Yamuleith Part 4

It's late and this is long but it's finally written almost two weeks after the fact. The story of Yamuleith continues but this particular account is finished.

Erika stayed Friday night (her first night at the hospital) with Yamuleith and I said I would come and relieve her for several hours on Saturday afternoon so she could go home and check on things there. We called Miguel and explained the situation to him and we all decided to go ahead and cancel our classes in Tipitapa so that I would have that time available.
Erika called and wanted us to go by her house first and pick up Yamuleith’s special air mattress that she sleeps on. It is supposed to help some with preventing the pressure wounds but I’m not convinced. Erika also wanted us to bring a plastic chair so that she would have somewhere to sit in the room and to buy another plastic water bottle for her to use there.
About an hour before we got ready to leave, it began to rain and it rained hard. As we drove in to the barrio where Erika lives, we could see that the water was rushing across one of the low places in the road. The water was emptying in to the drainage ditch by the road and it was a swirling, boiling mess. Jim stopped and we watched it for a few minutes. I immediately felt panicky…I am scared to death of water, can’t swim a lick and just the thought of going in to that rushing water almost paralyzed me with fear.
The only thing I could hear was the voice of Ron Hearst from KY3 Weather in my head…he was cautioning not to try to drive across any low water bridge area that is covered by water…let alone rushing water! But obviously, the other three cars that went around us had never heard the sage advice of Mr. Hearst. Jim patiently sat there and said quietly that he thought we would be fine. I wasn’t so sure but I finally said that we would just do it.
We got across fine…although I think I may have had a mild heart attack in the process! One of the twins met us at the house to give us the mattress and the chair. We then had to go back across the raging Rio Grande to get back out on the main road. We lived through it…obviously. But the trip to the hospital was slow going as many of the streets were flooded and those that weren’t had trash and debris that had washed in to the roads making them a giant obstacle course.
We stopped at the gas station to get a PowerAde for Yamuleith…not for the drink but for the bottle. I called Erika to let her know we were in the parking lot and she told us to come back by the ER door again. She had her son, Erik, go to a window near the ER and handed her admittance card through the window to him. He then met us at the ER waiting room (the outside area) and gave me her admittance card. He told me that I had to go through the front door and show the guard the card and then Erika should be waiting for me in the hallway. I felt like I was some sort of undercover spy having to sneak in to the hospital this way.
Jim went to park the car and wait for Erika as he was going to drive her and Erik home while I stayed with Yamuleith. There was the usual crowd of people waiting at the front door and Erik carried the chair and mattress to the door for me. I showed the guard the card and he waved me in. We started in the door and he stopped Erik and told him he couldn’t go in. So, I took the stuff from him and started through the door and the guard stopped me, telling me I couldn’t take the things in. I told him they were for a patient and he wanted to know what I was bringing in and why. Well, I thought the chair was pretty obvious but I told him the chair was so that I could have a place to sit and that the mattress was a special type of air mattress for the patient. He looked at it, touching it and lifting the edges of it and then looking at the motor. He then said, looking at me quite suspiciously, that the hospital didn’t have that kind of mattress. I told him I knew that and that is why I was bringing her mattress from home. He asked to see the admittance card again and then looked at me. I looked back.
Finally, he said that I needed to have permission to take it inside. I asked him who I needed to talk to get permission and he then said I had to have a permission slip…with the emphasis on the word for paper. Okay. I realized the game was just beginning. So, I smiled and then asked him where I could get a permission slip. He pointed to a window inside the hospital lobby. I asked if I could take the things in to the lobby with me as I didn’t want to leave them outside. It was his turn then to smile and he told me “no”. He repeated again that I needed a permission slip to take the things inside because the hospital didn’t have a mattress like that. What-ev-er!!!
I took a deep breath and told him again I didn’t want to leave those things outside while I was inside. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say…”That’s not my problem, lady.” I looked up and saw Erik walking towards the parking lot to go find Jim, and I hollered at him and had him come and stand by the chair and mattress.
