Reaching His feet

Another infected diabetic foot wound. There's so many, they seem to all run together, not one sticking out much more than the next as more memorable. Sometimes we can get by with a simple debridement, sometimes because that's all the patient will consent to, but usually by the time they choose to present, the infection has turned to gangrene and the foot is gone. Amputation becomes more life-saving than alternative option at that point. Hence why the hope Caden can offer with a prosthetic is so important.

But this wasn't just a simple infected diabetic foot wound. He presented all the way from Copan on the recommendation of a friend who lives close by the hospital. But before Copan, he was in the United States. He had lived, worked and saved his earned pennies for the past 20 years in the United States. But that isn't the point. He was sick. He is sick. He has chronic pancreatitis, to the point requiring daily replacement of enzymes, and prior to his recent deportation he had been on the pancreas transplant waiting list and had drains surrounding the remnant of his current nonfunctioning pancreas. These drains had been removed in preparation of his deportation.

He was a bucket filled with worry. So polite, so thankful, and so very worried. "Will I be okay?" he asked often. I pretended he was asking about his foot, will his foot be okay? Well... because I couldn't or maybe I wouldn't answer the bigger question of will he be okay. No. No he won't be okay. No he will not get the appropriate care for chronic pancreatitis here. No he will not get a pancreas transplant in Honduras. So I stayed focused on his foot, the limit of our capability, and our control. Does sharing the love of Jesus with him make up for what we at Loma de Luz lack in physical ability to perform? I have the faith to believe that he can walk with Jesus free from disease one day. But even so, in the meantime, my heart still hurts for him and with him.

Matthew 15:30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them.

May we forever stay at Jesus' feet.

Much Love.