Akpe, akpe, akpe Jesus, akpe July 9th
Nusiwo ne wonam madakpe nawu
Akpe, akpe, akpe Jesus, akpe
Thank you Jesus for all your good gifts to us! A new Ewe song that we learned from the only female surgical technician here, Patricia. There’s something fairly incredible about being able to thank the Lord in a different language – to know that his children thank him from almost every space on Earth. And to think of what it would mean to know “thank yous” come from every language spoken…a prayer for the many unreached peoples of this world.
Life continues to go well for us here in Togo. As I write, Andy is at the hospital dealing with “accident” victims. At this time of night, that is never a good thing. I am sure he will write about the details in one of his emails. Suffice it to say that God is certainly using him and his skills here. And I have enjoyed seeing how excited Andy has gotten about sharing his faith with the patients – and seeing God answer prayers for these people.
Drew has been enjoying spending time with one of the boys of another short-term mission family – Robert is 11 and from South Africa. The two of them have played the longest Settler games every afternoon all week! (Settlers is a strategy board game) They like to play to 30 or so points (instead of the normal 12). It’s been fun to see Drew mature as he hangs around with these older youth.
Tony has made many friends – everywhere we go someone is calling his name. He has learned to say “akpe”, “ca va” and “evivi” (thank you, how are you, yum yum) which always gets great reactions from the Togolese. His biggest thrill is still the time he spends feeding the chickens.
Both boys will accompany me tomorrow to the hospital to spend some time with the kids –giving small gifts, singing songs, reading stories. They seem excited to do it. I have taken on the visits as Melody Ebersole (the other pediatrician’s wife) has now left for the states and has transferred all her small gifts to me to pass out. It was hard to see her go – she has been an inspiration to me. And Andy has pointed out many times how similar we are – from misplacing things to spending all night packing before a trip (she had to fit in a couple parties and ministry – so much more important than packing!)
Many of the people who were here when we first came are now leaving or getting ready to leave. It will be a time of transition for us and for the compound. Please pray for Andy, especially for stamina, and for Drew who will really miss some of the kids he’s gotten to know. We are glad our friends Jeremie and Elise are still here as Drew has enjoyed being with their son and nephew.
Thank you for your continued prayers. We have definitely seen it in the hospital – I am sure Andy will share more about how God has been working there to save souls and not just lives. God is good! Akpe Mawu!
Cari
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
July 6
6 Jul 2009 – Day 26
Ok, here is a somewhat typical morning greeting:
nDee!
nDee! Apemathoe?
Olee. eChobedo.
Do cho. Deveearay?
Wo fwo. Apemathoe?
Wo fo. sRoe wo fwa?
Ehh. O fwo.
Ehh.
This is accompanied by a handshake and repeated with unending variations to everyone you meet at work (remember there is quite a bit of French influence here!). Sometimes it even continues as the two parties finish their handshakes and start walking away from each other! And other times they’ll be finishing the verbal exchange with one person while starting the handshake with another. When I’m joining in, this exchange is usually followed by peals of laughter. There’s a French version as well, of course. And ambitious missionaries can even learn the Kabiye version!
Well, internet’s been down for a week now. We were told Saturday it would be repaired today. Today, we were told it would be ready tomorrow. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
To be honest, while some things remain vague and unpredictable like phones, internet, and electricity, the one thing we do know about tomorrow is that there will be sickness and disease, surgery and malaria, wonderful recoveries and the finality of death….and I’ve been working so much lately I don’t have much time to think about internet.
July 4th. A wonderful evening of fellowship. One of the celebrations that bring the missionaries together. Though it rained a bit, we had independence-related Cari-led games in the Payute (like a pavilion), a delicious barbecue/potluck, tons of desserts, ‘smores over a campfire, fireworks (bottle rockets from a coke bottle to the pediatricians’ dismay and Togolese pipe bombs), and a time of singing and praising God. Our Canadian and South African colleagues joined in for most of the party.
