History:
Beth spent the night with me on Sunday. Monday morning, this usually active girl would not even get out of bed. She said her legs, head, and stomach hurt. I left her in my house while I ran to work. I checked on her several times throughout the day, but she never rose from the bed.
She was in so much stomach pain Monday night after I returned from Bible study that I chose to take her to the emergency room at Kijabe Hospital. Thank God I live near the hospital. I left my house at 10:30pm. I did not know how long it would take so I brought along my bag from Bible Study (Study Bible, Water bottle, Phone, I-pod, etc).
The emergency room at Kijabe Hospital is very small. A 6-foot long bench is all there is to sit on in the department. When we got there there was just enough room for Beth to sit but not me. Everything seemed disorganized, but maybe that was just me.We were back at my house by 1am. The doctor (or clinician) gave her a shot for pain and sent us home with an anti-acid. They couldn't do any other tests at time, so they told us if the pain doesn't get better or if it gets worse to come back to the Outpatient clinic (OPD) in the morning.
We woke up at 5 am Tuesday so I could help her prepare for school. She seemed a little better Tuesday Morning when she left for school, but with in 2 hours she had come back to me with more pain. Since her brother was at school and her father was unavailable, I took her to the clinic myself. That was 8:30 am. The OPD was already full and we waited 1 hr before Beth's vitals were taken and another 2 hours before she was called back. Another hour later, she was finally seen by the doctor and he ordered some tests. The tests were the easy part. I took about an hour to get the blood draw and ultra-sound done. Then, more waiting. 2 hours later, Beth was called back to see the doctor again. I had stepped out for some food and when I got back she was already through seeing the doctor. Next, came discharge. You would think that this would go more quickly, but no. We waited another hour before we were called to pay. Then, we waited another hour for the pharmacy to fill the prescriptions ordered by the doctor! We finally got out of the hospital at around 4:30 or 5 pm. LONG DAY! Especially on 3-4 hours of sleep.
Today, Beth is doing much better!
My Tuesday plans had not included accompanying a 16-year old young lady the hospital all-day. I know God is in control. It would have been much harder on Beth if this acute attack of Gastritis had happened in her home, a long walking distance from the hospital. Plus, God knew that I could understand her fear and anxiety when it came to going to the hospital and being poked with multiple needles (2 shots and a blood draw). Beth's Mother died many years ago and she has been the only female in the house for the last 7 years (since her sister got married).
Please pray for her!
Thank you!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
George Ng'ang'a
Today, I wanted to do something a little different. On Friday, I mentioned a boy named George who had his leg amputated due to a cancerous tumor. In 3 months, he will be ready to be fit with a prosthetic leg. The only problem is his family does not have the money to buy the $350 leg with the LIMBS knee. I am not even sure how they are paying for the chemo treatment George needs to ensure that the cancer is gone. If you know of anyone who could donate towards this leg, please let me know! Every little bit counts!
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| Leg before operation |
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| George after operation |
Friday, June 1, 2012
Rollercoasting through life
Life this last week has been a roller coaster ride. I have had 1 rough day, but then yesterday was a great day.
Tuesday was rough. Due to finances, last month, CURE had to let go the Orthopedic Technologist who normally works with the LIMBS Prosthesis. Monday, we had a man come in to the Orthopedic workshop to be fitted with a LIMBS Prosthesis. Although we still have 3 full-time technologists working in the department, the only one trained in fitting this particular prosthesis is the manager of the department, Alex. Since Alex is the manager, he also has a million other things to do. I succeeded in convincing the patient to spend the night in Kijabe so he could receive some gait training on Tuesday. Well, on Tuesday, someone came from the Kenyan Medical Training College to assess the student interns that have been working in the Ortho dept for the last four months. This meant that the only prosthetic specialist (other than Alex) had to meet with the assessor and the students for the assessment. Also, another technologist left for a 2-day mobile clinic on Monday. This left Alex to do the gait training. However, Alex got food poisoning and had to take a sick day. It was early afternoon before I could find anyone to help the patient, Samson, with his gait (how to walk on the prosthetic limb). Grrr! I was quite frustrated! My first success in convincing a patient of the importance of gait training and then it was tainted by the unavailability of the staff to do the training.
Things got better as the week continued. Thursday (Yesterday) I got to observe 2 surgeries in the Operating Room/ Theatre. Both were amputations. The first was what is called bilateral knee disarticulation. This is where both legs are amputated through the knee joint. Esther is a 9-year old girl who was born without the main bone in her lower leg and her legs turned in/upward instead of down straight. Her lower legs were completely useless. The amputation of both of her legs at the knee will give her a chance to be fitted with sturdy prosthetic legs so she can walk (and maybe one day get a LIMBS knee in one of them). So while any amputation is sad, these amputations will give her a much better life. The second surgery was an above-knee amputation on 12-year old George. George had an aggressive malignant tumor (Osteogenic sarcoma, I think) near the top of his tibia. His amputation saved his life. In the next several weeks he will go through chemo-therapy to ensure that the cancer has not spread to other parts of his body. In around three months, he should be fitted with a LIMBS prosthesis and be able to resume school.I really enjoyed watching these life altering surgeries, knowing that Esther and George will be able to live much better lives after this.
My computer is still broken, but the IT guy at CURE has kindly set me up on a computer in the spiritual department. I can use this computer whenever the person it is assigned to does not need to use it. This is a huge blessing because so much of my work relies on the computer and the internet.
My parents are coming in 13 days! I am so excited to see them and introduce them to my life and friends in Kijabe! I am still working out the details and I pray that things will go smoothly.
My home Church in NC is sending a team out to Kenya the 21st of June. I have been invited to join the team and I look forward to working with them.
I received word from one of my best friends that she has accepted a librarian job in Rwanda. It will cost less for me to visit her than it did for me to visit my family in NC when I was serving in TX. I am excited for her and that she has finally been able to find a job in her field! Congratulations Katharina!
Rachel, my sister, graduated from high school last weekend. I was disappointed that I could not be there but I know God has called me to serve him here! Congratulations Rachel!
As I mentioned before, I am trying to raise support to stay another year. By the grace of God, I have reached 70% of my goal of $1,000 a month. Only $300 a month to go! If you would like to contribute or know someone who would, please let me know! God Provides!
God Bless!
Tuesday was rough. Due to finances, last month, CURE had to let go the Orthopedic Technologist who normally works with the LIMBS Prosthesis. Monday, we had a man come in to the Orthopedic workshop to be fitted with a LIMBS Prosthesis. Although we still have 3 full-time technologists working in the department, the only one trained in fitting this particular prosthesis is the manager of the department, Alex. Since Alex is the manager, he also has a million other things to do. I succeeded in convincing the patient to spend the night in Kijabe so he could receive some gait training on Tuesday. Well, on Tuesday, someone came from the Kenyan Medical Training College to assess the student interns that have been working in the Ortho dept for the last four months. This meant that the only prosthetic specialist (other than Alex) had to meet with the assessor and the students for the assessment. Also, another technologist left for a 2-day mobile clinic on Monday. This left Alex to do the gait training. However, Alex got food poisoning and had to take a sick day. It was early afternoon before I could find anyone to help the patient, Samson, with his gait (how to walk on the prosthetic limb). Grrr! I was quite frustrated! My first success in convincing a patient of the importance of gait training and then it was tainted by the unavailability of the staff to do the training.
Things got better as the week continued. Thursday (Yesterday) I got to observe 2 surgeries in the Operating Room/ Theatre. Both were amputations. The first was what is called bilateral knee disarticulation. This is where both legs are amputated through the knee joint. Esther is a 9-year old girl who was born without the main bone in her lower leg and her legs turned in/upward instead of down straight. Her lower legs were completely useless. The amputation of both of her legs at the knee will give her a chance to be fitted with sturdy prosthetic legs so she can walk (and maybe one day get a LIMBS knee in one of them). So while any amputation is sad, these amputations will give her a much better life. The second surgery was an above-knee amputation on 12-year old George. George had an aggressive malignant tumor (Osteogenic sarcoma, I think) near the top of his tibia. His amputation saved his life. In the next several weeks he will go through chemo-therapy to ensure that the cancer has not spread to other parts of his body. In around three months, he should be fitted with a LIMBS prosthesis and be able to resume school.I really enjoyed watching these life altering surgeries, knowing that Esther and George will be able to live much better lives after this.
My computer is still broken, but the IT guy at CURE has kindly set me up on a computer in the spiritual department. I can use this computer whenever the person it is assigned to does not need to use it. This is a huge blessing because so much of my work relies on the computer and the internet.
My parents are coming in 13 days! I am so excited to see them and introduce them to my life and friends in Kijabe! I am still working out the details and I pray that things will go smoothly.
My home Church in NC is sending a team out to Kenya the 21st of June. I have been invited to join the team and I look forward to working with them.
I received word from one of my best friends that she has accepted a librarian job in Rwanda. It will cost less for me to visit her than it did for me to visit my family in NC when I was serving in TX. I am excited for her and that she has finally been able to find a job in her field! Congratulations Katharina!
Rachel, my sister, graduated from high school last weekend. I was disappointed that I could not be there but I know God has called me to serve him here! Congratulations Rachel!
As I mentioned before, I am trying to raise support to stay another year. By the grace of God, I have reached 70% of my goal of $1,000 a month. Only $300 a month to go! If you would like to contribute or know someone who would, please let me know! God Provides!
God Bless!
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