Job joyously celebrated his 15th birthday on Saturday the April 14th. He chose a local restaurant for his day and invited his closest friends and family to his special meal. Job is the second oldest in his family by a mere 7 days. 15 is a much-anticipated milestone for the Trainer family at Chosen and Cherished Ministries because on their 15th birthday they are allowed to have cell phone privileges. Job excitedly opened his first Instagram account and friended me 20 minutes before I got the text from Joyce.
“He collapsed again. They have him on oxygen and are putting in an IV.”
This was the third time in 10 days that Job had collapsed with mere moments of warning and no consistent explanation. This time was different though. This time he was in a monitored medical facility, one of the best in Haiti, and none of the assumed previous “triggers” were present. The doctors needed to keep him overnight and indefinitely until they could find some answers.
10 days prior Job had his first episode. He had experienced a sudden collapse and loss of awareness for the first time in his life. Joyce rushed him to medical attention a few miles away. He was slow to regain strength and needed IV fluids and close monitoring for several days. There was concern that he might be diabetic but more tests needed to be run, which he wasn’t able to be booked in for until several more days. Joyce, who with her 10 kids had just celebrated their 1 year anniversary as a family, monitored him throughout the day and night, reconstructing his diet and watching his glucose levels which remained steady.
Job was feeling good, so Sunday the family headed down to church in Port-Au-Prince. Shortly after the service ended Job again without warning collapsed and lost awareness. Joyce was able to get him to emergency care where they gave him physical, monitored him for several hours and sent him home for the night to return in the morning for a series of tests.
All seemed again normal when Joyce took him down the next morning, but 2 ½ hours into the appointment Job collapsed. At this point the GP became quite alarmed. All preconceived ideas about what his condition might be evaporated and he was again admitted to the hospital. They ran an EKG, did several blood panels and a urine test. They monitored his heart rate, blood pressure, glucose, and oxygen levels. Everything came back clear. He was discharged, referred to an endocrinologist and scheduled for a CT scan tomorrow.
This was the third time in 10 days that Job had collapsed with mere moments of warning and no consistent explanation. This time was different though. This time he was in a monitored medical facility, one of the best in Haiti, and none of the assumed previous “triggers” were present. The doctors needed to keep him overnight and indefinitely until they could find some answers.
10 days prior Job had his first episode. He had experienced a sudden collapse and loss of awareness for the first time in his life. Joyce rushed him to medical attention a few miles away. He was slow to regain strength and needed IV fluids and close monitoring for several days. There was concern that he might be diabetic but more tests needed to be run, which he wasn’t able to be booked in for until several more days. Joyce, who with her 10 kids had just celebrated their 1 year anniversary as a family, monitored him throughout the day and night, reconstructing his diet and watching his glucose levels which remained steady.
Job was feeling good, so Sunday the family headed down to church in Port-Au-Prince. Shortly after the service ended Job again without warning collapsed and lost awareness. Joyce was able to get him to emergency care where they gave him physical, monitored him for several hours and sent him home for the night to return in the morning for a series of tests.
All seemed again normal when Joyce took him down the next morning, but 2 ½ hours into the appointment Job collapsed. At this point the GP became quite alarmed. All preconceived ideas about what his condition might be evaporated and he was again admitted to the hospital. They ran an EKG, did several blood panels and a urine test. They monitored his heart rate, blood pressure, glucose, and oxygen levels. Everything came back clear. He was discharged, referred to an endocrinologist and scheduled for a CT scan tomorrow.
If you would like to help Joyce carry some of the burden in a tangible way you can do so by giving a financial gift for Job’s medical care. This would relieve some of her concern about the bills and allow her to focus her energy on meeting the needs of those who rely on her the most.
