Friday, October 5 - Final Day of Brigade, Part One

So, I don't know what to share with you first ... it was such an exciting day and a great way to finish up our Brigading Experience!!!

Brian and I were assigned to "Dental" ~ Woo Hoo!!!  I quickly pounced on the station that Ana Lucia was at because I had heard stories of her questionable mental state ...(okay, people basically said she is CRAZY!)... and I had also witnessed a few fun things in her area during the previous days of Brigade.  I am not ashamed to say that I wanted in on the "action"! And let me tell you ... ACTION is exactly what I got that day!!

We started out the day with a quick run-through of instructions as to what my responsibility would be.  For each patient, I would prepare the tray and provide the tools needed for "extractions", which is Ana Lucia's main role during Brigades.  After each patient, I was to quickly wipe down the dental chair with a sanitizing wipe and prepare the next tray.  Things needed for the tray included a section of paper towel, the appropriate tools which were, in most cases, a tool labeled a "calpule", which was basically an old-fashioned syringe holder for giving the Novocaine injections, a "thin elevator" (used for ... well, there's just no other way to put this ... digging the tooth out from the gums) and then also a wad of gauze pads. 


Some patients had difficult-to-remove teeth and then she would need a tool that looked like a pliers.  For those patients needing stitches, I had to retrieve two types of scissors, one called hemostatic and the other just labeled as scissors.  Some tools were simply named and labeled with numbers, such as the #1107 and the #151-S.  There was also a #151 and if I remember correctly, the difference between the #151 and the #151-S was that one was for children, while the other was for adults.  It was VERY interesting and educational!   

The photo below shows the dental tool sterilization area!!!  The tools would be cleaned in a sudsy, bluish water/liquid and then placed into the toaster oven!  Don't you just love it?  Primitive ... yet effective!  Not everything has to be difficult!

I think that in Honduras it is probably the same as in the USA - "nobody loves going to the dentist!"  I certainly don't!  But after spending time with Ana Lucia, I really wished that she was MY dentist!!  Ana Lucia is an amazing dentist, originally from Nicaragua, and we were allowed to administer care at the Brigade under her dental license.  When children would come to her chair, only needing a cleaning but terribly frightened, a song was sung, accompanied with some fun motions, and by the end of the song, the children would have huge smiles on their faces.

Then they would let her do her work ...

 ...and when she was done they'd have a smile on their faces!

                                   

The other dental stations mostly did teeth cleanings, fillings, and other miscellaneous dental work with a few extractions (but I don't think they had nearly as much fun ... shhh!).

Well, except this one time ... hahaha ... no, really ... at Brian's station, a 4-year-old boy was brought to his station for extractions.  The boy's two front teeth were so rotten that they were basically GONE other than the roots still within the gums.  I found out from Brian afterwards what had happened; apparently the boy was so frightened that he was screaming and crying and they were having a very hard time keeping him still.  

There were a total of four dental stations and there were two stations between Brian and me.     

I don't remember what patient we were with at the time but I remember being really distracted by the crying and I kept looking back towards where it was coming from.  Even Ana Lucia was getting distracted.  The crying that this boy was doing was SO distressing that I finally stood up and shouted out at the top of my lungs "PRAY".  I think I got the attention of several people and with a few nods, I am sure that many started to pray because the boy suddenly calmed down.  But then, after a few more minutes, he began to cry again and the dental technician who had been trying to extract his teeth gave up and it was decided that his teeth would NOT be extracted.  Poor kid!

Interestingly, that was one of a string of incidents that happened that day that we are convinced was part of the Spiritual battle taking place in and around our area(s) of work for the LORD.  More on that in a minute ...

What do you think of the photo below?

WOW, isn't that tooth amazing??

Ana Lucia was called over to the station just next to ours for assistance with an extraction ... and this is the tooth that was extracted!  Ana Lucia said that the size of the tooth and especially the diameter of the roots is very unusual!  All I can say is "OUCH!"

Another incident that I am confident was an attempted "hit" from Satan but was beautifully intercepted by "the good guys" was as follows: Our chair was a revolving door; when one patient was complete, the assistant would shout out "extracción" and the chair would be filled. Well, at one point, ...strangely..., we had no extractions.  We were just sitting there with an empty chair and no one to fill it!  That was odd!  So, I stood up and decided to look around, maybe take a few photos, when all of a sudden, Gabriela, one of our Brigade Coordinators, fainted!  She was just a few feet from where we were and she was slumped in a chair, about to go to the ground!!  Several of the staff, including Ana Lucia, pointed towards Mike, our Team Leader, ... I even think they shouted out "BIG MAN", which in retrospect is rather funny but definitely appropriate for the situation.  I quickly shouted his name and pointed to her and said "our chair is empty" and without any other words Gabriela was very quickly laid in our dental chair.  One of the nurses came over to assist along with the other Brigade Coordinator.  Gabby was really upset and confused but within about 15 minutes,  her status had improved and we were able to move her.  Now how many of you realize that God kept our chair open for a very good reason??