Earlier in the day I got to see Luve in follow-up. He’s the 5 year old hero that pushed a 2 year old girl out of the path of a moto, was struck and in a coma for several days, and is now recovered enough to go home. He’s eating and using his right arm, but not talking or walking yet. His heel cords are tight so Dr. Briggs and I fashioned some AFOs (ankle-foot orthotics) for him to wear at night to try to stretch out the muscles. (As we sometimes joke about here, we referred him to physical, occupational, and speech therapy while he was in the hospital, but apparently there is a HUGE backlog of referrals and they never stopped by….typical!….and there was such a LONG wait list for appointments at the office they couldn’t get in…….) We did the best we could but it sure would be nice to have real therapists here with us! (Hint,Hint, Andrea……. : )
July 5th. Sunday. On call (3rd Sunday in a row). Cari and the boys rode up the mountain with the Ebersoles for church. 60 year old man who was so drunk the night before he drank insecticide (not good), in a coma getting gastric lavage and atropine. 40 year old man who broke his ribs 4 days prior to arrival, has a gallon of blood in his chest and a flail chest (the broken rib pieces bulge out with each breath), and his kidneys have shut down, no urine for 2 days (because we don’t have true ICU care, his only real hope is to pay 100,000 a week for dialysis in Lome, usually prohibitively expensive. 40 year old lady with extreme hypertension (finally controlled with four meds, one of which is so old it is no longer sold in the US and we had to go back to a 1994 Drug Reference Book to even find it listed in the dosing guidelines, under the qualifier “Rarely used”!), pancreatitis, and kidney failure (yes, very common here), actually doing a little better. Premies doing well. Sick newborn seizing. Malaria kids recovering.
Late in the evening I returned to the hospital to treat a child with severe malaria and seizures. While I was there I stopped to chat with the 60 year old because of some abdominal pain. He was awake now, and talking, and looking so much better. We talked about how I could give him pain medicine but it will soon wear off. The bigger problem was his bad decision to get drunk and drink insecticide. I didn’t have any medicine for the pain of that sin. But we believe in and follow the God who created us and sent his Son Jesus to die for us. Jesus says he came to take away our pain for good, he died for our sins, so we could be forgiven and have a new life. We at HBB were all very thankful to God he was still alive. He could’ve died because of his bad decision. While he was here I wanted him to hear about this Jesus and think about following Him. No one else could make this decision for him, not us doctors, not his family, just him and God. Then I briefly shared my testimony with him, like I did with the youth at the lock-in, how before I followed Jesus I used to drink a lot and one night drank so much I couldn’t remember what I did – just like him. That was the night that changed my life, and started me on the path to listening to Jesus and following him. Would he think about that? Akpe na mawu! But of course he was Kabiye and he didn’t understand. So after the laughter at the yovo stopped my nurse translator who knows Eve, Kabiye, English and French translated -- We thank God! I found out the next morning that he gave his life to Christ while talking with the chaplain during morning rounds!
July 6th. Long night. The child with malaria had seizures all night and things look bad. Then they brought in a 5 year old with tetanus spasms – whole body, including the trismus (locked jaw) that is so classic. The old studies report a 50-50 chance of dying from tetanus, but here at HBB they’ve started putting the anti-toxin directly in the spinal cord so I did that for the first time ever -- by lumbar puncture. We’ll know in two weeks if he’s going to make it. The 60 year old man and 40 year old lady are much better. The 40 year old man’s kidneys have not recovered any function and we sent him home to die. After morning rounds I took a long nap.
Jade, a college student here checking out missions, has had a wonderful time. She has tons of energy and jumps in everywhere, especially up at the hospital. She’s helped out a lot in the surgery sterilization room, cleaning and organizing supplies and folding drape after drape. The work is tedious but I guess the staff is a lot of fun so she really enjoys it. They sing a lot of songs, in Eve, French and English, and Bible quiz each other. She did Bible Quizzing at her home church so she fits right it (plug for Bible quizzing!!). The other night at the Ebersoles she taught us an Eve praise song (akpe, akpe, akpe, Jesu, akpe) and stumped us – name the two books of the Bible that end in a question mark?
Tomorrow Dr. Martin finally arrives. We’ll have two weeks of four docs on the call schedule then everyone starts leaving and it’ll every other night on call for much of the remainder.
