13 August 2000
Subject:
Dearest Friends and Family,
Greetings to each of you from Maua. May you experience the love of
God today and this week in all you do and where ever you go.
Bill and I just returned from a birthday party for Evonne Kimani, who
is one year old today. Her father is a doctor here and her mother is
the nurse in-charge of our Pediatric unit. We had a wonderful time
celebrating her birthday. The event started with prayers and a
roasted goat meat meal, followed by many talks from friends and
colleagues. Evonne, with the help of 5 year old Makena, cut her cake
which we all enjoyed. Then Mzee Sarson, our volunteer surgeon from
Great Britain, was called to cut up a special type of meat that is
cooked for most celebrations. Goat meat and blood are stuffed into a
piece of intestine and cooked. Each person is given a small piece of
this delicacy. Actually, it is quite good. We then closed with
prayers and a formal presentation of gifts. At one time, I longed for
the informality and what I considered "fun" of American parties. But
after three years here, I rather enjoy the formality of a Kenyan
party.
When Bill and I returned home the electricity was on. We were
surprised and thrilled all at the same time. With this gift, I
decided to write you.
For the last several weeks I have spent about 1/2 of my time teaching
and 1/2 working on the medical unit with senior students helping them
to prepare for their Ward Management Assessment. To help them I must
know about each patient on the unit and decide on the care I expect
them to receive. When that care isn't given, I work with the student
to give the care or to make certain it is given in the future. In
doing that, I have become quite close to some of the patients and
their relatives. This past week has certainly been a heart breaking
week.
On 26 July we admitted an 18 year old girl. She was first diagnosed
with congestive heart failure and later with a renal problem that
ultimately became renal failure. I helped nurse her often because her
condition was so critical. About six days ago she began having very
little urinary output. She was given large doses of diuretic, "water
pills", which helped at first but then her kidney shut down. The
family had no money so when the doctor talked to them about
transferring her to Kenyatta Hospital for renal dialysis, they had
said, "No". In the entire time she was here, her family only paid $17
for her care. However, as her condition deteriorated and her entire
body filled with fluid, her breathing became difficult, and the fluid
that leaked from her pores caused painful sores, the hospital decided
to use our own vehicle to transfer her and began the process of making
arrangements. At 5am on Tuesday 8 August she and her husband left
Maua in a hospital vehicle accompanied by a nurse. We all were
praying she would make it. She made it to Kenyatta Hospital but as
they were admitting her, she stopped breathing and though they tried
to resuscitate her, she died. Her husband brought her body back to the
hospital mortuary. On Wednesday morning it was reported that she had
died after our normal report time. We all sat dead quiet, eyes
filling with tears, and then one of the nurses said a prayer.
This past Tues. a 28 year old man was admitted with rabies. As you
may know, once someone has rabies, there is almost nothing that can be
done, except to make them as comfortable as possible during a horrible
death. The man had been bitten by a stray dog in May (90 day
incubation period). The dog had been killed that day but the young
man had not come to the hospital nor had any tests been done on the
dead dog.
Shortly after the man was admitted, he stopped breathing. I quickly
turned him from his back to his abdomen and he was able to cough and
spit up the saliva that had obstructed his airway. His father was
with him and thanked me over and over. He kept asking if his son
would live. The nurse responded by saying we were doing all we could
for his son. For the next 2 1/2 hours he continually choked and
gagged on the excessive saliva. That night he died.
During the last two weeks, we have admitted 14 men or women with
malaria, rule out TB, gastritis, or pneumonia who we have ultimately
been tested for HIV and 11 of them have been positive. One was 45
years old but all the rest, both men and women have been 18 - 31 years
old. When I started nursing here, we could go two weeks without
seeing anyone that tested HIV+.
We are also seeing both men and women who are severely anemic. That
is not unusual in our female population, but it is with our males.
This past week we have given 6 emergency units of blood (that means
from our blood bank) to 6 men. Partially that is due to malaria which
often causes anemia but most of those men have been HIV+. Normally we
don't give blood from our blood bank as we have so little. The family
is asked to donate blood and until they do we do not transfuse their
family members. For 7 days we have had a 15 year old boy waiting for
his family to donate blood. He received one unit emergently but
desperately needs a second unit. People are very resistant to donate
blood as it is tested for HIV and most people do not want to know they
have the disease since there is nothing to do for it.
This past week was the burial of a 21 year old woman who died of
cervical cancer. Her husband is a cleaner at the hospital. She had
been seen several months ago and a biopsy done and sent off. The
report did not come back until mid-June. There was literally nothing
to do for her. She was on the medical unit for several weeks. I was
so impressed with the loving care her young husband gave her. He
always came during his break times and at meal times to feed her. He
was unusual in his quiet, caring manner, his patience, and his obvious
devotion to his wife. When she died, hospital staff raised enough
money to help with the funeral and pay the hospital bill.
It is difficult to see so much tragedy and suffering, but it is joyful
to work at a hospital where the staff and administration give so much,
even when times are so hard and there is little extra to share
personally or as an institution. Through it all, we can see the love
of God.
I was reading some hymns today, as I am leading devotions this week,
and found a hymn that said, "If you have the light of God, You can
walk in the dark." Some days it feels like there is too much
darkness, but always, always we have the Light of God!
Thank you for your love, emails, financial support and prayers. We
are so grateful for all you do in His name.
Walking in the darkness due to His light,
Jerri and Bill
You can answer this letter at
savuto@MAF.org
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