Medical Emergency

Ever since we had our first emergency medical flight in 2011 we have had it on our mind that we need to set money aside to help fund emergencies in the future.  We looked for donors who wanted to contribute regularly to this fund while we were home but no one came along.  Then shortly after our return to the Philippines a former missionary friend of ours contacted us about their VBS donating to a project that we might have on the go.  The only need we had was to have funds available for medical emergencies.  They decided to collect and donate to this fund.  We were very excited to have people getting behind this need.  The Lord went above and beyond our expectations with the money they donated for this need.  Since then we have worked with NTM to set up a special project to help donors meet the medical needs of the Ga’dang people.  We have seen people from all over the world contribute to this fund. 

What a blessing it was to know that we had money available for a medical emergency just last weekend.

This is Maricel.  She is not Ga’dang but her husband is.  She speaks the language very well though.  She has 2 sons that are 8 and 6 yrs old.  Her husband is a certified teacher but hasn’t worked as a teacher up until recently.  He is currently the preschool teacher (5 yr olds) in our village.  They are the owners of the lot that Christina’s house was built on, where the Easton’s are living now.  They also live next door to them.  Maricel is a hard worker and takes care of her family well.

In the middle of the week last week Maricel’s husband came to us because he was concerned about his wife as she had been sick in the night and was also having pain when urinating.  We were also told that she was 6 weeks pregnant.  After checking her urine and confirming she was pregnant we figured she had a urinary tract infection.  This is very common here as many people don’t drink enough and then wait long periods of time before going to the bathroom.  She started some antibiotics and was starting to feel better over the next couple of days.  Then Saturday morning her mother in law came to me as Maricel was having pain in her side.  I went to check on her and immediately was concerned about her.  She was having some spotting and pain in her right side to the point of tears .  I was very concerned about a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy.  When she was asked if she wanted to go out to the hospital for a check-up, she said yes.

We then began the process of checking if the pilot was available to come get her.  He was flying to another place at the time and could come in that afternoon.  We also contacted Dennis and Valerie as they were already out in town on a break.  We were so thankful that they would be there to take her to the hospital.  If they hadn’t been there then one of us would have needed to go out with her to take her to the hospital.  Around 2pm the helicopter arrived and Maricel and her 60+ year old mother in law got on the helicopter.  What a scary experience for both of them but something they were grateful for as travel by land would have been very painful and challenging. 

It wasn’t long before Dennis and Valerie were at the hospital with Maricel and she was having an ultrasound to see what the problem was.  It was confirmed that she had an ectopic pregnancy and that surgery was needed ASAP.  By 6pm she was in emergency surgery.  It was after 10pm before she was out of recovery and in her room.  The doctor said that the fallopian tube had already ruptured when they started the surgery and that she lost a lot of blood.  She needed 2 units of blood. Without the surgery she would have died.  And had she waited much longer to go to the hospital, she may have still died.

Her husband wasn’t able to come to her until Monday morning as he was at a seminar a long distance away.  Her mother-in-law sure was out of her element in town.  Especially in a big city and at a hospital.  Dennis and Valerie spent many hours helping them with all the things that needed to be done, from getting blood from the blood bank to paying bills to getting medicine and filling out forms.

After just 3 days in the hospital she was released and went to a nearby town to recuperate until her check-up next week.

 

We are still working on the final total of the medical bills but it will be about $2000 USD!  Plus the cost of the helicopter to town.  If it wasn’t for the medical fund we just couldn’t pay the bill for them.  When her husband saw the medical bill he started to panic.  What would he do?  How would he pay for it?  It was a relief for him to know that we could help.  They will be going to the municipal center to apply for some assistance to help pay us back.  And they will be paying us back some of the money from wages and the selling of their corn crop.  Without the money from the VBS last year and money from others, we wouldn’t have been able to help.  Thank you to all those who have given.

But what now?  Her bill alone was what was budgeted for the whole year to help with the medical needs of the people here.  Are you willing to help?  Would you like to make a 1 time donation? Or contribute on a regular basis? 

 

Here is a link to the where you can go to donate:

US Residents can donate here.

Canadian Residents can donate here.

All donations are tax deductible.

Your donation will help to save the life of a Ga’dang person like Maricel that still doesn’t know Christ as her Saviour.

Please pray for Maricel and her family.  Pray for her recovery and that she will be able to return home soon.  Pray that we can be a light to the people we are with every day.