Come to Africa!!!! Missionary advantage #2 – you don’t have to be embarrassed about picking your nose in public, everyone does it here and it’s no big deal !!
Crazy God-humor #1. I was born in the same Gerber hospital that Dr. John Briggs worked at back in Freemont, Michigan. One of his kids, Ryan, was also born there. We had a good laugh about that.
Crazy God-humor #2. Several of the Briggs’s kids attended Black Forest Academy while they were studying language in France, where Laura Peterson is a dorm mother. We had a good laugh about that as well. During our last stay we talked about Laura as well - one of the Gayle kids, Nathaniel, also attended Black Forest Academy and knew her.
Mawu ne no kpuli wo (May God go with you)
Yours in the service of our LORD,
CADT (The Robertsons)
Ok, here is a somewhat typical morning greeting:
nDee!
nDee! Apemathoe?
Olee. eChobedo.
Do cho. Deveearay?
Wo fwo. Apemathoe?
Wo fo. sRoe wo fwa?
Ehh. O fwo.
Ehh.
This is accompanied by a handshake and repeated with unending variations to everyone you meet at work (remember there is quite a bit of French influence here!). Sometimes it even continues as the two parties finish their handshakes and start walking away from each other! And other times they’ll be finishing the verbal exchange with one person while starting the handshake with another. When I’m joining in, this exchange is usually followed by peals of laughter. There’s a French version as well, of course. And ambitious missionaries can even learn the Kabiye version!
Well, internet’s been down for a week now. We were told Saturday it would be repaired today. Today, we were told it would be ready tomorrow. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
To be honest, while some things remain vague and unpredictable like phones, internet, and electricity, the one thing we do know about tomorrow is that there will be sickness and disease, surgery and malaria, wonderful recoveries and the finality of death….and I’ve been working so much lately I don’t have much time to think about internet.
July 4th. A wonderful evening of fellowship. One of the celebrations that bring the missionaries together. Though it rained a bit, we had independence-related Cari-led games in the Payute (like a pavilion), a delicious barbecue/potluck, tons of desserts, ‘smores over a campfire, fireworks (bottle rockets from a coke bottle to the pediatricians’ dismay and Togolese pipe bombs), and a time of singing and praising God. Our Canadian and South African colleagues joined in for most of the party.
Earlier in the day I got to see Luve in follow-up. He’s the 5 year old hero that pushed a 2 year old girl out of the path of a moto, was struck and in a coma for several days, and is now recovered enough to go home. He’s eating and using his right arm, but not talking or walking yet. His heel cords are tight so Dr. Briggs and I fashioned some AFOs (ankle-foot orthotics) for him to wear at night to try to stretch out the muscles. (As we sometimes joke about here, we referred him to physical, occupational, and speech therapy while he was in the hospital, but apparently there is a HUGE backlog of referrals and they never stopped by….typical!….and there was such a LONG wait list for appointments at the office they couldn’t get in…….) We did the best we could but it sure would be nice to have real therapists here with us! (Hint,Hint, Andrea……. : )
July 5th. Sunday. On call (3rd Sunday in a row). Cari and the boys rode up the mountain with the Ebersoles for church. 60 year old man who was so drunk the night before he drank insecticide (not good), in a coma getting gastric lavage and atropine. 40 year old man who broke his ribs 4 days prior to arrival, has a gallon of blood in his chest and a flail chest (the broken rib pieces bulge out with each breath), and his kidneys have shut down, no urine for 2 days (because we don’t have true ICU care, his only real hope is to pay 100,000 a week for dialysis in Lome, usually prohibitively expensive. 40 year old lady with extreme hypertension (finally controlled with four meds, one of which is so old it is no longer sold in the US and we had to go back to a 1994 Drug Reference Book to even find it listed in the dosing guidelines, under the qualifier “Rarely used”!), pancreatitis, and kidney failure (yes, very common here), actually doing a little better. Premies doing well. Sick newborn seizing. Malaria kids recovering.
Late in the evening I returned to the hospital to treat a child with severe malaria and seizures. While I was there I stopped to chat with the 60 year old because of some abdominal pain. He was awake now, and talking, and looking so much better. We talked about how I could give him pain medicine but it will soon wear off. The bigger problem was his bad decision to get drunk and drink insecticide. I didn’t have any medicine for the pain of that sin. But we believe in and follow the God who created us and sent his Son Jesus to die for us. Jesus says he came to take away our pain for good, he died for our sins, so we could be forgiven and have a new life. We at HBB were all very thankful to God he was still alive. He could’ve died because of his bad decision. While he was here I wanted him to hear about this Jesus and think about following Him. No one else could make this decision for him, not us doctors, not his family, just him and God. Then I briefly shared my testimony with him, like I did with the youth at the lock-in, how before I followed Jesus I used to drink a lot and one night drank so much I couldn’t remember what I did – just like him. That was the night that changed my life, and started me on the path to listening to Jesus and following him. Would he think about that? Akpe na mawu! But of course he was Kabiye and he didn’t understand. So after the laughter at the yovo stopped my nurse translator who knows Eve, Kabiye, English and French translated -- We thank God! I found out the next morning that he gave his life to Christ while talking with the chaplain during morning rounds!
July 6th. Long night. The child with malaria had seizures all night and things look bad. Then they brought in a 5 year old with tetanus spasms – whole body, including the trismus (locked jaw) that is so classic. The old studies report a 50-50 chance of dying from tetanus, but here at HBB they’ve started putting the anti-toxin directly in the spinal cord so I did that for the first time ever -- by lumbar puncture. We’ll know in two weeks if he’s going to make it. The 60 year old man and 40 year old lady are much better. The 40 year old man’s kidneys have not recovered any function and we sent him home to die. After morning rounds I took a long nap.
Jade, a college student here checking out missions, has had a wonderful time. She has tons of energy and jumps in everywhere, especially up at the hospital. She’s helped out a lot in the surgery sterilization room, cleaning and organizing supplies and folding drape after drape. The work is tedious but I guess the staff is a lot of fun so she really enjoys it. They sing a lot of songs, in Eve, French and English, and Bible quiz each other. She did Bible Quizzing at her home church so she fits right it (plug for Bible quizzing!!). The other night at the Ebersoles she taught us an Eve praise song (akpe, akpe, akpe, Jesu, akpe) and stumped us – name the two books of the Bible that end in a question mark?
Tomorrow Dr. Martin finally arrives. We’ll have two weeks of four docs on the call schedule then everyone starts leaving and it’ll every other night on call for much of the remainder.
Come to Africa!!!! Missionary advantage #2 – you don’t have to be embarrassed about picking your nose in public, everyone does it here and it’s no big deal !!
Crazy God-humor #1. I was born in the same Gerber hospital that Dr. John Briggs worked at back in Freemont, Michigan. One of his kids, Ryan, was also born there. We had a good laugh about that.
Crazy God-humor #2. Several of the Briggs’s kids attended Black Forest Academy while they were studying language in France, where Laura Peterson is a dorm mother. We had a good laugh about that as well. During our last stay we talked about Laura as well - one of the Gayle kids, Nathaniel, also attended Black Forest Academy and knew her.
Mawu ne no kpuli wo (May God go with you)
Yours in the service of our LORD,
CADT (The Robertsons)
July 4 - Happy Fourth!
4 Jul 2009 – Day 24
Apematho! (eh, wo fo)
We thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. We’re reminded again how important your prayers are to us. This Friday we talked about perseverance -- Remember, “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.” “We want you to show the same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised!” And, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised!” Run the race for the prize that lasts!
The teacher team goes home today. Sounds like it went well again. Cari was a bit sad it didn’t work out for her to help, but……she has managed to pick up a long-term substitute teaching position! Turns out three of the homeschoolers need a crash British Literature course before returning to the States in August. Cari’s taking them through Canterbury Tales right now. Melody Ebersole mentioned to me the other day how wonderful it was that Cari could do this, how grateful, etc… She and Russ are surprised to see how much their son, Nate, has enjoyed writing poetry! I commented that if anyone could get teens excited about iambic pentameter it would have to be Cari (then we had a brief chuckle at Cari’s expense). I saw her lesson plan on the dining room table and they’re in for a treat. Whenever I see the boys now (playing soccer, ping pong, etc.) I make sure to warn them (how tough a teacher she is, how she fails more students than she passes, shouldn’t you be home studying?, etc.).
