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The young Vietnamese woman lay on the treatment table in our small clinic in DaNang. I studied her bleeding foot, surgical needle in hand, my heart pounding.
Just a few weeks earlier, I’d never even held such a needle.
Now I was going to be responsible for stitching up her wound.
A Needed Skill
Doc knew I might be sent to a remote firebase where medics were an important lifeline for wounded soldiers. Most of the wounds in Vietnam were from shrapnel or bullets and often required rapid field treatment.
One of those treatments was knowing how to stitch up a wound.
The regular medics had learned to suture in their training at Fort Sam Houston back in the states, but I didn’t have that training. Remember, I was in artillery, and what I learned was how to do the math in order to direct artillery shells to specific coordinates on a map.
But in my new position, that wasn’t a very useful skill. I needed to learn how to suture.
So, Doc took me under his wing.
Doc Teaches
Doc taught me to recognize when a wound needed to be sutured and when it didn’t.
He taught me how to use the tools available in the suture kit, emphasizing the importance of sterilized instruments.
He taught me how to clean a wound properly and how to inject lidocaine around the wound edges to minimize the patient’s pain.
And then he taught me how to do the actual suturing from selecting the needle and using it properly, to tying the knots to secure the suture without cutting the tissue.
When Doc thought I was ready, he wanted me to try the procedure on a real live human being.
My First Patient
For some reason the Army didn’t allow practicing on soldiers, but civilians were fair game.
Vietnamese locals would sometimes come to the base seeking medical help and we were always glad to help them.
That’s how Doc found my first patient — a young woman with a deep cut on her foot. It definitely needed to be sewn up.
Through a translator, I explained the procedure to the woman, and while she was a bit nervous, she also appeared to be very trusting of me.
Talk about pressure.
Doc watched as I worked on the patient.
Everything went well and she had a smile as I finished bandaging her foot and helping her off the table.
I have to admit it was fun to do something that I knew would help that woman heal.
Not Everything Worked Out Well
A few days later, a farmer came to the base needing medical help. He had a large gash on his foot, almost six inches in length.
I cleaned and stitched it, then bandaged him.
I actually admired my work. I thought I had done a beautiful job.
I explained through the translator that he must stay off his foot for a couple of weeks to give the wound time to heal.
But a couple of days later the farmer was back in our clinic and his foot was a bloody mess.
The translator explained that the farmer couldn’t stay off his foot. He needed to work in the field to feed his family, so he worked in the field.
Of course doing so led him to rip apart the sutures, causing the wound to bleed profusely, and probably become infected.
It took a long time to clean the wound and repair the suturing. Considering what he had done to rip it open, I thought the repair job was pretty good.
I stressed to the interpreter how important it was that the farmer allow the wound to heal. The patient seemed to indicate that he would try to do that.
I couldn’t get mad at the patient. He was a farmer. He needed to be working in the field to feed his family. I just hoped someone would be able to help him until he recovered.
I never saw the farmer again, so I never found out if things worked out well for him, but his struggle to live while trying to heal stayed with me.
LESSONS
There were a couple of lessons from this time period that I found valuable.
1. Work hard to master new skills. Doc’s training taught me to master suturing, stitch by stitch, because lives depended on it.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”
Colossians 3:23 (ESV)
2. Even though you can’t make people do what they should do, provide compassionate care to help them. I couldn’t force the farmer to rest, but I could re-stitch his wound with care, encourage him to do the right thing, and pray for his healing.
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:23 (ESV)
A BLESSING FOR YOU
Before I go, I’d like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.
“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)
Until next time … be the reason someone smiles today