Of course, this whole mini-drama was great entertainment for the crowd waiting. The guard having the gringa jumping through his hoops must have been great fodder for later conversations. I imagined that the people who had crowded around the guard and me must have looked like they were watching a tennis match as their heads would turn first toward the guard and listen to what he had to say and then in unison, they would turn towards me to hear my response.
I went to the window which was a solid piece of glass with a small circle cut out for the purpose of talking. This probably is sufficient if one speaks and understands the language extremely well. I wasn’t looking forward to trying to communicate through this little opening with the woman behind the glass. Not a problem…the lady was on the phone and apparently, wasn’t in any hurry to get off. I stood and waited…and waited…and waited. Finally, she finished her call and without raising her head to look at me, she asked what I wanted.
I started out by saying I was sorry that I didn’t speak Spanish very well and that it was difficult for me to understand but that I was told I needed to get a permission slip from her to bring in a plastic chair and a special mattress. She told me that I could bring in the chair but I couldn’t bring in the mattress because they had mattresses for the patients. I told her that this was a special mattress that was filled with air because the patient couldn’t stay on a regular mattress. She told me again that they didn’t have that kind of mattress in their hospital. Again, I said that was why I was bringing one in.
She then asked to see my admittance card. I handed it to her and she examined it very closely before giving it back to me. She wanted to know where the chair and mattress were and I pointed to the door. I told her the security guard wouldn’t let me bring them inside without the permission slip.
She got on the intercom and called for a supervisor to come to the lobby. About that time, I spied Erika down the hallway and motioned for her to come and help me. She shook her head “no” and turned and walked the other way. Great. I realized that she was afraid that they would ask for her admittance card and because I had it, she was in the hospital “illegally”. I knew I was on my own with the next level of administration.
I thought I would probably have to wait some time before the supervisor showed up but it was just a minute or so until a grumpy-faced woman appeared. She looked at me as though I was more of a threat than a nuisance. When the other lady explained to her that I wanted to bring a special mattress in to the hospital, the grumpy-faced lady looked at me and told me in a very irritated voice that they have mattresses there for the patients. I explained, yet again, that this was a special mattress and the patient needed it. She glanced around the lobby and asked where was the mattress. I motioned outside. She told me to go get it.
I went back to the door and opened it, hitting the security guard in the back. I apologized and reached for the chair and mattress. Fat chance I was going to get to bring it inside now after clobbering the guard with the door. Of course, he asked to see my permission slip and told me for the umpteenth time that I had to have a permission slip to bring the things in the hospital. I was in awe that he was still able to utter his little speech without showing any signs of irritation. I, on the other hand, was tiring of the whole rigamarole. I told him the woman at the window wanted to see the items. Of course, he didn’t believe me. I motioned for the two women to come to me and by some miracle, they complied. The guard told the women I needed to have a permission slip. I couldn’t even begin to follow what came out of the supervisor other than I knew she had an extremely impatient tone to her voice. I could identify.
The guard nodded his head and I told Erik to bring the things inside. He hesitated. I told him to get the chair and mattress and carry them inside. He quickly grabbed them and I thought for a split second that the guard wasn’t going to let him in but I think he realized that particular power game was over. The supervisor had continued to talk and her voice hadn’t softened on iota.
Erik sat the chair down in the lobby. Both women were puzzled when they saw the mattress and the pump. Obviously, they both were expecting something that looked more like a conventional mattress. The supervisor told me that the hospital didn’t have any mattresses like that. I told her I knew that and that was why I was bringing the one from the patient’s home. She asked to see my admittance card and told me that they had mattresses for their patients but they didn’t have any mattresses like that. OH, MY GOODNESS!!! This was like a cross between the movie “Groundhog Day” and the old Abbott and Costello routine of Who’s On First!!!!
I reiterated that the patient needed a special type of mattress and that it was her personal mattress. I told her that I knew the hospital had mattresses but that the patient needed this special mattress and that was the reason I had gone to her house and was bringing it to her. The supervisor and the other lady talked between themselves for a minute and finally, the first lady went back in her office and came out with the pad of coveted permission slips.
