Hello Doctor

One of the realities of the work we do, is that girls often come into our doors without having received appropriate medical care. Some of the girls living in our facility now had NEVER been to a doctor before. In case you are wondering, some of the medical situations that have come up in the past two months include: various sorts of stomach pain, various sorts of STDs, tooth pain and severe cavities, urinary tract infections, colds, throwing up, fevers and... appendicitis.

Working with doctors in any place can be frustrating. But sometimes medical care in the Philippines can be more than frustrating. Two weeks after Rachel* arrived she woke up in the middle of the night with severe stomach pain. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where they scheduled her surgery for almost eight hours later. We decided to transfer her to another hospital, concerned that the eight hour wait could be too long.

The second hospital we went to was a government hospital. This is the hospital that most government shelters will use for emergencies because the cost is extremely minimal. In fact, I personally know individuals who have received good care there. But it's also, almost always, over capacity. We arrived there and were sent to a room in the ER with beds to wait. The bed they wanted Rachel to lay in had a few suspicious stains on it. We asked some of the nurses attending what the wait would be like for Rachel to see a doctor. They mentioned that two of the other patients in the room had been admitted in the ER two days earlier. Both were diagnosed with appendicitis. The nurse also mentioned that typically, in this particular hospital the operating rooms were always overbooked and patients with appendicitis usually ruptured before they could have surgery. Needless to say, we left quickly.

Finally we went to another private hospital where the physician was able to tend to Rachel right away. We gave a 50% down payment for the bill, and within an hour, she was taken to the Operating Room. Her appendix was very nearly ruptured, and we are so thankful that we transferred her from the first hospital. Rachel recovered in a few days and was sent back to our home.

Thank you to everyone who donates to this ministry and allows us to provide much needed care for our girls.

*Name changed to protect participant identity