9/11 A DAY TO REMEMBER

It is hard to believe it has been 9 years. Today I tried to get mark to share his experience that day, and he really does not want to share. It is the hardest thing for him to talk about. In the years that have passed, we don't talk about it much unless something happens to trigger a memory. We left for the mission field in 2004, and mark has managed not to be in the country on 9/11 since then, so it has been 6 years. So he misses all of the media and talk at this time of year. We had been praying about full time missions before 9/11/01, and after that day, God confirmed what God had for our family.

I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was a beautiful morning in Plymouth. The kids were young. Jessie was in Kindergarten, we were homeschooling. We had begun our day of school work, prayed together and had been singing some songs. Mard had left the day before for a few days in NYC. I was still in graduate school and was due to start my pediatric clinicals the next day.

The phone rang and it was Mark. He said they were meeting and they thought a plane hit one of the towers and asked if I could turn on the news and see what was happening. He first said, they thought it was a small plane, then suddenly I could hear people yelling in the background and Mark started yelling hysterically. He was screaming, 'Oh My God, it is another one, it is a jet, they hit the other tower, ITS TERRORISTS, it has to be.' He kept saying it over and over and over. I did not understand what was going on, only that he sounded so unreasonable. he said he needed to go and would call back.

I called the school at the church and Karen answered the phone, and I started telling her what was happening. I sent the kids outside, because it was a beautiful day. mark called a few times and I told him what I knew and it was just like chaos. Then like Mark would always do, he said "We are going to go downstairs and see what we can do to help". I had pulled up IM on my computer because we were having a hard time getting phone service at times and we agreed to just check in every 10 minutes if possible.

Then I was talking to my friend Judy on the phone when we learned that the Pentagon had been hit. I just remembered thinking, what am I supposed to do??? We had a beautiful house with a big living room, and i had and office right off the living room. I remember the moment of standing in the doorway between the rooms. I could see my computer and my IM connections, and I could see the TV, and then the first tower collapsed. As te tower collapsed, the IM connections I had with Mark just diappeared. At first it looked to me like the top of the building fell off, because on TV you could not see the bottom due to the smoke and ash. I remember calling the school/church again and being a little irrational and telling Karen about the building falling and that Mark was on the street. I knew that the school was praying for us and everyone in New York or around. My phone rang and rang, people dropped by, A friend came over because her husband was tuck on the West Coast and would eventually end up driving home several days later.

Hours passed. Mark's brother called, he did not even say hi when I answered the phone. All that he said was "Where is Mark?", and I answered, he is where you think. He asked if he was OK, and I had to tell him I did not know. People called and came by and time passed. I had just begun to consider that I needed to call Mark's mother, because I did not know if he was OK. When suddenly he called. He was very brief, said he was OK, there was no power, and that they had been on the street when the tower fell and they ran for their lives. They were trying to figure out if they were going to camp out in the office building or what.

He called again later and said they were going to try to find some food. He tells me they went down to the street and walked to time square and it looked like a grey ghost town. We realized that we did not know how or when they would get home. At about midnight he called and said he was coming home and could not explain and did not know when he would be home.

He got in at about 5am, he had grey dust all over him, he cried for hours, but did not talk. Our church/school asked him to share about the experience and it was one of those times when he just did not share much, he just could not talk. He was so quiet and did not talk much for a few days. He began to share some of the details. To this day, I know that the thing that haunts him the most is the sight of people jumping from the building and the sound and sight of the impact and the thought of the heat that would lead ot jumping. In passing pictures or things about 9/11, if there is a picture of someone jumping or even if you can see the spec from a distance along the side of a building, he tears up and leaves the room and cant talk.

After he was home, I was doing laundry at one point and had washed the shirt, he was wearing that day. It was a black shirt covered in that grey "stuff", and he started yelling at me, completely out of control. He was angry that I had washed the shirt and didn't I realize that someone might need it because it was all that was left of people's burned bodies. For weeks, at random times, he would step intoa room crying and say how grateful he was to be alive and why didn't he die that day.

A week after he was home, he got so sick. He had boils on the skin that would have been exposed that day, his head, his ears, his arms. he had a103 degree temperature, and I am sure it is due to what he was exposed to that day.

The experiences of that day/week are probably part of our history that we do not talk to one another about much. He just can't do it. He did share some of it at devotions at Mercy Ships this week, but he does not get into the real details.

