walking some. He said he would so on this visit I asked him if he had been walking and he said, “Actually, I did go on a walk yesterday. I walked around the block to Krystal.” :) I just laughed . . . at least it is a start.
Much love my friends.
This has been a big week for us at the health center. We had our six month anniversary today. We had a great “family” lunch together and all shared memories, mostly good, of our past 6 months together. We laughed and celebrated and were all extremely thankful for the past 6 months. We also dreamt together about what we would like to see happen in the next 6 months. I really do love those people.
We saw our 900th patient today! That was exciting news – not our 900th visit but 900th actually person for us to see.
The rest of the week has been pretty tough. There are just a lot of hard things that happen in peoples. This week, I seemed to see more of them.
Again this week, I saw another 17 year old girl that was pregnant except she had already decided to abort her baby. She already had a two year old child. That was a hard one. Lisa was able to come help again and Dr. Nate was so wonderful to provide an ultrasound again. We have yet to see what happens with this girl. She hasn’t shown the change like the girl from the previous week. My hope is that the first girl becomes a leader to these young pregnant girls.
I will keep you updated.
Much love.
So, I’ve finally made it back but I need a moment. I saw this picture this morning and am in love. Fall will be here next week. It is one of my most favorite things to be outside on a cool sunny day, all snuggled up, with the sun in my face, reading a good book. Could that moment have been captured any better? It makes me happy just to see it.
So, now on to the real post :) and I will start all over.
Now, a beautful photo in anticipation of fall. Despite all my talk, fall is my least favorite season, but it certainly is beautiful.
We have had a good couple of weeks at the health center. We have also had a ton of visitors recently. It has been good because many of these people are either providing services to help us function better, or they are partners in the area that also see our patients. Its been good to put faces to names and build relationships with the medical community in the city and with our other partners in the region.
I have two great quotes of the week and then a wonderful story of our partnership with the Dream Center.
First, I was talking to an older, very well educated, white lady yesterday. She came in complaining of basically panic attacks. She told me it was the worst thing that had happened to her since she “had to shoot my horse in it head.” I accidentally started laughing with that one. It was just completely not remotely how I imagined her describing her panic attacks. Then she proceded to cry and tell me about how she killed her horse. I immediately was serious again because she was not joking but it was so funny.
Also, I was talking to a lady over the phone last night about her lab results and her son’s lab results and then I saw in their charts that they both had appointments with us today at 10. She then procedes to tell me, “I don’t know if _____ will be able to make it tomorrow. He’s in jail, but his dad is going to pick him up tomorrow at 8 so nevermind, he will probably be able to make it.” Nevermind the “in jail” part. He will be there for his appointment. (For mom who I know will read this one day:) : He is a sweet mentally retarded guy that goes around and picks up cans and someone called the police because he was on private property. I’m ok)
Finally, one of our more difficult and rewarding stories. About two weeks ago now, I had a 16 year old girl come in with her mom for a school physical. Her mom wanted me to do a pregnancy test because she said her daughter was “gaining weight even though she is running.” I talked to the girl and did the pregnancy test that her mom requested and then went in and did her exam. I came out and the pregnancy test was positive. I did another one and it was positive. My heart sank. I went and told Robert. He told me that he would help me if I wanted but to also get the dream center involved to help this girl. I went in and told the girl and her mom that she was pregnant and the mom lost it. She was angry, disappointed, sad, and scared all whirled up in to one moment and she let her daughter know. I had Lisa, from the Dream Center, come in and talk to them with me. The little girl did nothing. She didn’t smile, cry, frown, flinch, or say a word. It was more disturbing than the mother because she literally did nothing. That went on for literally close to an hour. I was able to get the girl an ultrasound that day thanks to Dr. Nate and Dr. Campbell. I told the girl, who I realized after hearing the mom had lied to me about when she acutally got pregnant, that I needed to know when she really got pregnant to help the doctors help her. She told me, “I think April.” Again, my heart just sank. They didn’t have transportation so Lisa, who has a Miata, took the girl and her mom, in my car to see Dr. Campbell. They did the ultrasound and she was about 18 1/2 wks along. I haven’t seen them since then, but every day since that day, the girl has come and brought her friends to the Dream Center to do their homework. Lisa and Dr. Record went to the schools open house and saw her. The mom is now supportive and the baby’s father and his family are supportive and helping financially. Best of all, Lisa says, the girl is a completely different person and that she has come alive. She talks and laughs and is acting like a teenager. She gets to go back to Dr. Campbell one more time for a follow-up ultrasound and then she will start seeing her regular OB doctor. The Dream Center is planning to help this family through all of this. This is exactly why I wanted to do what I am doing!
Much love!
For some reason, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I’ve redeemed the day a bit, but am going to take a break from my blog today. Hopefully, I will have a post up for you this weekend. Despite my day, that has been a really great week. I have some good stories to tell.
Much love.
I feel like this picture is a great representation of how Woodlawn feels about itself. It makes me angry too.
I was talking with someone last week and her children had gone with a camp to Woodlawn to pick up trash. They were told several times throughout the day to “Just put it down. It’ll be there again tomorrow.”
I don’t know how many times I have been told that what I am doing is basically a lost cause; that these people feel entitled to health care, that they can never be taught to come to appointments on time, that they can’t . . . . and it will never . . . .
Monday, there was a fight just outside the health center. It was terrible. I remember people fighting in high school, but I had forgotten about the sound it makes when someone in just railing on someone else. There were people everywhere watching this fight. All of them were in school uniforms meaning all of them were still just kids! Later that night, when I left work, the policeman that watches us as we come and go said those kids had gone and gotten guns and were after each other now. Again, I was so angry. These kids were going to try and kill each other over somethine incredibly stupid I am sure.
Everyone on the outside believes that no one in Woodlawn can change. For whatever reason, people in Woodlawn believe that nothing will ever change. THIS IS A LIE!!!
I have been asked by several of my patients if I “will be there” when they need to come back or “when I am leaving”? Right now, no one is going anywhere. We are in this for the long haul.
A friend of mine has a plaque in her sons’ bathroom that I love. It is an old proverb. It says “Mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow.” This is true for Woodlawn as well. We are simply planting the seeds and hoping and watching (not wishing) for mighty oaks.
I know, without any doubt, that change and growth, is possible in Woodlawn. Just one tiny acorn at a time.
Much love my friends.