They then wrote a very detailed description of the white plastic chair and the mattress and the pump, recording every detail, and all the manufacturing info that was printed on the pump. The supervisor signed off on the permission slip and as she gave it to me, she told me that I would need to keep that permission slip as it was then the only proof that those items were mine. She said that when I took them back out of the hospital, I would have to show that slip in order to leave with them so that they would know I wasn’t stealing the items from the hospital. It took everything in me to keep from saying, “You don’t have this kind of mattress in the hospital”…but my good sense kicked in and I realized it would be counterproductive…even if it would have been funny. I mean seriously…how could I steal something from the hospital that they don’t have???
I thanked the ladies and asked if Erik could carry them for me and they said that he could but then he would need to leave….he didn’t have an admittance card! AARGHH!!! Erik and I walked down towards where I had seen Erika. She was waiting in a group of people and when we got close, she motioned for us to join her. She then took us to Yamuleith’s room. I glanced at my watch…it had been almost thirty minutes since I first tried to enter the hospital. Security companies around the world should have their employees trained at this hospital!
Yamuleith heard my voice when I walked in to her room and she smiled and said my name. I saw she was lying on a patched stained sheet and was covered with a thin hospital gown. She had two IVs going and her “pillow” consisted of a small plastic bag of water wrapped in a towel and another towel rolled up adjacent to it. It was hot in the room. The windows were open and because they had no screens, the flies were buzzing in and out. She was sharing a room with two other women, both much older. Each had someone with them. The room was small and crowded and there was just barely enough room for two people to stand between Yamuleith’s bed and her roommate, Gloria’s bed. It was noisy with everyone talking loudly and at the same time.
I went to Yamuleith’s bedside and touched her face and asked how she was. She told me she was better and then asked me if I had brought any carne asada with me. That’s a grilled meat here and Yamuleith loves it. She gets it only when the gringos come. It didn’t look as though she had been bathed yet. The bandages on her knees had been changed and her ankles rested on bags of water, similar to the one under her head. Her voice was weak.
Erika quickly gathered up her things and got ready to go. I gave her back the admittance card so she would be able to get back in to the hospital. She told me that the nurse had said that I needed to write Yamuleith’s name on the chair…I didn’t have a marker and neither did the nurse. Erika worried someone would take the chair. I assured her I wouldn’t let anyone have the chair and so she and Erik told Yamuleith good-bye and they left. I called Jim and told him to watch for them and then I began to visit with Yamuleith.
As I talked with her, I tried to take in all that I was seeing. The paint on the walls had peeled, leaving large bare areas that showed various degrees of grime. The room’s bathroom had a sink, a toilet and a shower. The shower didn’t work and seemed to be a storage area for mops and cleaning supplies. The toilet looked like it was in need of a good cleaning and there was no toilet paper. The sink’s leaky pipes emptied in to a cracked bucket which sat underneath the sink. The bathroom light was so dim that it was almost non-existent. I felt sick…somehow I knew that the private hospital would have provided much better care. I realized more than ever the chasm between those who have money and those who don’t. We were on the “don’t” side.
Yamuleith said she hadn’t slept well the night before. I’m sure she missed her own bed and I’m also sure she was in such pain that it must have been difficult. While we were talking, Yamuleith insisted I sit in the chair right by her bedside. She had a fan blowing directly on her but she asked me to turn it off as she felt cold. I felt her and she was feverish. The nurse came in and hung a third IV bag…it was her antibiotic. As she walked out, the lady who was tending to Gloria, noticed that it was leaking all over Yamuleith’s bed. She also realized that I didn’t speak Spanish very well and so at that moment, she made it her personal mission to take care of and to educate the uninformed gringa on how things worked in a government run hospital.
She went out to the nurse’s station and called the nurse back in. She looked at the IV and said that it was fine…obviously, it wasn’t as the sheet was getting soaked where the shunt part lay. Her answer was to move it off the bed. So, what that accomplished was that the antibiotic was dripping all over the floor. I wondered if Yamuleith was getting any of it at all. The nurse told me I could get the mop and clean up the floor. As I started in to the bathroom, Gloria’s friend was horrified and she quickly took the mop and mopped it up for me. I thanked her and she told me how awful the hospital and the nurses were there. I agreed but I wished she wouldn’t have said it quite so loudly...I knew Yamuleith had to have heard that.