Afterwards for so long, things were weird in our area around Cape Cod. There were armed soldiers at the base of the bridges, they were actually everywhere. mark was back on a plane as soon as airspace opened again. Since then, he calls as he is walking on a plane and as soon as it lands, that was new.

That day changed us all. I am sad for those that lost family and for those that relive the events every day. I am grateful for the men and women who protect our freedom, who live and die for our freedom. We, as Americans, are so blessed because we live most days feeling safe, and that was a day that our safety was rocked. We have been in somany places around the world where safety would be a different experience. It makes me sadwhen people bash this great nation, because I am so happy to be born free, to live free, to live without fear. I am glad for that day, because God started a new work in our family that I believe led us to where we are today. I would not want to relive it, but it makes us who we are today.

Today is a day fr everyone just to focus on remembering and being grateful for our freedom and for all those who live and die for this nation. I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN ON 9/11.

hmmmm

all i have to say today is................life is weird at the moment. life is weird and God has a plan. I may have more to say very soon!!!!

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not ot harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE..............................................

Summer's End 2010

So my heart is constantly focusing on just what God has for me, for us, for the future, for today, for tomorrow. How many ways can God tell me to plan my way, but that he has a purpose.

Proverbs 16:9

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

Psalm 37:23

The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and he delights in his way.

Proverbs 16:1

The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Proverbs 19:21

Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.

Proverbs 20:2

Man's steps are ordained by the Lord, How then can man understand his way?

Jeremiah 10:23

I know, o Lord, that a man's way is not in himself, Nor is it a man who walks to direct his steps.

So summer is about over, even though it is still 100 degrees here in east Texas. I cannot believe that Jessie is starting high school. Where did the years go. She is becoming an amazing woman.

It has been a good summer of fun little events. Because I was working in dallas, we bought season passes at a great discount for Six Flags. And we have gotten good use of them. The girls have been to Six Flags in Dallas several times, and we took a trip to San Antonio. We also have a season pass for SeaWorld. So we hit both in San Antonio and kept it so affordable. We were talking to someone yesterday, and I realized taht I am a really good trip budgeter. I can make food or activities stretch and get great value for our money. I am always looking for a new idea for something fun, yet won't break the bank.

Cailin has had a great opportunity to go to Rockin C Ranch and then to attend drama camp at the school. She has had so much fun. It was so fun to watch her growing and changing. She has a wonderful best friend, Sarah. They have so much fun together.

So fall seems to be a time to see what God is doing next. And here we are in the last week of summer. School starts Sept 23.

tropical medicine

This is where we (Mark and I) spent the morning. We met the most wonderful tropical medicine doctor. He was very personable and seemed to really know his stuff. He agreed that it sounded like Mark has Malaria, but also concerned that we needed to be sure there was not something else. In the end, i would imagine that the total tests he ordered were over $1000. Mark has not been as sick today as he has been over the last week, but that is typical of Malaria. The treatment is a medication that he already knows makes him feel bad. And he is taking 4x the dose for the next 4 days. So he gets premedicated with a medication to try to prevent the nausea and vomiting.

Friday when he came to my office and was feeling so badly, his blood pressure was 190/110. It had been so well managed with exercise, i could not believe it. Today he was feeling better and his pressure was 130/70. It is amazing how being ill taxes the body. He has had up and down symptoms for almost a week now.

Mark took his first round of medications this morning and promptly did not feel well, and slept much of the afternoon. He ate a little tonight, but complains that his belly does not feel well.
The girls were good caretakers for him today.

I had a WONDERFUL busy day at work. I had some of my wonderful past patients. Tomorrow I am headed out to the childrens nursing home where I am on call to see the kids. Cailin is looking forward to going with me.It will be a short day.

Lots going on, but i am not complaining.
I am glad to know that the Lord has a plan in our lives.

MALARIA ITS NOT JUST FOR BREAKFAST ANY MORE: I HATE MOSQUITOS!!!!!!!!!

Since returning from my 2 trips to Haiti and my month long trip to Liberia, I have noticed that every 10-14 days I have been getting sick. The intensity of these illnesses have grown with each occurence.

I have had the Plasmodium falciparum type of malaria twice before. But it would appear I have now been blessed with a new type, Plasmodium vivax. This type is a little different, it is not as fatal but the little fellas like to make a nest in your liver and come out periodically to let you know they are there. This nesting makes them harder to kill requiring a stronger medicine that needs to be taken for 15 days instead of the normal 3 days.

I have a 8am appointment with a tropical medicine doctor tomorrow, Zana will be coming with me to tell the doctors the correct symptoms.

