Burn ward - Part 2

The reality of caring for badly burned patients is that it is discouraging work with a very low success rate, especially in the third world. But even at home infection often gets the best of them. Here is an update on the patients I wrote about in the last post:

Died yesterday: The 18-year-old girl, who was badly burned by fire 3 days after her wedding. Her husband had stood faithfully by her throughout the whole ordeal. What will he do now?

Went home after almost 2 months in hospital - disabled but alive: The baby whose feet and legs were burned by fire such that all the toes of one foot were amputated and some of the toes on the other foot were, as well. He underwent 2 skin grafting procedures, and even after the 2nd one not all the skin had taken, but he'll be okay and his wounds are small enough now that they'll heal on their own. His mother doesn't look more than about 18 years old.

Died the day after she received the news that her 2nd skin graft had failed: The young woman who had 2 skin grafting procedures and who screamed every time her dressings were changed. When we looked at her wounds after the 2nd operation, we saw that this one had also failed and she would need yet another operation. The discouragement and despair was evident both in her face and in her aunt's, who is the only one there caring for her. She had already been in hospital a month.

Died: The woman in her early 50's who, after finding out that her 3rd skin graft procedure was yet again a failure, lapsed into unconsciousness.

Went home to die: The man in his 50's who showed up one month after being badly burned in both legs? The burns were so deep that trying to operate and remove the burned tissue would result in not enough leg muscle or tissue for him to walk. We recommended that he have an amputation high up on both thighs, just to save his life. He opted to go home, because at least he could walk. It's only a matter of time before infection gets the better of him.

Still alive, but his skin grafts failed twice. His family wants to take him to Kathmandu - they're freaked out by all the people dying around them: The young male athlete in his 20s who begged us to make sure he can still do his athletics after his operation. His legs are so badly burned this is very unlikely. He had 2 failed skin grafting procedures.

Went home and should recover without disability: The young woman who, in the midst of no electricity in her house, accidentally sat on a pot of boiling water instead of her chair. Fortunately her burns are pretty superficial.

Both died this week: The 2 woman whose burns were so extensive that we are only treating them palliatively (pain control, fluids, and pastoral care). Actually, one of them seemed to be doing so well that we decided to start treating actively. We started doing dressings in preparation for her to go to surgery soon, and then she died yesterday.

We decided to treat actively. Took her to OR and she died the next day

: The woman with 40% of her body surface area badly burned from her sari catching on fire. Our usual cut-off in deciding whether to actively treat these patients medically versus palliatively is 40%. She was right on the cusp. 

Yesterday after rounds, when I discovered that 3 more of our patients had died, I went home and wept. Even as I write this, there are tears in my eyes. I guess maybe you get used to it after you've cared for burn patients for awhile, but maybe not. At any rate, this is my first real exposure to multiple severely burned patients, and it seems tragic to me!

As I process it all, I realize that the tears are good, because they mean I'm still a human being and I haven't become hardened by it all. And I hear Jesus saying, "I make all things new." We may not see it here in this life, but He promises a day when He will make all things new, and He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, a day when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, because the old order of things will have passed away. That is the hope that we have when we know Him and trust in Him.

I don't know if these patients found that hope and life or not. I did start to pray for each of them in the name of Jesus in my faltering Nepali every day. It was something I felt God was prompting me to do. I guess I'd hoped that His response would be to bring physical healing, but we didn't see that. But maybe there was a more eternal reason I was to pray for them. I pray that through their time here, they did find Him. Only He knows.

 Reminds me of a photo I took last year of what looked to me like a window to heaven through the clouds. As I looked at it, I thought, "Now we see in part." We don't know or understand why things happen they way they do, but one day we will understand fully. And in the meantime, we hold onto the One who is good, who knows all their names, and who holds all things in His hands.