Death of a Child Brings Sadness to the Medical Mission

Our medical mission is underway in Pingliang, Gansu. It is not far from the Tibet border in Central China. We have mountains in this area. The weather has been very cool at night and nice during the day. Although there is early morning smog, we have seen sunshine and nice skies some days. The people in this area are poor. We don’t see anyone walking the streets in fashionable clothing. They are all very curious about us, having never seen a foreigner in this area. A middle school student asked me yesterday, “Where are you from?” Some stop to stare but almost everyone glances at us. We smile and wave at the children and most of them smile back and then parents smile too.

Leigh Ann has had people wanting to take a picture with her (on planes, trains and various places). We tease her that she should be charging for these photo sessions.

The medical team from the U.S. arrived about 3 p.m. last Monday afternoon. It was a rush to get everyone to their rooms to unload their bags and get to the hotel dining room for a quick lunch. Everyone had to be at the hospital by 4:30 for the hospital welcoming and orientation.


Some workers from Angel Moms (a charity group in Beijing and Shanghai) and caretakers with children from an orphanage came on the bus with the team. Two of our little girls from the Jackson Family Care Center in Zigong arrived by train, a 30-hour trip, each with a grandparent. One had a cleft lip and the other a cleft palate. (They were so happy to see us and their grandparents could not thank us enough for all we have done for these little girls). It was a joy to see them go home a few days later with their surgeries healing.

Monday night, we all gathered in two of the hotel dining rooms for a meal paid for by the hospital. It was a very elaborate and delicious meal.
The team was tired from their long trip. Most of them flew to Beijing and came together on an all-night train to Xi’an. From Xi’an, it was a five-hour bus ride. A bus was rented for the entire team; otherwise, they would not have all arrived on time. Almost every bus and train to every city in China is full to capacity no matter what day of the week you travel.

Things got off to a slow start Tuesday morning. Surgeries did not start until late morning because children had to be tested and having fasted for six hours prior to surgery. It was difficult to get this over to parents because they worried about their children being hungry and some fed them anyway, which set them back on the schedule for surgery. Nurses settled into their routine, checking patients already in the hospital rooms, with a translator’s help.

We had seven young high school or university students volunteering as translators but they were not always where they should be. They tended to want to hang out together rather than being where they should be. Often a nurse was wandering around looking for one of them.

The hospital officials and nurses have been much more cooperative this year than they were last year in Chengde. They have interfered very little in every phase of our work and been helpful when asked. This hospital is also cleaner and brighter. Last year, we had dark and dirty rooms on the ward and the Chinese nurses didn’t trust our nurses to do anything. Saying all of this does not mean that this hospital is perfect. It is probably an excellent hospital for this remote area of China. However, in ICU, there is a leak over a bed from the ceiling above. Could it be a toilet leaking? We don’t know. We are on the 10th floor of a 15 story building so it isn’t coming from the roof. There are a few western toilets (commodes) on the ward but we aren’t allowed to use them. I think the night nurses have cleaned them and used them when the rest of the staff is gone and no one is using those areas for examinations. One nurse has a picture of a shower head and right underneath is a power outlet. It has a little plastic cover but I doubt that could prevent water from running inside. At night, the nurses report that the doors to the ward are padlocked to prevent anyone from coming in. However, no one could get out either because you have to go out the doors to get to the stairway.

Barry, our anesthetist from Beijing said this hospital has a very low mortality rate with a certain number of surgeries. Compared to the best hospitals in Beijing, it is lower. He questions that being correct because of the lack of equipment and skill but I guess you can publish whatever rate you wish.

Everything seemed routine by Tuesday afternoon and everyone was settling into their jobs but on Wednesday afternoon tragedy appeared unexpectedly. A little boy, 2-l/2 years of age, went for cleft palate surgery. Everything seems to be going fine. They had completed his surgery and began to bring him out of sleep when his little body started shutting down. Oxygen levels dropped drastically and the child died before they could do anything to reverse the situation. It was a heart-breaking event for the doctors and nurses as well as all of the medical team. The parents of the child were wailing and crying uncontrollably. The hospital official took over handling the child’s relatives.

No negligence on the part of our doctors or nurses was detected. The hospital said it could not have been helped. The child appeared healthy, everything had been checked out and everything done by the anesthetist and doctor were consistent with what should have been done. Nevertheless, it put a great and deep sadness in all of our hearts.

Surgeries were stopped for the rest of that day and for the entire next day while the hospital and team re-evaluated procedures. The hospital had a machine flown in to use to determine oxygen level at an early stage of the operation. These are not usually used in China but might save a life. The OR nurses do not feel that a situation can be reversed once it begins even if surgery is stopped early. One of the anesthetists figured out a way to use the machine for two children having surgery at the same time in the same OR.

Thursday, surgeries began again and continue on to this time (Sunday afternoon, August 8). The mission will go until Thursday. Surgeries will end but nurses will have to be on the wards checking post-op patients until they are dismissed to return home.

To see a baby with a cleft lip, maybe even a bi-lateral cleft lip, and then see them when they come back after surgery, is a beautiful thing to behold. The parents are not beaming as much as we are, because they do not fully understand that after healing the lip will look much better. Often, the child is uncomfortable even with some medication for pain so the parent may be concerned. The next day after surgery, children and parents are beaming and thanking us for our help. When they are ready to leave the hospital, they are so appreciative.