Next, you need to know that the church building that we were in was much smaller than the church we worked at earlier in the week and it was very hot that day; with the number of people that were inside the building, you can imagine what it was like.  There were some good fans in most of the areas, except the back of the building ... where we were.  So, it was REALLY WARM!  This was likely the cause of the fainting per the medical staff (after running Gabby through a gamut of questions).  However, the "hits" kept on coming and the attacks were strong that day!  A while later, still without a fan in our area, Ana Lucia had dealt with a few difficult extractions, which obviously exerted quite a bit of physical effort and she seemed to be feeling unwell.  A couple of times she appeared to be dizzy or losing her balance.  Finally, the toll had been taken and as soon as she finished with a patient, she excused herself, running out of the building to a location where she could "be sick".

A short while after that, one of the other dental technicians somehow had a drop of anesthetic get into her eye!  I have no idea!  But after her eye was flushed, I'm sure she had a Coke!  It's a little bit of happiness, I tell you!

I am happy to report that Coca-Cola is the universal "CURE-ALL" as it was given for fainting, vomiting, headache, fatigue and mood enhancement!! 

This little girl's name is Elsa.  She came for a quick cleaning at the end of the day but as soon as she got into the dental chair, she got really nervous and was about to cry.  Out came the "festive tooth song" and voila`, she was much better!

She was thrilled even ... plus, I think the inside of her mouth was a bit ticklish!

She was a REAL cutie-pie!!

The most difficult, yet amazing patient of the day was Karla.

If I remember correctly, Karla came to our chair right around the time that Ana Lucia excused herself when she wasn't feeling well and the other Assistant/Translator was away for a bit too.  What I do remember is that Karla and I were alone for a few minutes.  She looked only a little nervous ... I patted her arm ... we smiled at each other. 

I said, "Cristo te ama!" (Jesus loves you!)

She said, "Jesus loves you too!"

SURPRISE!!  Karla spoke English!  I wasn't expecting that ~ but interestingly, Karla was in front of me at the time when I did not have a translator and we were able to communicate with one another!  Coincidence?  I think not ... God knew what He was doing!  Karla has a great love for the Lord, Jesus, and she knows that He is always with her! 

What I didn't know at first and found out after Ana Lucia and the Assistant returned is that Karla  only had seven (7) teeth in her mouth!  The ones she had were the ones in the center of her bottom jaw, six incisors and one cuspid; she had no bicuspids or molars on the bottom and she had NO top teeth at all! 

After Ana Lucia spoke with Karla for a moment, it was told to me that Karla had her top teeth removed last year, at a Brigade similar to this one.  She had no money to pay to a Dentist.  Her remaining teeth were in really bad shape and there was risk of infection and other serious problems.  Normally, this extensive of work would not be done on Brigade, however, Karla would not be able to receive this care anywhere else.  It was decided that her remaining teeth would be removed.  Ana Lucia was very gentle with Karla and she talked soothingly to her and asked her multiple times if she was uncomfortable at all.  Each time, Karla would raise up her finger and wag it back and forth slowly as if to say, "no, no, ... I feel nothing."

In the photo of Karla and me together, the white that you see in her mouth is gauze.  I told her that I would be praying for her and would always remember her.

All in all, everyone fared well and kept going ... even me when I was asked to wrap my arm around a patient's head and clamp my hand around her jaw while Ana Lucia worked really hard to remove the tooth!  WOW!  I felt like I had the woman in a head lock!  And then when Ana Lucia was stitching up the woman's gums which were pretty tore up from the extractions, she had me hold the tool in place to keep the woman's cheeks back and as I watched her do the stitching, she struggled a bit with the last one because of the extent of the gum-tearing.  She attempted to go through the gums four times before I began to think to myself, "hmm, that doesn't look so bad, maybe I ought to ask her if she needs a hand?"  ... NO REALLY, that is what I was thinking!  The CRAZY was contagious  ... and I LOVED it!!!  God was definitely with us throughout all the chaos and the crazy, the scary and the silly, the heartfelt and the hopeful! 

It was amazing to be able to hold the hands of these people, to smile at them and assure them with my eyes that everything was going to be okay.  Several of the patients asked if I would pray for them before the procedure and I did as I held their hands tightly, sharing the power of the Holy Spirit with them to give them courage and strength.  On one particular patient, I could see that Ana Lucia was having trouble getting a tooth to come out and I prayed, "Just pop it out, LORD, ... just pop it out ..." and "POP" it went!  Imagine!  It just POPPED out!  Serving the LORD in "Dental" is something that I could do AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN!