more from Togo

Hello friends and family!
The internet has been down for quite a few days here, so apologies for the sporadic news.

25.Jun.2009 -- Day 15

Heartache. Lost a 3 year old tonight and I’m not sure why (stroke? Cerebral malarial coma?). Malaria this morning, routine resuscitation, had a brief seizure early but responded to valium. Also had blackwater urine after starting treatment (G6PD vs malaria vs quinine). Then this evening his kidneys shut down, no urine since about 5pm. I saw him at 9 and even wrote a few orders. He seemed quite stable. Sats were good. Around 11pm he arrested. They called, and when I arrived, no pulse, no respirations, teeth clenched as though a seizure (although extremities flaccid). Pupils already fixed and dilated. Short stay – what is there to do? Sad, sad. Can’t really focus or talk to anyone. What happened?

28 Jun.2009 – Day 18

Long three days. Lots of ortho the last two calls. Dr. Harris, the surgeon, has been a blessing. Tuesday night around midnight they brought in a young girl who had been struck by a moto – broken right femur and open fracture of the tibia and fibula (lower right leg). Poor thing. I got the x-rays then called Dr. Harris. He was so smooth, “sure, that’ll be no problem, this will go quite nicely” (in a South African accent, of course). We found out the next morning during rounds that he had been a front line surgeon during the Angola War (I’ll need to look that one up), kind of like M*A*S*H. He’s a whiz at ortho, which is nice. Many of the general surgeons that come here struggle a bit with it (and I guarantee you the pediatricians that come here are CLUELESS in the OR).
Good thing, too, because last night around midnight they brought in more heartbreak. Two survivors of a motor vehicle accident – car went off the cliff down 20 feet, burst into flames, three deaths). The lady had about 30% second and third degree burns, broken left arm, broken right leg, and 3 or 4 broken ribs. The guy had two broken arms. They had been evacuated by some other missionaries to a hospital about an hour south of us. The hospital started IVs and sewed up the lacerations, but refused to release them to come to us until family showed up to pay the bill! So the accident occurred around 3 pm and they didn’t get to us until 11pm. (It really feels like a trauma ED/ICU most of the time …my skills looking in ears and interpreting strep tests are quite useless and getting a bit rusty.) I spend most of my call nights with my nose in a book. And I’m pretty sure there’s nowhere else for patients to go. We’ve only evacuated one patient to Lome since I’ve been here – that was today when we sent a patient in renal failure for dialysis. Most can’t afford it but he’s the brother of one of our lab techs so the family has more money than most.
There have been more joys and positives, of course (so I best share some of them lest Cari consider me a pessimist!) Several desperately sick malaria kids have recovered and gone home. We have several premies sailing along well and getting ready to go home. The child who swallowed lye and burned his esophagus has recovered enough to go home. The 4 year old who was hit by a moto and in a coma for several days has had an amazing turn -- Wednesday started grabbing things purposefully and yesterday fed himself a biscuit (his name is “Luv” and I’ll be sad when he’s well enough to go home – ironically – for the past two weeks I’ve enjoyed rounding in Pediatriae because we get to see each day’s small improvements!).
And Wednesday, one of the nurses, Virgine, asked me to share the gospel with a patient from her village. I quickly and nervously looked for one of the hospital chaplains (hoping I might persuade them to intervene) but none were nearby. So after rounds were finished we went back and I shared a brief gospel message (trying hard to emphasize the “good news” and not my anxiety). Because it’s an open ward, everyone was privy to our conversation, and those who wanted to could and did come closer. So by the end, where we talked about how no one could make a decision about following Jesus for her, it was up to her alone to decide to accept Jesus’ sacrifice and reconciliation with God or reject it and go her own way., there were about 10 people listening (or more). I have become quite accustomed to this during medical rounds, and by now I had brought to mind Matthew 10:19-20 and I Peter 3:15 about twenty times so we just cruised through. And she accepted Jesus! Just like that! It was way cool.
Drew and I went to a soccer game today – the local Tsiko team. The two Briggs boys play on it. They won. We’ve had quite the week for snakes as well – a sand snake (only a little poisonous), two puff adders (watch out!), and a python. The python was brought in alive so Drew got to pet it. A little confusing for the boys because we’ve been chanting “no snakes, no snakes” every night as we walk in the dark. The oldest Ebersole boy, Steven, has quite the snake collection and has become quite a local celebrity. Folks come from as far as three villages away because they know he’ll buy them, he skins them, and his collection has been very helpful when snake bite patients come to the hospital very sick. He brings it to the ward so the patient or family can identify what we’re up against!
We were hoping to have a fourth doc here this week, but Dr. Martin missed his flight from the States and the word we’ve gotten is Royal Air Moroc can’t get him here for another week! With Russ in Benin visiting the Mercy Ship until Tuesday it’s back to every other night call for a bit.
Message from I Samuel tonight at Missionary Devotions – God calls us each by name. We pray you are listening and hearing His sweet voice!

Yours in the service of our LORD,

CADT (The Robertsons)