Liberia #5

administrator Greg No Comments

On the way to Monrovia,

It has been a while since I wrote on a regular basis.  I hope to be able to write reguarly over the next month.  i will send out regular letters as long as there is internet access.  As you are aware from my last messages I was to go to Cooper Hospital in Monrovia, then do to a couple staff members contacting Ebola, the hospital was closed for about a month. During this time i did the CDC training on Ebola in anniston Alabama.  At the end of the training i was able to go to the end of the Global health conference at Loma linda University.  there I was able to meet with Dr Gillian Seton and Dr James Appel. They had recently come from Cooper.  The hospital reopened and Dr. Seton returned to provide surgical care.  After reopening, there was a slow progress back to surgical care at the hospital.  There is now need for more surgical and medical help at the hospital.
Audrey and I took my initial decision to go and help with much thought and prayer.  And with more prayer we have decided that I should go and volunteer there now.  Audrey and I decided it would be best to not put both of us at risk, so I go alone.  It’s not really what either of us want, as we work better as a team!
I had an early flight, so we stayed overnight near the airport.  I fly across the US then on to Brussels and to Monrovia, Liberia.  i think it will be about 30 hours before I land.
I pray that the people that Dr. Seton and I can help, will come to the hospital, and that Jesus give us wisdom to treat each one in a way that will help them heal and to know Him.  Please remember Audrey in your prayers as well.

Oasis and Liberia#4

administrator Audrey, Greg No Comments

Hello Friends and Family,
Much has gone on in the past month. We have started having friends and missionaries come to visit us at our Safe Haven Oasis (http://lifeimpactministries.net/locations/safe-haven-oasis/) As we have mentioned in past emails, we have joined an organization that provides a safe place for christian workers to go and a confidential place to talk and recuperate before returning to their place of service. We joined the non-profit in October and will host christian missionaries and pastors. We want to provide this free or with very minimal input from the visitors. Please look us up, it is a great organization. And for our missionary and pastor friends that read these blogs- a valuable resource for you! Please pray that God will lead those to our Oasis that we have particular skills to help, to be able to meet their needs so that they can be rejuvenated and reconnected with each other and God, to return to service!

So Liberia is actively on our minds again! Not that it hasn’t been for that past many months, but at the forefront again. A friend of ours is in Liberia now- Greg Saunders MD. He went when I couldn’t go. It seems like it would be helpful to have another surgeon there to help Dr. Seton when Greg leaves. I cannot go till the early new year. As you are well aware- Ebola has fallen off the US news map since there isn’t any here. But it is still increasing weekly in those three most affected countries. Sierra Leone had 400 new cases last week, and Liberia and Guinea about 1/3 that number. There is much apparent stigma associated with those who have recovered from Ebola. So there are orphans and those who have lost many family members that now are outcasts of the society or shunned. I have heard that the rate of increase in the cities has declined, as education and more treatment beds become available. An Cooper Hospital, where I will go ,and other hospitals have started providing non-ebola care. It sounds like Cooper is treating many birth and gynecology problems, and many stroke patients. Since there hasn’t been much medical care otherwise- usual diseases of hypertension and diabetes are going under-treated. As I mentioned before, I attended the Ebola training course at the Center of Disease Control. It was a well thought out course with representatives from Doctors without Boarders and World Health Organization. We trained in the disease symptoms and treatment and then practiced donning and doffing (putting on and off) the PPE (personal protective equipment). I guess I will now be applying those principles. I am looking (with a travel agent) for tickets. Re-looked for life insurance- which doesn’t appear to be an option in epidemic areas. And am mentally preparing for service in a difficult area. Also am enjoying each moment I have with my lovely wife!! I pray that God lead in my life, and that I follow His will for me- now and in Liberia. Greg

Greg and Audrey Shank
www.missiondocs.org
http://lifeimpactministries.net/locations/safe-haven-oasis/

Liberia Thoughts #3

administrator Uncatergorized No Comments

I sit here as the sun is just starting to take the darkness away. I’ve
been thinking and praying about what I should do about going to Liberia on
a daily basis for weeks now. It appears the Cooper Hospital will reopen
on Oct 13th. When it reopens they will need surgical help and screening
of patients to determine who to let in to the hospital and who to refuse,
because of a high suspicion of Ebola. My friend James Appel has been
dealing with these decisions for the last couple months as he interviewed
patients as they drove up to try and get in to the hospital.

I have begun the process, planning to leave in two weeks. I will attend
the CDC course on Ebola this coming week, then go to the Global Health
Conference at Loma Linda. The following week I will fly to Monrovia,
Liberia. Im still trying to get life insurance and evacuation insurance,
with some rays of hope.

