| Dr. Dave Manary to La Esperanza December 2009 |
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Report by Dr. David Manary
You have heard it before but I will say it anyway: the rewards received from God far exceed our efforts spent on His behalf. Our recent three-day mission to La Esperanza further convinced me of the truth of His promise. Carroll and I began the trip, as usual, with a prayer asking for God's blessing and protection, and that the patients He wanted us to see would find a way to the clinic. He answered every part of our prayer just as we had hoped. We sensed that we were in God's care from the moment we left North Platte, Nebraska, until we safely returned. God demonstrated His grace and power, over and over, as we surrendered ourselves into His care and service. The staff at the Lemon Grove office was so welcoming and accommodating. I especially appreciated the prayers and consideration they gave us before we left for Mexico. And the tone set there was continued without fail as we journeyed to La Esperanza, completed our work and returned. Michelle is a wonderful driver and conversationalist. The drive to and from La Esperanza couldn't have been better. And while we were at La Esperanza, our every need was met with the utmost consideration. The food was amazing. It seemed I had a much bigger appetite than usual, but I'm sure that was because of the excellent cooking.
The extraordinary hospitality of Stevito and the staff at La Esperanza made it possible for Carroll and I to focus our efforts on doing the work that God called us there to do. What an amazing and fulfilling experience! I earnestly pray that the Lord allow, us to continue in His service in the way He made possible at La Esperanza. I have every confidence that He will. This was my seventh trip with Mexican Medical Ministries: two to San Vincente, one to Palenque and four to La Esperanza. Every trip has been a wonderful blessing to me. And I know that Carroll feels the same way about the several trips he has made with Mexican Medical.
We saw patients for only three days but we made the best of those days. Thank God, He sent a trained and experienced dental assistant named Charlyn to help. She worked unbelievably hard to help me make the most of my time. And when Charlyn couldn't be there, Theresa was a more than capable assistant. Theresa is exceptionally skilled at translating, especially for the little children. God has gifted Theresa with the ability to calm and reassure the frightened little ones. As mentioned, I had prayed that God would bring the patients to me that He wanted me to treat, which I know He did. He not only sent me the patients needing care, but He demonstrated His amazing power, over and over, by helping me with each one.
I was especially touched by the needs of one man. He came in with pain, so severe that he was complaining of dizziness and nausea. He had a horizontally impacted lower third molar (sideways wisdom tooth below the gum). It was infected and severely decayed. It was so severely decayed that most of the crown of the tooth was gone, leaving only a shell of razor-sharp enamel. The sharp enamel caused him to bite his cheek repeatedly for months or years leading to a large benign growth called a fibroma. It was one of the largest fibromas I've seen in 39 years of practice. I thought He should have a general anesthetic to have the tooth removed, but we didn’t have the capability of putting him to sleep at the clinic there. He was a migrant worker living at the camp and there was little hope he could afford to go have it done elsewhere. I prayed for guidance and the next thing I knew, I was offering to remove the tooth with local anesthetics. I was successful at getting complete numbness. I was able to remove the crown of the tooth, which would normally allow the roots to come forward, and out. But, visibility was greatly hampered by unusual bleeding caused by the infection and removal of the fibroma. With excellent cooperation from the patient, I was able to remove an unusually large root. It was so large that I thought I had removed the complete root. I immediately placed sutures to stop the bleeding. At this point the patient was completely exhausted and I was pretty tired, as well (it was 8:30 pm). I took an x-ray just to confirm that I had gotten the entire root. I was very disappointed when I realized that the tooth had two large roots and I had missed the entire inferior (lower) root. I looked at the patient struggling with nausea and said the prayer, "Oh God, what should I do"? Then I told the patient to return first thing in the morning. I sent the patient home with antibiotics and pain medication. Well, that night was a pretty miserable night, not only for the patient, but also for me. I was so disappointed that I had let the patient down and that I knew he must have been suffering. I thought the patient would never return to endure more difficult oral surgery, especially after what he had already experienced. And, if he did return, how could I get him numb with all the inflammation and infection, now probably aggravated? I prayed that God come to the man's rescue and fix what I could not. All I could see were problems with no solution.
I was quite surprised to see the man in the clinic first thing the next morning, as I had directed. I was not surprised that he was still in severe pain. The pain medicine had allowed him some sleep but he awoke to severe pain, again. I explained to him that I had been mistaken when I thought I had gotten all of the roots and that there was still an infected root in his jaw. I told him that I thought I could get it all if he was willing to allow me to try. He immediately agreed. Again, the anesthetic was surprisingly effectively, but this time the bleeding was much less of a problem. After a few minutes of effort and prayer, God showed me where the problem root was located and I was able to lift it out. Praise God. I had the patient rest in one of the hospital beds and I looked in on him from time to time. He slept restfully most of the day. About 4 pm I looked in on him and he was just waking, but I went away hoping he would go back to sleep. A few minutes later, Stevito told me that my patient in the hospital bed woke up feeling well and went home. I realized that God had heard my every prayer and that what I thought was impossible was possible through Him.
If you have any type of medical training or if you are a layperson and would like to have the most rewarding experiences possible, applying your skills and gifts, I recommend a trip with Mexican Medical Ministries. It will be one of the best experiences of your life.
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