More on Fransisca

I'm going on week 2 of living at the Berry's house. I feel so detached from everything, though 20 minutes from home. It has been a huge blessing and struggle for me in my time here, mostly in the care of Fransisca.

First of all, THANK YOU so much for your prayers! She is doing better to some extent, and I see a more frequent smile on her face, which was lost most of last week while she was in pain and very anxious. She had a very nasty UTI (urinary infection) and now after a few days on some strong antibiotics she is clear! (Read that as you want.) Also, she'd lost her appetite for a few days, and now is eating again; she's also taking a few steps each day from her chairs to the bed, etc, and has great gumption to do so. Its great to see her motivated.

Today we spent a few hours resting outside on a blanket in the Berry's yard. It was a clear and sunny afternoon, which are few and far between here in the winter months. It was a nice time which we all enjoyed together.



As of now, the plan is to have her finish her treatments here in Lima, which will be this week, and for her to go back to Cusco. For the type of tumor she has (cordoma) there isn't too much else that she will be able to do. She is going back to be with family and to be at home comfortably (as much as she can).

Its a hard thing. Its life as well. A great thing though is that God can use anything He wants to bring people to him. For this tumor, Fransisca came to Christ in Cusco. For this tumor, Hilda her daughter came to Christ here in Lima. He has a beautiful tapestry of life, and has granted me the opportunity to have some time with these precious women.

Please continue to pray for them and their family in this rough time.

Continuing of Nursing Skills

Fransisca is getting worse. I am now living with the Berry's to be an extra hand as often as needed (Becca's Home Health Care~ as Lori calls it) to them in the caretaking of Fransisca. In just a few short days, I've been able to use some more of the skills I used to do on a frequent basis back in the states~ Foley catheter placement, giving enemas, bedbaths, and transfering the patient, and A LOT of teaching. The end of the week last week, Fransisca lost her ability to walk with assistance, she can only be transfered from bed-chair or chair-car, which is definetly a lot better with 2 of us doing it, as she is like dead-weight. She still has about a week left of the radiation treatment here in Lima before she is transferred to Arequipa to continue her treatment. Please pray about that. Her decline in health seems to be more related to her tumor than it does her radiation. We are working with Dr Allen in Cusco, and trying to work with the family to get things arranged with her transfer to Arequipa (she has a son there). Please pray with us in that.

Its hard in that, for me the Quechuan culture here it can easily appear to me as a lack of love for their family member (in this case their mother), just in the attitude that presents itself as apathy/negligence, but how much of it is their culture in that they are more closed off, and how much of it is their lack of knowledge/not understanding Spanish well too? I don't know if they understand the severity of her tumor, and if so, it seems like they are just shrugging their shoulders. I am trying not to judge and to understand their culture more because I don't understand why/how they are responding like this. Daily our friend Kike is fighting for them at the hospital (the system is a maze of lines and paperwork and being heard in order to be seen) and Fransisca's daughter who is here takes on a very very very passive role, and she'd essentially be doing this type of advocacy when they go to Arequipa.

Thanks for your prayers!

Fransisca

I have been able to do a bit more this week in a nursing role with a woman by the name of Fransisca. She is here in Lima, but born and raised in a small village outside of Cusco. She speaks Quechua, and understands some Spanish. Dr Allen sent her to us here to have some more tests run on a tumor in her spine. The tests came back positive for a malignant tumor, and it was decided for her to start radiation therapy right away. Her daughter Hilda is also here, and they have been staying with the Berry's. I was able to help with her bathing and teaching techniques to Hilda as Fransisca has been quite weak. These past few days she has gotten a lot weaker, and today, especially it has been a huge struggle for her to be able to urinate. We got the necessary supplies, and I inserted a foley catheter. I don't have too many opportunities to use my nursing skills, and it was good to know that A: I could help tend to a need that other people can't yet and B: some skills are ingrained enough and not forgotten. It was another one of those times where I knew that this was yet another reason God has me here at this time.

We didn't have the full kit that is so helpful in the states, and I had to "mas o menos" (more or less) make my own bootleg sterile area and kit, and some supplies I would've used weren't available, so I made do with what I could. (Boiling water can sterilize and is sterile, without it I would've been stuck!) It was quite different than what I'm used to back home, but with what was available, it was done as sterile and clean as possible. I'm glad she was and is now able to have some relief. Next week the Berry's will be going on vacation for a few days, so I'll be staying there to help as needed.

Please pray for Fransisca and Hilda, as well as the rest of their family. Hilda accepted Christ last week, and is eager to learn more. Fransisca accepted Christ in Cusco when someone shared with her. Please pray for her healing, comfort, and the treatments needed.

Personal Prayer Request

I'm trying to think of where to even begin. This wouldn't be my first sleepless night that I've recently had. To preface my prayer request, about 6-7 months before I left the States to come to Peru, I started wigging out in some ways. Feeling in between places, part of me froze in the friendships I had, fearing further investment, yet all the while wanting to invest all I could while I could. I didn't feel a part of either place at that point, knowing I'd be leaving a place that had become my home (Birmingham) and other places, but not yet being a part of Peru yet.

I'm about 7-8 months away from stepping back on US soil. I've never felt the Lord's call for me to extend my time, but am praying for His guidance in that, and am not closed to the idea.

I feel myself getting stuck in that rut again that I'd gotten myself into a few years ago. Peru is now becoming more of a home to me, just as all the other places I've adapted to. I have some beautiful friendships here, that I already ache at the thought of saying "See you later" or "Goodbye" to them. YES, there are some things here, that I ache to get away from, but overall I know it will be a very hard thing to do next year when I board that plane to take me stateside. When I'm stateside next year, where I will eventually "land" to start over is completely up in the air, so I don't have any one place to particularly envision myself (which in my current state I think would help). So I feel even moreso in "limbo" with no certain destination in sight, and in between places all over again. My heart feels like it needs to start transitioning, but to where? In the transitioning I don't want to loose sight of what is so dear to me here.

I yearn to be living each day here to its fullest, to relish in each relationship here and grieve later, to not be so overwhelmed by these thoughts and feelings, and to completely trust in the Lord with the unknowns of next year. Please pray with me for these things.