As you know, the medical system is completely overwhelmed as so many
people are sick with Ebola and other common diseases for that area of the
world. I consider all the turmoil and lack of care in that area, Im drawn
to help how I can. Right now that is to lend the skills that God has
given me and the experiences I’ve been through to prepare for something
like this. Im not sure what “mentally prepared” is though: for the most
part Im ready- ready to jump in with both feet and work, ready to tell
people of Jesus and the hope that only He can give in a time of despair
like they are going through, ready to die if that was necessary. And
sometimes I don’t feel ready- for any of those. Today as I had my morning
devotions I read the following from 1 John 3:16-17 “This is how we have
come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down
our lives for our brothers. If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his
brother in need but closes his eyes to his need- how can God’s love reside
in him? Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with
truth and action.” After reading God’s word to me this morning- I am
again ready for what comes. Thank you Jesus for preparing me and keep
giving me confidence to move forward.

Shanksteps Ebola 2

administrator Uncatergorized No Comments

Saturday night/Sunday morning 9/21/14. As I sit and think, my mind now goes constantly to the Ebola crisis in Monrovia, Liberia. this is because there is one hospital open, providing care to 420,000 people that “do not” have Ebola, and another two that provide care to those that do. A friend of mine, James Appel, is there and helping Dr. Gillian and others care for the countless numbers of people that come in to Cooper Hospital. Some have been refused from the Ebola hospitals that are overrun with patients. They want their sick relative cared for and so try to get them into Cooper Hospital. As you know from my last email, I’ve been asked to go help there in a dangerous area of the globe. dangerous, not because of threat of war or civil unrest, but dangerous because of Ebola. It is estimated that 2800 people have died of ebola in this viral outbreak. The WHO predicts the number may rise to 20,000 by November unless plans to tackle the outbreak do not change it’s current trajectory. It is a disease communicated by body fluids- sweat, blood, urine, vomit, diarrhea… When the disease is contracted it currently has a 70% mortality rate, and there is no treatment except supportive care.

It is with this backdrop that I have been praying and wanting to know God’s will in what I should do. At this time(Sunday) Audrey and I are at peace with me going and volunteering in Cooper Hospital. We have decided that I should go, and go in 1 week! I have already asked a travel agent to look into flights from here to Monrovia for next week. This is when James will be leaving Cooper and leaves Gillian and the surgical staff, severely short handed. I have also contacted insurance salesmen to try and get life insurance, so if the worst were to happen, at least our significant school debt and our house debt would be covered. I am thinking of updating my will. I am not afraid to die as I am confident where my future lies, but want my family covered, as much as possible.

I realize i have not gotten my Liberian Visa yet! so i find my passport, some old 2×2 photos, and print out the visa application and fill it out. With each step the realization of what Im inbarking on settles deeper. Ive started a list of items I want to take.

Monday 9/22
I awake early, well before my alarm. I have surgeries to do today, but that’s not on my mind much. it is the countless other things that need to be done. The travel agent has not gotten back with me. I head to work and ask Audrey (who happens to be off today) to get my paperwork to FedEx and send it to get the visa. Between surgeries I call Butler travel and try to set down more specifics on dates and times. I am calling the medical board and health department for their opinion on how long to not work after returning from an area that has Ebola. I suspect when I am in Liberia, they may have a better idea of timing, but want to plan ahead. I finish my surgeries for the day and head home. I get a call from the insurance agent, she says that the insurance underwriters cannot sell life insurance to a person traveling to an epidemic area! I feel like a weight has landed on me. I at least want my family covered financially.

In the evening I get a call from a friend who has just heard that Cooper hospital is closing temporarily. I have instant relief and dread. Relief because I will not go and be exposed to the worst disease and epidemic ever, and dread, that all those people in the capital of Liberia now will have no medical care except at the Ebola hospitals! Do they take care of non-ebola patients? If a non-ebola patient comes to them in labor, with appendicitis, with typhoid, malaria… are they then exposed to Ebola and worsen their chances of survival? Questions haunt me that will likely not be answered.

So we remain in a stopped or ?holding pattern. Life/work here go on. I have been praying for James and Gillian many times a day for the past 6 weeks. I continue. Jesus, give them peace in what they are doing and protection from this terrible disease. Lord it appears the door has been slammed shut, but there is an opening in the near future. help me to know YOUR will and to follow it! Jesus, help James, Gillian, myself, Audrey…and others that are considering helping at Cooper Hospital in Liberia. Pray for Audrey and I, that we would do Gods will in our lives.