Handing out the beanie babies and blankets has been a highlight of our mornings. We make rounds each morning to see which new children have arrived for surgery that day. Handing the child a beanie baby had brightened the face of the child and bridges are established because of the strange way we look. Children will smile and (in most cases) quickly accept the toy. One of our nurses brought some small trucks for older boys and they have really gone over well.

Mothers are very happy to get the blankets. The hospital bed only has a bottom sheet and a down (heavy) comforter in a duvet coverlet on the bed. After a child comes from surgery, the parent wants to cover the child but the comforter is much too hot.
We have offered them a blanket or small quilt and they have been very grateful. We see them walking with the babies in their arms in the hallway with the blankets tucked around the child.

Ladies from Laurel Church of Christ, Laurel, MD, Needles & Knots in North Canton, OH, Florence Hoshall, and Mrs. Dave Halligan and ladies from her congregation are some who have shipped quilts and blankets. Our Peachtree City Church of Christ ladies also made crocheted blankets. We collected beanie babies from several different locations but many of them were from Peachtree City. I am sure I have missed someone who contributed to these gifts of love, but if you were part of this collection of gifts, please accept my grateful thanks. We had blankets every size for the very smallest child to the oldest boy (about 12 or 13) and everyone loved the gifts.

This morning I was walking down the hall with a stack of blankets in my arms as Leigh Ann was handing out beanie babies and getting pictures of the children accepting the toys. A mother walked up and fingered one of the beautiful crochets blankets in my arms. I immediately pulled it out and offered it to her. You would have thought I had given her a $100 bill. She thanked me over and over.

Organizing a medical mission may seem simple. You team up roommates and co-workers according to shifts and specialties. Everyone goes to work. Right? Not really. Although Ron, Leigh Ann and I unpacked the medical supplies in the room assigned to our work team, it is still difficult to have all the things they need.
Each doctor or nurse wants a certain suture or a product for pain or an ointment for moisture, something to reduce swelling or prevent infection. It is impossible to have on hand everything each nurse or doctor wants. Tables and box loads of supplies are grouped together so things can be easily found but nurses are always looking for something we don’t have.

Some of the team has been sick from eating the food. It’s caused a shortage of nurses so sometimes only one nurse is on the entire ward. Shifts are long and tiring and only snack food is available. Although the hospital brings in hot boxed lunch plates at noon, the number of workers who eat it has diminished each day as others get sick. A lot of the workers go out to local restaurants at night so the contamination could have come from those places. However, Ron, Leigh Ann and I have been very careful and eaten only in the hotel restaurant or had fruit and snacks in our rooms. Fruit stands are everywhere but we must wash the fruit in bottled water. (I like ice cream on a stick which is safe to eat. No washing necessary. It’s a good excuse to eat ice cream.) Leigh Ann and I have a favorite stand near the hotel that carries ice cream and cold drinks (not many have a cooler to keep drinks cold). They have some very good cookies, crackers, chips, little cakes, and other snacks. With fruit, we can have a very good lunch and not worry about being sick.

Unfortunately, both Ron and Leigh Ann have been sick. I don’t know where it began (the food the first day at the hospital or elsewhere) but it’s difficult to get rid of. I think you could safely call it “Chairman Mao’s Revenge.” I am becoming known more and more as “Iron Gut Pat” since I am eating almost everything in front of me and not getting sick.

Every afternoon, Leigh Ann and I return to our rooms and work on our computers, trying to keep up with our workload. It has not been easy to find the time. Some plugs in our rooms don’t work and getting internet set up when we arrived was a challenge.

When nurses come off their shift or others are going on duty, we have tried to catch someone to go down for dinner with us. Ordering is a challenge. We have pictures on the menu but without knowing most of the dishes, we don’t know what we are ordering. Some dishes are cold and some hot, but we can’t tell which is which. From the picture, it is difficult to tell what kind of meat may be cooked with the vegetables.
Asking for rice or even tea has been difficult, although those are relatively easy words to pronounce. They just don’t understand “Southern Chinese.”
I find it interesting to listen to a nurse trying to order, using Chinese words, some English words and her hands with sign language, all at the same time. I watch the expression on the face of the waitress and wish I could take a picture. They are stunned to say the least. We believe they are saying, “Oh no, here comes the crazy Americans” each time they see us walk in.

When the mission ends, we will all take a bus back to Xi’an. A few doctors and nurses are scheduled to leave before us due to schedules back home. Some will go to Beijing or stay a few extra days in Xi’an to sightsee before they return home. Ron, Leigh Ann and I will take a night train from Xi’an back to Shanghai and be on standby for our trip home. We fly buddy passes so it is always “if” we get seats that we go home a certain day.

Ronald, our son who has lived in China for one year and just completed the renovation of Refuge of Grace Christian Care Center that will open soon, has returned to Atlanta for a much needed rest. It has been a difficult year for him. Our trips (20-30 days at a time) are difficult enough, but living in a foreign country without knowing the language and not having a skilled translator who knows construction, is not easy. I would imagine that Ronald has tried to communicate with contractors just like the nurses ordering food, but he is probably upset and saying “NO, NO, we don’t do it that way!”

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and concern for us. We can count off the days until our return now. I will post a brief report after our arrival home so everyone will know we are safely at home enjoying the rest but hating the jetlag.