June 19, 2013
This month’s theme is: “Faces of Nyankunde.” We would like to introduce you to some of the
dear people we work with everyday and some of the faces of our patients.
Pediatrics
I am so thankful that we are moving forward with our
malnutrition program here at Nyankunde.
We have found a lovely cook, Mama Ruth, to prepare porridge and milk for
the children in the program on
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| Mama Ruth making porridge |
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| Mama Ruth and I |
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| Baby Ruth and her mother |
One of my patients, Baby Ruth, has survived neonatal
tetanus! So thankful! I have been told that it is rare to see
neonatal tetanus here and even more unusual to survive. The mother was not fully vaccinated during
her pregnancy and we think the infant acquired the infection as a fetus. Every day this baby fed by ng-tube, as her
muscle tone did not allow her to feed by
mouth.
This mother hovered over her in a dark room and fed her faithfully with
the nasogastric tube for days. She is an
amazing mom! Some people lose hope in
these situations, but each day we shared in her trials and prayed for
healing. Each day she looked a little
better until she was finally breastfeeding on her own. The baby acquired her name from the staff, as
the mother delayed the naming process (likely due to the uncertainty of her
survival). The mother adopted our
name-Ruth. I am waiting for her to come
for a follow-up.
I am also thankful to see the recovery of young Solange, a
4year-old who was in a coma for a week with cerebral meningitis. Every day I struggled to find hope. I just kept praying and telling the mother to
keep up her nutrition, hang on, and leave the rest to God. Well after more than a week, she started to
open her eyes and show interest in eating (always a good sign!). We were overjoyed! She spent over a week in the intensive care
unit and about 2 weeks in the hospital.
Here she is on the day of discharge wearing a crown!
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| Solange |
I spend most of my time in the ICU, emergency department,
and with the more complicated hospitalized patients and malnutrition
program. There is always at least one
“mystery patient,” such as the little girl pictured drinking frantically while
sitting on the toilet. She was
septicemic for days although I couldn’t pinpoint an infectious source, and then
came the desquamating rash. The work is
enough to keep me busy and enough to get calls many nights.
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| A rare moment |
Earthquakes
We felt our first earthquake here the other night. It was about 8:30pm and we were drinking tea
and talking when we heard what sounded like a loud truck approaching and then
the ground started trembling. We looked
at each other for a consensus that indeed it was an earthquake. Indeed, this is an ancient volcanic area, the
whole Great Lakes region in fact.
Working Together
Warren and I collaborate on a lot of cases during the
day. He is always a steady hand and
willing to help with an echocardiogram or a difficult IV start. We share in the joys and sorrows
together. I think it helps being married
to someone in medicine in that the other person simply understands if you had a
difficult day. We work together in the
kitchen a fair amount. It is fun to see
each other during the day and to drop in to watch surgeries.
Gardening
Lots of people have been interested in our garden, so we
must include an update. We continue to
clear and plant new fields. Our newest
additions are coffee and passionfruit, bell peppers, and beans. The vegetable (or rather fruit) of the week
is eggplant (pictured). There is nothing
quite as motivating as
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| Did you know that eggplant is really a fruit? |
Thank you for your interest in our lives and to those of you
who support our work here!
Lindsey
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| Last day of nursing school |
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