Yamuleith and I visited. I asked her why she liked carne asada so much and she smiled. She told me when she was a little girl that her father used to fix it. She told me that she had six older brothers. I didn’t give any indication at that point that I knew about what had happened to her. I asked her if she could walk and run as a little girl and she told me she could but when she was 13, she had become very sick and that after that, she couldn’t walk anymore. She said that she was always very sick after that. She became very quiet and I could tell she was thinking about things. I stroked her face and quietly whispered to her that I was so sorry that she had had such a hard life. She whispered back, “gracias, Lynne”. She had no tears but I did.
About that time, a nurse came in with a stack of paper plates and handed me one. It had some rice with just a smidgen of chopped up beef, carrots and onions mixed in it and ½ of a boiled platano. I asked Yamuleith if she wanted to eat and she said that she did. So, I fed her, bite by bite. It was a trick to feed her as she was lying on her side. I had to turn the tablespoon that Erika had brought at such an angle that it allowed me to get the food in Yamuleith’s mouth and yet do so without dumping the rice all over the bed. After a few mishaps, I got the trick of it and Yamuleith methodically chewed each bite until it was well chewed before she swallowed. I couldn’t imagine how difficult that must be, eating every meal in such a position. Several times, I would have to stop feeding her so that I could scratch her nose for her or rub her eyes. I realized more than ever how dependent she is on others to meet her every need.
As I was feeding Yamuleith, the other lady in the room had said good-bye to her family members a little bit earlier. The doctor had come in to see her and she said that she was having trouble with her heart and breathing. He had a nurse take her blood pressure (with the old manual pump up arm band) and told her that her blood pressure was fine. The lady complained that her stomach was hurting. He had her lie down and he listened to her chest and stomach area. He said that she needed a good night’s sleep and the nurse came back in and gave her several pills. The lady finally lay down and pulled the sheet up over her face, trying to block out the overhead light and some of the noise. She was lying so still that the thought crossed my mind that she looked like a corpse. I immediately thought of that scene several days later when I found out that she had died the next day.
Yamuleith slowly drifted off to sleep. Periodically, she would wake up and call my name. I would reassure her I was still there. She would have me adjust her sheet, move her legs, get her a drink, move her head, fix her “pillow, move her arm and so on. Finally, she settled into a deep sleep. I had brought a book to read and a bottle of water. I began to read and all of a sudden, I felt like someone was watching me. I looked over at Gloria’s bed and she was sleeping and her caretaker was busy writing in a notebook. The other lady was sleeping under her sheet. I glanced at the door and there stood three women, all staring at me. I was somewhat taken aback. They didn’t budge…they continued to stare. I smiled at them and one of them returned the smile. The other two continued to stare but no one said anything. I went back to reading my book and tried to ignore the three staring women. It was a bit unnerving to say the least.
Finally, Erika came back about 4 hours later. It was almost 8:00 p.m. Yamuleith continued to sleep. I wanted to kiss her good-bye but didn’t want to disturb her. So, I quietly gathered my things and Erika walked with me out to the car. She didn’t think it was safe for me to walk outside by myself…I have to say I was glad she was with me. Although the crowd was smaller, there was still quite a gathering at the door. We said our good-byes and I got in the car.
I told Jim all about my evening and we were able to laugh about the funny things…and he let me cry about the rest. I had no idea that night that we were just taking the first steps down a very long road. It’s been two weeks since we called the ambulance to come and get Yamuleith. She continues to battle the infection that has ravaged her body. Some days look very promising…others make for restless nights. There isn’t a day that goes by that we aren’t asking God for healing.
Sometimes, I wonder how much more can she endure? How much more should she have to endure? It is so hard to imagine all that her body and spirit have been subjected to in her life. I haven’t received any answers to those questions. What I do get is a reminder that God is still in control.
I find that this walk of faith is sometimes its most difficult when it encounters those who are the most vulnerable and have been the most abused. I don’t understand so many things but I don’t think I’m supposed to...I don’t think it’s my right or my place. And honestly, how on earth could I ever question God and how He works when I hear Yamuleith praise His name? Maybe that sweet conviction will help me sleep tonight.