My travel insurance is supposed to cover this, but since it has taken so long to diagnose, they probably won't cover it. So prayers for health, wisdom and finances would be appreciated.

I will keep you updated on the outcome,

Mark -out

A hot august day

We have had a crazy wonderful few weeks. This week we have had some overlaping company. My uncle and his kids came to visit yesterday and we have had a wonderful teen mania girl visiting. It has been such a blessing.

http://http//www.mercyships.org/blog/entry/cleaning-up

The link I posted is an article that Mercy Ships has about the Fistula program onboard the ship. This was my favorite program to work with while I was onboard. My heart was always touched in ways you cannot imagine.

These women come to the ship for thie last chance to be healed/fixed. A vaginal fistula is a disorder created in child birth or from trauma and the result is a hole from the vagina to the bladder or rectum causing them to leak fluids etc, continuously. CONTINUOUSLY. This makes them outcasts in their tribes and with their families. We would bring them onboard and begin the process to ready them for surgery.

I would go down to the ward in the mornings and gradually watch their faces begin to shine and smile. Even with a catheter after their surgery, they were "DRY" for the first time in who knows how long. To me it is the most vivid picture of giving new life. They are transformed. We get to keep them in the hospital for 2 weeks and share their lives and impact their lives forever.

The sounds of the "dress ceremony" is something never to forget. It is a time to praise the Lord and to celebrate the new lives. It is amazing to be apart of this entire process.

I have just recently been reminiscing about some of our experiences with Mercy Ships. Being here at the base puts us in a position that give support services for the outreaches that continue onboard. I miss being in the middle of things, but I know that we are right where God wants us at this very moment.

I don't know what God has for tomorrow, we are at this weird place where some things are hard, like finances:), but some things are easy like knowing that our family is growing and changing constantly. The girls start school soon and they are both growing up to be such awesome young women. i cant believe Jessie is going to High School. In one month (Labor Day), it seems like so much will be different. It is so exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is Saturday night. Mark is working hard. He has been in the home office all day working and I do not know when he will get any sleep. He is working so hard on these reports that he needs to complete for Mercy Ships from his trip to Liberia. I know it is so much information. Our ship was there for a long time. It has been a weird week and weird problems. From the stupid above ground pool that should have been easy, but so was NOT. We have all worked very hard on it. We hit a sewer line in the process. So it is all coming together. The pool is up and refreshing.

Cailin is home from camp. She was in bed by 8pm. She was so tired. Jessie went to a friends house for a bday party. they are such wonderful kids. I am so proud of them. It has been a nice summer. I cant believe it is almost over.

We have so many weird decisions we are trying to make. And they all build on themselves. It is all in trying to keep on a path for what we feel God would have in our lives. I think we are going to have quit a lot of company this week. We will see!!!

And he comes the last week of July 2010........................

Well look at that--Long

Ok, after how many years, My beloved husband has gotten onto the blogging and fundraising bandwagon. We joined Mercy Ships in April 2004, so I guess better late than never. Don't get me wrong, he does many thing great, but keeping in touch, not always so much. I am very proud of him. Early in our time with Mercy Ships, I did most of the correspondence, but as the years go by, I have gotten more and more busy. Now I find myself in a position of being the support to his work with Mercy Ships. Over the years, I have seen Mark grow into an amazing new person, he really is not the man he once was, well in some ways:) He was always wonderful, but he is different. He has grown into a new person.

The whole idea of fundraising as a missionary has been very hard for him. I remember the many years leading up to becoming missionaries, and Mark would say over and over that the Lord would have to drop the funds on our head, because he would never take money from others. In the meantime, we supported and did things for missionaries for years. Then There was this huge change in his spirit and he knew that we were to serve full time and that he could live on support. Early in our missionary life I handeled most of these matters, but by virtue of the way we have worked with Mercy Ships, it was not for me to do, nor did I have the time. So communication has been poor and things have slipped terribly.

We lived on the ship for a few years, then we came back to the base for Mercy Ships and Mark went to graduate school. During that time, we knew that we needed to put down some sort of roots, for the kids and for the future. I got an opportunity to be at the Mercy Ships base and work in a small clinic in Tyler. During that time, the Lord really grew my ministry in the area. I was and am now again in a clinic that is a set fee for service for visits, affordable visits. My heart has been for people who either have no insurance or high deductibles. Some of my specialties have been bio-identical hormones, weight loss, and general care (including lots of missionaries). God showed me a fantastic ministry to my patients.

My goal for the part time income I have brought in to this point has been to fill in the gaps in our support. Those gaps grew, support fell off and commitments increased with his school and the house, and some crazy medical things that came up. It was weird how some things fell apart all at one time. Just a few weeks after we decide to buy a house, Mark injured his shoulder and ended up needing major surgery, our deductible was huge and we took that hit. We did ok financially with his school for a while and then things just began to grow. Then jobs changed for me, and wow just things changed and changed.

Now the Lord has us in a great but scary place. I am for the most part working for myself, paying a doc for all of my support services. Upside, I did not have a large investment to start the practice, downside--I give him a significant percentage. The biggest Upside is that if we can get our feet on the ground, I am in the situation that I could go with Mark the next time he is off to Africa on one of his trips for assessment. I want to be back serving with him on the field so bad.

It has been great to watch what he has been doing on the field. He loves what he does. He loved graduate school and knows that it has made him so good at his job. So here we are in a balancing act that we have been loosing lately financially, but knowing it is going to come back around the right direction because we both know we are doing what God has called us to as a couple and as individuals.

So here is the swift kick in my husband rear end----step up to the plate. We live a life on support and this is yourr story to share. So he is going to stop keeping the story to himself.

So take a look at the archive of past blogs to see some our past adventures.

Saturday...........

I am trying to be so much better about communicating. It seems I can always make an excuse for not getting around to this. Mark and the girls went to a neighbors house to swim. Such a blessing, a pool to use but nothing to maintain. We are going to a cookout to see an old friend this afternoon. Mark has been working for days to finish his newsletter. His experiences are much more exciting than mine at this point, but I have so much going on too. Some days wishing I would just take a breath and do nothing for a while, but I just don't seem to be able to do that.It has been a crazy 2 months. Lots of lessons learned. Realizing just how those things that can feel so bad, can be just what God has to move our lives in a new direction. I was really blessed when I lost my job back in march to get a job within a week. The Lord gave me this opportunity to be at a job that is very low stress and has the hours worked around so that I have had some time to pursue what I really want to do and be. I am also doing a few hours here and there seeing some alzheimer patients. I picked up some of the patients from my previous job because the facility asked me to see them because I had a good system with them. So I am excited to be back there now.

In the meantime, I have been meeting with a doc in town about making arrangements to have my own practice within his group. It is just what I was praying for thoughout this season in my life. My heart is truly for people to have affordable and personal healthcare. So many people here in East Texas either do not have insurance or they have high deductibles ($1000-$5000) So that it is cheaper to pay for a discounted cash visit.

I have found that my passion is for hormone therapy and good primary care. Over the past few years I have grown a practice to help people loose weight. Who would have thought that what I would need to help myself would be to help others. It is my favorite thing that I do with my patients. It really ministers into my own life. I have the opportunity to have my own practice under his roof. It is great and weird to have this doc be so supportive yet, not getting my business and encouraging me to control my own practice. It is certainly what I wanted, but now that I have it I dont know what to do with the control. But I am figuring it out. It is exciting that I have just enough side work to make ends meet while I get up and running. I actually had my first office day of clinic and ended up with no patients, which is weird because I really thought I would have appointments quickly. It was a little last minute when I was able to let people know I would be in clinic again, but I was just a little scared.

Mark is so busy with all of his work from this last trip to Liberia. He is trying to communicate more of this experience, with a little pushing.

So here we go, it is summer, Jessie is going into high school. Cailin is going into 6th grade and going to play the tuba:) I am now Zana Elliott enterprises!!!!! And Mark is dreaming of Africa day and night!!!!!!! hmmmm, dont know what the future holds....but it is a great journey.

Back in business

Hey Friends and Family

You have all been wonderfully supportive as I have worked out the details of my new practice options. Well the details are finally settled. I will again be seeing patients as of Friday, June 4th. I am very excited to be back to seeing patients. My practice will be a straight fee for service and I will not take insurance. I do have a wonderful coder in the office and will have the

receipts with proper codes and an appropriate diagnosis for submitting the bill to insurance for reimbursement or towards deductible. I will be doing many of the things I have done in the past for my patients. I will do primary care medicine, hormone therapy and weight loss. We are still working out the kinks at the office because of the new arrangement. Initially I will be in the office Tuesdays 1pm-8pm and Friday 11am-4pm. My hours will increase as the practice increases.

Office information:

903-526-2323 Phone number

Located at 64E and loope 323, in the shopping center with the Scroll bookstore.

Practice name: Tyler Physical Medicine

Thank you and blessings,

Zana Elliott

February 6th, 2010: Exodus from Haiti

Dawn in Haiti
I do not look pretty!










Our mission to leave Haiti started at 5 am. We headed to airport, turned in our vehicle and got in line to confirm our seats on the MFI flights out that day. We had previously confirmed these seats twice before. However the person responsible for the list had left the day before and took the list with her, so we had to wait all day in hopes of getting back to the US. In the end we stood on the tarmac for 11 hours before we boarded.



















What made this wait even harder was the ammount of military aircraft evacuating other civilians who were working in Haiti. It was an option for us but we would have to abandon our attempt to fly on MFI to get on a waiting list for the military flights. We were then unsure which city we would arrive in. This significant delay totaly ruined any plans to fly out of Orlando that evening and I was able to get a hotel near the airport, so I could catch a flight the next morning.




















The airport was basicly a military base and I was as close as I am ever going to get to experiencing life in Iraq or Afghanistan that our troops live with every day. The security was extremely intense with armed soilders never more than a few yards from you and patroling in ATVs and Hummers.

OK, what I can't express is how hot it was on the tarmac for those 11 hours. This heat was amplified by the jet exaughst and the cement dust blowing off the city. The soldiers looked so hot in their full combat gear doing security patrols. I was so greatful to be in a tank shirt and jeans.

In the end we were able to board a turboprop which took us to the Bahamas to refuel then continued to Fort Pierce where our vehicle was waiting, so we could drive to Orlando where I spent the night waiting for a flight the next morning and Captain Jon went to visit his sick Dad.

I will be back in a month before I head to Liberia, to build some wireless networks for some of the organizations working to provide the emergency medical services these people deperately need.

Mark -Out

February 5th, 2010: Morning Mountain Assessment Trip

Here I am on an early morning drive through the mountains above Port O' Prince. We are checking out the rurals areas where a lot of aid agencies have not been concentrating on.

The Haitians walk over 12 miles through the mountains top bring their goods to market. This trip is both up and down mountains regardless of whether you are going or coming to market. We saw many childeren being used to help haul goods. We were not sure if this was normal or the families were taking advantage of all national schools being closed for 3 months.

At first they were just dots on the mountains.

Then as you got close you could see how hard these people were working to get their goods to market. They do this 3 times a week.

Even the donkeys looked tired. At least the morning was cool, I can't immagine the heat on their return trip.

Be greatful as you get in your car today whether its a beater or an expensive vehicle. God has blessed you with something that these people can not even dream of in their lifetime. The rich people are the ones with the donkeys or horses.

This little boy had his head peirced by rebar when the cieling collapsed on him. He had not had a tetnus shot at this point.

We then went down to hospitals to check on the back log of amputations at the remaining hospitals and to see if we could find any possible free post-op bed space. This critical shortage is impacting the number of surgeries the surviving hospitals and the naval hospital ships can do.

a large number of the surgeries were externally fixated fractures that are vary vulnerable to infection in these dirty environments.

Most post-op patients are outside under tarps.

This is a Mercy Ship alumni working for the German medical NGO, Humedica. She is an anesthesiologist, which is the most critical medical skill right now, people like her are needed throught the country.

We are leaving in 2 days, I am torn. I want to go back to my girls, but the need here is so great!

Mark -Out

February 4th, 2010: The 10th Day in Haiti

There are so many young men and women who have no idea what the future has for them. This young man seemed to like my MRE meal I had just given him.














People roaming the streets outside a tent city looking to find food or a job. there are a lot of people just standing around waiting for someone to help them instead of helping themselves. The few people we have found working in the debris were theives combing through people's houses looking for treasures they can sell to get food or booze.















We found by accident that our official Mercy Ships shirts were made in Haiti, I had no idea! I wonder if this factory still exists after the quake? Your thought always seems to go there with such devistation all around you. You could go mad thinking about all the people killed or impacted by a disaster that lasted 45 seconds. It is hard to immagine what that sort of nightmare that must have been.














This is where I have been sleeping it is very hot at night and lots of mosquitos to keep us company during the long nights. the mosquito net and 100% deet seems to keep them away for a few hours but eventually they seem to find and opening or in your tossing you create an entry for them. At this point your mosquito net and bed combine to make an aviary and you are the "soup de jour" for the persistent little beasties.

