Blog 18-March-08

Today after clinic, we were getting in our cars to leave, and a van flew past us. The next thing I heard was a thud, and I saw little shoes flying. I couldn’t see the kid on the other side of the van. Thank the Lord, one of the doctors from Baylor clinic was with me. He ran to the kid and I yelled for gloves. Sandra, Ishmael, the teachers, and I began to pray. The boy was crying and frantic. He had several wounds on his head that were bleeding. He didn’t seem to have any broken bones. Sandra was singing to him to keep him calm and still. We called for the police and ambulance. It seemed to take forever for them to get there, but we didn’t want to move him in case he had a neck injury. We were about ready to take him to the hospital in one of our vehicles, when the ambulance arrived. The doctor was afraid he may have a head injury, or at least a concussion. They put him on the stretcher and were going to take him by himself to the hospital. We had sent word to his mom, but she had not arrived. We couldn’t stand seeing him go by himself in the ambulance to the hospital, so one of the teachers went with him to comfort him.

On the way home, the doctor and I were praying that we hadn’t waited too long to get him to the hospital in case he had internal injuries. We heard the next day that they didn’t even admit him, and the teacher said they hadn’t done any x-rays while she was there with him. A couple of days later, he was at the Care Point to eat. He is now fine! Praise the Lord! God is good!

27-March

This week started with a phone call from the make at the home where PePe is. She called to tell me that PePe is very sick. My first thought was, Oh Lord don’t take her yet! She has been losing weight and getting weaker for the past couple of weeks. When I saw her over the weekend, I was shocked at how thin she had gotten. Make said that she has been having chills and fever. She was up at midnight with her praying, because she was shaking so much.

We have been trying to get PePe’s father to sign the paper saying that the home can take care of her. He wanted us to take her and get her well, but he would not sign the paper. We just heard that the father’s wife/girlfriend had just died this past week. So some of our Swazi staff were going to comfort him and also see if they could get him to sign the paper, in case something happens to PePe. He did sign the paper, praise the Lord! They explained to him how sick PePe is, but he was more concerned with how Banele, his son, is. Banele is doing great! He is getting fat, and strong. He may be able to start to school next term!

We took PePe to Baylor clinic, and the doctor thinks that she has multi-drug resistant TB. We sent sputum samples and the result came back positive for TB. The percentage of kids with TB that show positive for TB in the sputum is very low. She was 17kg (37lbs) in January, now she is 13.9kg (30lbs) at 11 years old. She weighs less than a 3 year old missionary kid, who weighs 15kg.

PePe will be admitted tomorrow to Mbabane Clinic, a private hospital. This is the only place that has a private room so she can be isolated. We have to get her out of the home, because of all of the other children. The treatment requires at least 2 months of daily injections, and 4 other drugs. It is a very intense treatment to begin with and will be reduced as she responds. The entire treatment will take 2 years. We will be able to visit, but we will have to start wearing TB masks when we are around her. We will all have to be tested, as well as the other children in the home. Please pray for PePe, this will be very difficult for her to be alone most of the time. The nurses will take care of her, give her meds, food, etc. We will be visiting frequently. Pray for speedy recovery for PePe.