Every Thursday night our missionary community comes together for a time of worship and prayer. I love these nights because I get to hear stories of God at work in the hospital that I might not have been part of that week. One such story really stuck out to me that I want to share with you.
Coke - now I'm not talking about cocaine but the other type of Coke that is actually just as deadly. There is nothing quite like it. Popping the metal top of a cold glass bottle on a hot day. Hearing the loud fizz and that cold first gulp. And then it fizzes back up your nose. Ahh. Heavenly. Hondurans drink so much coke that two liter bottles are just not big enough so that fizzy sugar goodness comes in three liter bottles. Brilliant! Bring it on.
Coke - now I'm not talking about cocaine but the other type of Coke that is actually just as deadly. There is nothing quite like it. Popping the metal top of a cold glass bottle on a hot day. Hearing the loud fizz and that cold first gulp. And then it fizzes back up your nose. Ahh. Heavenly. Hondurans drink so much coke that two liter bottles are just not big enough so that fizzy sugar goodness comes in three liter bottles. Brilliant! Bring it on.
But then there is the saying that there is too much of a good thing. Hondurans love their coke so much that they bring they bring their 3 liter bottle to work in the blazing sun in the fields all day instead of water (to all you coke lovers out there: water is a much better choice.)
Now, think about this. The American Heart Association recommends the sugar daily sugar intake for the average man is 37.5 grams and for the average woman 25 grams. There are 108.2 grams of sugar in just one liter of coke. What is your body's response to that sudden increase in sugar? Tell the pancreas to make more insulin. The insulin takes the sugar out of the blood stream which helps to maintain your blood sugar at a normal level. After years of having to make a lot of extra insulin from too much sugar one's diet, the pancreas can no longer produce sufficient insulin. It is just too worn out. The lack of insulin causes one's blood sugar level to sky rocket causing ... drum roll please ... you guessed it ... DIABETES!
Adjusting the diet to be low in sugar and carbohydrates can help immensely to lower blood sugar levels and a lot of time supplemental insulin injections must be taken multiple times a day. Without treatment, the years of high blood sugar levels can cause severe damage to one's body and results in blindness, kidney failure, poor wound healing, susceptibility to infections, nerve damage, and poor circulation (just to name a few).
It seems that every day there are four or five new patients that come to our hospital gate requesting treatment for their diabetes. A lot of them arrive to late. The damage has already been done. Such was the case of Don Fernando. Don Fernando was brought to our hospital gate by his family members for the curious phenomenon that his foot had turned completely black and smelled terrible. Gangrene. Without immediate amputation of his leg up to the knee, the infection would quickly spread to his blood stream and cost Don Fernando his life.
Too much sugar 🠖pancreas wears out 🠖blood sugar goes up 🠖 poor circulation in foot 🠖 nerve damage 🠖 cuts foot but doesn't feel it 🠖 gets infection in cut 🠖 gangrene 🠖 amputation
Being an amputee in Honduras is a very unfortunate thing because there is a very slim chance of ever getting a prosthetic leg which essentially renders one wheelchair bound or using crutches for the rest of their life. Which is why one of our current hospital expansion projects includes the building of a prosthetics lab.
This is where we will leave this blog to be continued next month. Meanwhile, take care of your pancreas.
Praise:
My new niece, Selah, is here and healthy!
It has rained two afternoons in a row bringing the temperature down to fridged 81 degrees last night
Prayer requests:
1) For me to listen to God's direction and to have discernment in some decisions
2) we are in desperate need of more good and trustworthy Honduran nurses to work at the hospital
3) For peace in Honduras. The country has been rioting for almost a month now - blocking roads, closing most schools hospitals and government offices, setting the US embassy on fire, murdering people, etc. The hospital is not directly in the danger zone because of how rural it is but we still feel the effects of the riots.
4) Financial provision is always a prayer request. I would not be here if it were not for all of you! If you feel led to support me financially, you can do so by clicking here.
Now, think about this. The American Heart Association recommends the sugar daily sugar intake for the average man is 37.5 grams and for the average woman 25 grams. There are 108.2 grams of sugar in just one liter of coke. What is your body's response to that sudden increase in sugar? Tell the pancreas to make more insulin. The insulin takes the sugar out of the blood stream which helps to maintain your blood sugar at a normal level. After years of having to make a lot of extra insulin from too much sugar one's diet, the pancreas can no longer produce sufficient insulin. It is just too worn out. The lack of insulin causes one's blood sugar level to sky rocket causing ... drum roll please ... you guessed it ... DIABETES!Adjusting the diet to be low in sugar and carbohydrates can help immensely to lower blood sugar levels and a lot of time supplemental insulin injections must be taken multiple times a day. Without treatment, the years of high blood sugar levels can cause severe damage to one's body and results in blindness, kidney failure, poor wound healing, susceptibility to infections, nerve damage, and poor circulation (just to name a few).
It seems that every day there are four or five new patients that come to our hospital gate requesting treatment for their diabetes. A lot of them arrive to late. The damage has already been done. Such was the case of Don Fernando. Don Fernando was brought to our hospital gate by his family members for the curious phenomenon that his foot had turned completely black and smelled terrible. Gangrene. Without immediate amputation of his leg up to the knee, the infection would quickly spread to his blood stream and cost Don Fernando his life.
Too much sugar 🠖pancreas wears out 🠖blood sugar goes up 🠖 poor circulation in foot 🠖 nerve damage 🠖 cuts foot but doesn't feel it 🠖 gets infection in cut 🠖 gangrene 🠖 amputation
Being an amputee in Honduras is a very unfortunate thing because there is a very slim chance of ever getting a prosthetic leg which essentially renders one wheelchair bound or using crutches for the rest of their life. Which is why one of our current hospital expansion projects includes the building of a prosthetics lab.
This is where we will leave this blog to be continued next month. Meanwhile, take care of your pancreas.
Praise:
My new niece, Selah, is here and healthy!
It has rained two afternoons in a row bringing the temperature down to fridged 81 degrees last night
Prayer requests:
1) For me to listen to God's direction and to have discernment in some decisions
2) we are in desperate need of more good and trustworthy Honduran nurses to work at the hospital
3) For peace in Honduras. The country has been rioting for almost a month now - blocking roads, closing most schools hospitals and government offices, setting the US embassy on fire, murdering people, etc. The hospital is not directly in the danger zone because of how rural it is but we still feel the effects of the riots.
4) Financial provision is always a prayer request. I would not be here if it were not for all of you! If you feel led to support me financially, you can do so by clicking here.
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