A Tale of Two Heart Patients

In the last month, Haitian Hearts has brought two patients to the United States for heart surgery. Daniel and Princess are both from Port-au-Prince and both have heart problems. There are other similarities in there cases, but also differences.

Daniel is 33 years old. He contracted rheumatic fever, which damaged his heart valve. In 2001, John brought him up and he had valve repair surgery in Peoria. Daniel is a quiet, prayerful man, who imbues those around his with his faith.

Princess is five and a half months old. She was born with a congenital heart defect called AV canal. With this defect, there is a hole between the upper two chambers of the heart and a hole between the lower two chambers of the heart. Despite her impaired health, Princess was a bubbly, smiling baby who charmed all in her path.

About nine months ago, Daniel began calling John, telling him that he was having difficulty breathing. On one of his trips to Haiti, John examined Daniel and sent him for an echocardiogram. His heart repair was failing and he likely needed an artificial valve.

When John was in Haiti in February, Princess's parents brought their daughter to John for examination. With a respiratory rate of 60 a minute and a heart rate of 150 a minute, Princess had been in and out of hospitals during her short life. John prescribed some lasix for her to get rid of fluid and help her breathe.

Back in the States, John searched for hospitals for his two patients. He presented Daniel to multiple hospitals. Daniel was accepted by Swedish Medical Center in Denver. John presented Princess to hospitals in four countries: Israel, the Dominican Republic, Canada, and the United States. She was accepted by Nationwide Children's in Columbus, Ohio.

Daniel flew to Denver in April. He had successful heart surgery and is now in the process of getting the proper amount of blood thinners into his system. Blood likes to clot around artificial surfaces, so Daniel will take blood thinners for the rest of his life.

Princess's heart surgery last week appeared to be successful. But several hours after surgery, her little heart, which during the months of her short life before surgery had to tolerate improper blood flow, gave out and she didn't survive.

Two patients, two different outcomes. We celebrate Daniel's new healthy life, while we grieve precious Princess. It's especially painful and unnatural when babies, who are so new and fresh to this world, die.

Daniel and Princess shared one more similarity.

If Daniel had been prescribed a few pennies worth of penicillin when he contracted strep throat, he wouldn't have gotten rheumatic fever and damaged heart valves. In the developed world, Princess's heart defect could have been diagnosed in utero. She would have had surgery a few weeks after birth, before her heart changed so much to accommodate the unhealthy blood flow.

Both Daniel and Princess were both victims of poverty.

Alleluia! He Has Risen! 47

"Give us a holy courage to seek new paths, that the gift of unfading beauty may reach every man and woman."
 
          Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

On this Easter Day, I give special thanks to Pope Francis for the deeds and words of his life. As the leader of the Catholic Church, he is setting an example of Christianity and goodness in action. I also give thanks to God for my husband John and the example of his life, filled with hard work and caring for many people. He is my hero and an inspiration to many. John also took almost all of the pictures that accompany this Haitian Lenten Series. If you feel moved by the words or pictures on this blog, I hope you will reach out to Haiti or the developing world and make a friend there.

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"Sometimes it seems that our work is fruitless, but mission is not like a business transaction or investment, or even a humanitarian activity. It is not a show where we count how many people come as a result of our publicity; it is something much deeper, which escapes all measurement. It may be that the Lord uses our sacrifices to shower blessings in another part of the world which we will never visit. The Holy Spirit works as he wills, when he wills and where he wills; we entrust ourselves without pretending to see striking results. We only know that commitment is necessary."

         Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"We may be sure that none of our acts of love will be lost, nor any of our acts of sincere concern for others. No single act of love for God will be lost, no generous effort is meaningless, no painful endurance wasted. All of these encircle our world like a vital force."

           Pope Francis, Joy of the Gosepel

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"We do not live better when we flee, hide, refuse to share, stop giving and lock ourselves up in our own comforts. Such a life is nothing less than slow suicide. . . . If we are to share our lives with others and generously give of ourselves, we also have to realize that every person is worthy of our giving. Not for their physical appearance, their abilities, their language, their way of thinking, or for any satisfaction that we might receive, but rather because they are God's handiwork, his creation. God created that person in his image, and he or she reflects something of God's glory."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"When we live out a spirituality of drawing nearer to others and seeking their welfare, our hearts are opened wide to the Lord's greatest and most beautiful gifts. Whenever we encounter another person in love, we learn something new about God."

       Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He hopes that we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people's lives and know the power of tenderness."

         Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"We need to implore his grace daily asking him to open our cold hearts and shake up our lukewarm and superficial existence. . . . Moved by his example, we want to enter fully into the fabric of society, sharing the lives of all, listening to their concerns, helping them materially and spiritually in their needs, rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep; arm in arm with others, we are committed to building a new world. But we do so not from a sense of obligation, not as a burdensome duty, but as the result of a personal decision which brings us joy and gives meaning to our lives."

       Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"I am far from proposing an irresponsible populism, but the economy can no longer turn to remedies that are a new poison, such as attempting to increase profits by reducing the work force and thereby adding to the ranks of the excluded. . . . If anyone feels offended by my words, I would respond that I speak them with affection and with the best of intentions, quite apart from any personal interest or political ideology. My words are not those of a foe or opponent. I am interested only in helping those who are in thrall to an individualistic, indifferent and self-centered mentality to be freed from those unworthy chains and to attain a way of living and thinking which is more humane, noble and fruitful, and which will bring dignity to their presence on this earth."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world's problems or, for that matter, to any problems. Inequality is the root of social ills."

      Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"The need to resolve the structural causes of poverty cannot be delayed, not only for the pragmatic reason of its urgency for the good order of society, but because society needs to be cured of a sickness which is weakening and frustrating it, and which can only lead to new crises."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"No one must say that they cannot be close to the poor because their own lifestyle demands more attention to other areas. This is an excuse commonly heard in academic, business or professional, and even ecclesial circles. . .  none of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"True love is always contemplative, and permits us to serve the other not out of necessity or vanity, but because he or she is beautiful above and beyond mere appearances."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"'Implicit in our Christian faith is a God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with his poverty.' This is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. . . in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power in their lives and to put them at center of the Church's pilgrim way. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them."

         Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

Haitian Hearts patient #171!

Four-year-old Lerrison Woodson had successful open heart surgery at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida last week! He is pictured above with his mother, wearing the scarf on the right, and his hospital and host family team (AKA Haitian Hearts Team!) Behind his mother is Kathy Arnold, nurse coordinator, who helped arrange the whole thing.

We are so grateful to All Children's, Kathy, the host family and interpreters, and Dr. Jeffrey Jacobs, pictured below, who performed the miracle known as open heart surgery and made Lerrison's heart whole.

Lerrison has already been discharged from the hospital. He will continue to heal.

And there will be high fives for everyone!

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"God's heart has a special place for the poor, so much so that he himself 'became poor' (2 Cor. 8:9). The entire history of our redemption is marked by the presence of the poor. Salvation came to us from the 'yes' uttered by a lowly maiden from a small town on the fringes of a great empire. The Savior was born in a manger, in the midst of animals, like children of poor families; he was presented at the Temple along with two turtledoves, the offering made by those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24, Lev. 5:7); he was raised in a home of ordinary workers and worked with his own hands to earn his bread. When he began to preach the Kingdom, crowds of the dispossessed followed him, illustrating his words: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor  (Luke 4:18). He assured those burdened by sorrow and crushed by poverty that God has a special place for them in his heart: 'Blessed are you poor, yours is the kingdom of God' (Luke 6:20); he made himself one of them: 'I was hungry and you gave me food to eat.' and he taught them that mercy towards all of these is the key to heaven (Matt. 25:4).

         Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"We are not simply talking about nourishment or a 'dignified sustenance' for all people, but also their 'general temporal welfare and prosperity.' This means education, access to health care, and above all employment, for it is through free, creative, participatory and mutually supportive labor that human beings express and enhance the dignity of their lives. A just wage enables them to have adequate access to all the other goods which are destined for our common use."

       Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"With due respect for the autonomy and culture of every nation, we must never forget that the planet belongs to all mankind and is meant for all mankind; the mere fact that some people are born in places with fewer resources or less development does not justify the fact that they are living with less dignity. It must be reiterated that 'the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others.'"

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"If we, who are God's means of hearing the poor, turn deaf ears to this plea, we oppose the Father's will and his plan. . . A lack of solidarity towards his or her needs will directly affect our relationship with God. . . . 'You yourselves give them something to eat!' (Mark 6:37): it means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor, as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter. . . . The private ownership of goods is justified by the need to protect and increase them, so that they can better serve the common good; for this reason, solidarity must be lived as the decision to restore to the poor what belongs to them."

       Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"An authentic faith--which is never comfortable or completely personal--always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it. We love this magnificent planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family which dwells here, with all its tragedies and struggles, its hopes and aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses. The earth is our common home and all of us are brothers and sisters."

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"It is no longer possible to claim that religion should be restricted to the private sphere and that it exists only to prepare souls for heaven. We know that God wants his children to be happy in this world too, even though they are called to fulfillment in eternity, for he has created all things 'for our enjoyment.' (1 Timothy 6:17)"

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"One who accompanies others has to realize that each person's situation before God and their life in grace are mysteries which no one can fully know from without. The Gospel tells us to correct others and to help them to grow on the basis of a recognition of the objective evil of their actions but without making judgments about their responsibility and culpability."

       Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"We need to practice the art of listening, which is more than simple hearing. . . Listening helps us to find the right gesture and word which shows that we are more than simply bystanders."

       Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"We are not asked to be flawless, but to keep growing and wanting to grow as we advance along the path of the Gospel. . . No one is more patient than God our Father, no one is more understanding and willing to wait. He always invites us to take a step forward, but does not demand a full response if we are not yet ready. He simply asks that we sincerely look at our life and present ourselves honestly  before him, that we be willing to continue to grow, asking from him what we ourselves cannot yet achieve."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"I believe that the secret lies in the way that Jesus looked at people, seeing beyond their weaknesses and failings: 'Fear not little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' (Luke 12: 32)"

       Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"I think of the steadfast faith of those mothers tending their sick children who, though perhaps barely familiar with the articles of the creed, cling to a rosary; or of all the hope poured into a candle lighted in a humble home with a prayer for help from Mary, or in the gaze of tender love directed to Christ crucified. No one who loves God's holy people will view these actions as the expression of a purely human search for the divine."

      Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"The salvation which God has wrought, and the Church joyfully proclaims, is for everyone.  .  .The Church must be a place of mercy, freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel."

         Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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 "Let us ask the Lord to help us understand the law of love. How good it is to have this law!"

          Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"We are all in the same boat and headed to the same port! Let us ask for the grace to rejoice in the gifts of each, which belong to all."

      Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"It is fraternal love capable of seeing the sacred grandeur of our neighbor, of finding God in every human being, of tolerating the nuisances of life in common by clinging to the love of God, of opening the heart to divine love and seeking the happiness of others just as their heavenly Father does."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"One important challenge is to show that the solution will never be found in fleeing from a personal and committed relationship with God which at the same time commits us to serving others."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"The Christian ideal will always be a summons to overcome suspicion, habitual mistrust, fear of losing our privacy, all the defensive attitudes which today's world imposes on us. The Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence which challenges us, with their pain and their pleas, with their joy which infects us in our close and continuous interaction."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"God does not hide himself from those who seek him with a sincere heart, even though they do so tentatively, in a vague and haphazard manner. . . . With the eyes of faith, we can see the light which the Holy Spirit always radiates in the midst of darkness, never forgetting that 'where sin increased, grace has abounded all the more.'"

      Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"Seeing reality with the eyes of faith."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"In the prevailing culture, priority is given to the outward, the immediate, the visible, the quick, the superficial, and the provisional. What is real gives way to appearances."

         Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"Until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples are reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence."

         Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"I encourage financial experts and political leaders to ponder the words of one of the sages of antiquity, 'Not to share one's wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs.'"

         Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us."

      Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people's pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else's responsibility and not our own."

        Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"Just as the commandment, 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say 'thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills."

           Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"The Church is not a toll house; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems."

         Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"Often it is better simply to slow down, to put aside our eagerness in order to see and listen to others, to stop rushing from one thing to another and to remain with someone who has faltered along the way."

           Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"Before all else, the Gospel invites us to respond to the God of love who saves us, to see God in others and to go forth from ourselves to seek the good of others."

         Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"Let us try a little harder to take the first step and to become involved."

           Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

A Grateful Servant

This is a picture of a grateful servant, Sharon "Guppy" Litchfield, who died on March 5, 2014.

Guppy's whole life was about service from being a foster parent to making sandwiches and doing so much more at Sacred Heart to "adopting" Fenelus Marcony, a Haitian Hearts patient, as her son. And she did all of this serving with a smile.

Guppy lovingly cared for other Haitian Hearts' patients, also. She did so much for so many that we can't give a full accounting of her service. Truly, she was one of those people who don't receive a lot of awards or public recognition in their lives, and if the world worked like it should, she would. She would be a famous role model for everyone.

In his homily, Fr. Larry Zurek used the letters of Guppy's name to describe her. G stands for generous, and she was to all. U stands for unassuming. Guppy was her friendly self. P is for prayerful. "Let's pray about it," was a sentence Guppy often uttered. The second P stands for pilgrim. Guppy traveled to Mexico and more recently Guam in the service of her faith. She was a pilgrim on this earth. Father Larry couldn't decide between yielding and yearning for Y. Guppy's life was about yielding to God's will as she yearned to be with Him. She is, fully, now.

The day after Guppy died, I was organizing some mail on our dining room table. For some reason, there was an old letter from Guppy that she had sent to us from Guam in July 2013, some six months ago. John told me he had put the letter on the table before he left for Haiti. In the letter, Guppy was expressing concern about a friend and asking us to check up on her. It was a good reminder--and emblematic of Guppy's life--that we are all called to be grateful servants.

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"God asks everything of us, yet at the same time he offers everything to us."

            Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"He is forever young and a source of newness."

           Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel

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"Life grows by being given away, and it weakens in isolation and comfort. Indeed, those who enjoy life more are those who leave security on the shore and become excited by the mission of communicating life to others."

       Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel