Joy in the struggle....

I've been back in Mango since mid-December.  The days are windy and very dry but the nights are cool. The hospital is busy and the days are long here. So often I feel like I'm fighting death at every turn. Two very recent cases and unfortunately a recurring theme, whether it's an adult that came in with a creatinine of 36 (for all of my non-medical friends, normal is less than 1) that was caused by herbs she took after a traditional healer gave it to her or a child that has such severe malaria that it attacks his brain and he is comatose. The days are challenging to say the least.

So often the day to day is so exhausting and wearing that it hard to "see" the wins.

Meet a win, well, at least a win in progress.....

This little boy has been in and out of our hospital since he was born but has not left since before Christmas......when he came in around Christmas he was about 9 months old and weighed 2.75kg (6 pounds)! He was so malnourished that he has not left since then. We decided to start feeding him completely by NG tube at that time. Mom has started coming and going and when she leaves me and a few others take over the care of this sweet boy. Through all of this he has acquired several nicknames. We call him baby bird because that's really what he looked like when he arrived. 

His other common names are puddles and gremlin. Puddles because he he drools a lot, his NG tube tends to leak even if it's capped, and he  has quite a reflux/vomiting problem. Gremlin comes from the first night he stayed at my house....about 3am he was so crabby and a crazy man that he acquired the name gremlin ("be certain not to feed them after midnight")

This is him now.....

He's bigger than he has ever been but still cannot eat by mouth so everything still goes through his NG tube.  He is right at 5kg now!

In the past 3-4 weeks he has started to interact more and act more like an infant.

He now sits up by himself, plays with a rattle or toy, smiles and interacts and will roll from side to side some. He can't crawl or fully roll and he has no teeth yet but it's progress.

So in those times that I feel like death and dying is everywhere and I'm beat up and bruised, I'll go play with puddles for a while and it reminds me……..sometimes…….sometimes we get a win.

This little boy has a very long road ahead of him so please remember him, pray for him, pray for his family, pray for us as we try to find the best course and plan for him and as he continues his struggle to grow.

Please know how much I appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. Despite the struggles, it's evident all the time that God is at work in Mango.


If anyone out there would like to learn more about the Hospital of Hope ministry or how you can get involved, please let me know

Till next time.......