Meet Ms. Lucy

Meet Lucy!

About 3 months ago I was assigned to scrubs duty, meaning after work I take the dental scrubs down to the hospital laundry room for them to be laundered, and then before I go to bed I go down pick them up and place them in the dental clinic for people to come and get clean scrubs for work the next day. My first day on the job I was introduced to Lucy a ships day worker; she is the wonderful lady amongst others who launder our scrubs.

She said oh you are the new scrubs girl. I was wondering if it would be possible for me to get an appointment. You see I have this tooth that hurts me and is almost gone and my kids often ask me ma why don’t you have a tooth. My helper flags immediately went up in my mind and I thought not only can I get you an appointment to get your tooth out I can help get you a new tooth. The next thing you know…… she was in the clinic getting the tooth out.

Mercy Ships pays a portion of the fees for patients to get replacement teeth if it is a front tooth, and that is just what we did for Lucy. After the tooth is extracted the patient is given a card that has a date on it. It is normally about 3-4 weeks after the extraction. On that date the patient takes the card to JFK Hospital and they get fitted for a replacement tooth. So for weeks we were anticipating Lucy’s replacement date.

Last Friday night when I went down to visit with Lucy she had a surprise for me. A new front tooth! She was so happy, she had received her replacement tooth and there was no longer a gap in her smile. She said her kids and husband LOVED it. “I can now smile big, all the time” were her exact words. She thanked me over and over again for all my help and I then thanked her for all her hard work she does on the ship. To show her gratitude she invited me to her house and her church on Sunday….so on Sunday at 9am she will come in a taxi to pick me up and I will be spending the day with my friend and her family. I can’t wait.

BEFORE


AFTER