February 4th, 2010: 9th Day in Haiti

OK, I am tired, dirty and exaughsted from the emotional drain that a humanitarian crisis dumps on you. You see the beautiful children walking the streets looking for their families or just sitting next to destroyed buildings and you know the story behind the picture, because you have seen it a hundred times over the last week.

And then you see this, a bulletin board at a school where on the day of the earth quake the teacher wrote "God Loves You" You immediately wonder if the students and teachers are OK? Are their families OK? Do they still have homes or will they return to school? I don't know why this happened but I do know the truth of the words on this board, and today at this moment I am a representation of God's love for these people. I must always remember this!

Our days are filled with meetings as we seek to strategize with our partners in country to better facilitate their efforts with Mercy Ships' core skill sets and organizational strengths

We confered with Mission of Hope where some of the field hospitals from Cuba and Canada were performing surgeries.

We delivered water to the medical teams working here, to allow them to dedicate their time to the hundreds of amputations in front of them.

I will be heading home at the end of this week. I can't wait to hug my children and remind them how lucky we all are that we can serve God by helping the children of Haiti.

Mark - Out

February 1st, 2010: 6th Day in Haiti

Hi,

It is Sunday here in Haiti. It was so hot here last night. I'm not sure I got that much sleep between the heat and the mosquitos.

The big fear here is not just malaria but also dengue fever which has no prophylatic treatment to help protect us.

We spent Sunday at the church here on the Mission of Hope compound.
So many came to worship and cry out to God it was so moving. People were stacked up outside the church so they could watch from the windows.

Today I saw what real faith is. Faith is the belief in a loving God when there is no visable proof of Him. These people lost their homes, their parents and childeren their savings and their jobs in 45 seconds. Yet here they are crying out God asking for forgiveness and mercy. My worship and faith seems so small in comparison.

I can only pray that our faith is never tested to the extent that these people are.

Mark -Out

January 30th, 2010: 4th Day in Haiti

Hi,

For the last 4 days we have traveled all over Port of Prince. The city is built on the mountain side with the rich living higher up the mountain, having a better view of the port and less of a chance to run into the common man or street gangs.

This earthquake destroyed mostly multi-story buildings. What we have seen are buildings that look mostly normal till you realize that the first floor is really the second or third floor with the lower floors having been totally destroyed. The hospitals desperately need post-op and recovery wards.

Even the US Naval Hospital ship has run out of ward space and is air flighting patients off the ship to any available beds ashore. Presently there is the hospital ship US Comfort, aircraft carrier CVN Carl Vinson, LPD Guston Hall in the harbors.

I know this won't surprise most of you but the UN is less than useless here. They hold lots of meetings but they haven't made any efforts to actually coordinate the efforts of the 600+ NGOs working here.

Our team have been distributing medicine to other hospitals from the Promess warehouse near the UN base. The base has hundreds of SUV's just parked at the base and not being used to distribute supplies.

The sky is filled with military aircraft such as C-130s, C-17's, Cods, Black Hawks, Sea Kings, Sea Stallions and the new Ospreys bringing patients and emergency supplies being rushed from the ships and the US.

If it wasn't such a horrible disaster I would enjoy being here. There are several of my Coast Guard classmates attempting to lead the efforts to open the harbor to allow the large supply vessels they desperately need.

But with the level of destruction and death here its difficult to stop and take any moment of self pleasure. I am just greatful to have a chance to help here.

Mark -Out

January 28th, 2010: After 2 Days in Haiti

Hi,

I have been busy traveling through the devistated city finding the damaged and destroyed hospitals to see which are still capable of operating and receiving our medical teams.

The smell of death is still in the air as thousands of victims still lay entombed in the rubble that once was schools, stores , homes, and offices. This picture is of the collapsed nursing school, a 3 story building that still holds the remains of 250 students and teachers.

From my time in the Coast Guard I am used to the smell of death, but never in such numbers. It looks like the final total will be over 300,000 dead and many more are in jeoardy from secondary infection from crushed or amputated appendages. Many are dying from tetanus as they were pierced by the rebar in the cement construction and have never been immunized for it.

Most hospitals only have one building still functional, what ever it once was cafeteria, storage or laundry is now an operating room. With the open courtyards acting as the pre-op and post-op with only a tarp to protect their open woulds from the elements.

Most hospitals have patients and staff still burried in the rubble, so the post-op courtyards have the smell of death permeating them. It is truely a scene from hell, something I only thought I would see in some post-apocalyptic movie.

Please pray for these people and those caring for them.