We’ve eaten out twice this week. Thursday we were invited over to the Ebersoles for a Togolese barbecue. Several Togolese and the Ebersole boys, Steven and Nate, cooked up local cuisine, including fu-fu (like mashed potatoes but sooooo starchy it’s eaten with the fingers), beef, pork, and snake. We sat around the barbecue fires, lit the tiki torches, and had a good time of fellowship. Cari and I both tried the snake (puff adder), and sure enough, it tastes just like chicken. Ironically, Russ was late because he was at the hospital taking care of a snake bite victim. The patient ended up dying. (Our general approach to snake bites is to admit everyone for observation. If they start to develop signs of poisoning then we start the anti-toxin, but it’s too expensive and precious to give to everyone who comes in with a bite. As Michael Gayle laconically informed me two years ago – “only about 1/3 of the bites are actually poisonous”…..comforting thought, Michael, thanks). Anyway, the family brought this man in 3 days after the bite and in full cardiac arrest, so we tried to help but there really wasn’t much we could do for him at that point.
Then last night we were invited over to the Harris’ for dinner. Again, traditional African fare plus a pot of spaghetti for the boys (and Andy?). The Harris’ are from South Africa so we had a mix of tastes. It was delicious again. No snake this time. They are considering joining staff at the new hospital up in Mango (the outreach project to predominantly Muslims in the north). He’s a surgeon and she’s an anesthesiologist so they would be a great asset to the medical work. It was fun to hear their story, especially as we’ve just returned from our April trip to eSikhawini. Drew has really enjoyed their two boys, Peter and Robert, who are gracious enough to let him in on ping pong, tether ball, and Settlers games.
Another Cari farm-girl story! The other day I heard a piercing scream from the kitchen. For its character and decibel level and the gasps for air that succeeded it, the best I could surmise was that she was cornered by a python, or a viper, or at least one of the little sand snakes. Fearing for our lives, I glanced around for a weapon to fight the beast as I leapt from the sofa and quickly ran thither. Alas, no snake was found. No scorpion or other beast either. Instead, a wee poor field mouse she had frightened. Trapped in a kitchen drawer it was, now paralyzed with fear by the pitch of her screams. Since then we’ve learned two things: 1) Cari, lover of mice and one-time owner of a pet mouse whose name escapes me at the moment, apparently doesn’t think they belong in the kitchen; and 2) Togolese mice aren’t very fond of peanut butter, at least when used as bait (but the ants love it).
Come to Africa!!!! Missionary advantage #1 – you can go to work in flip flops and shorts!!!
Mawu ne no kpuli wo (May God go with you)
Yours in the service of our LORD,
CADT (The Robertsons)
Apematho! (eh, wo fo)
We thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. We’re reminded again how important your prayers are to us. This Friday we talked about perseverance -- Remember, “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.” “We want you to show the same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised!” And, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised!” Run the race for the prize that lasts!
The teacher team goes home today. Sounds like it went well again. Cari was a bit sad it didn’t work out for her to help, but……she has managed to pick up a long-term substitute teaching position! Turns out three of the homeschoolers need a crash British Literature course before returning to the States in August. Cari’s taking them through Canterbury Tales right now. Melody Ebersole mentioned to me the other day how wonderful it was that Cari could do this, how grateful, etc… She and Russ are surprised to see how much their son, Nate, has enjoyed writing poetry! I commented that if anyone could get teens excited about iambic pentameter it would have to be Cari (then we had a brief chuckle at Cari’s expense). I saw her lesson plan on the dining room table and they’re in for a treat. Whenever I see the boys now (playing soccer, ping pong, etc.) I make sure to warn them (how tough a teacher she is, how she fails more students than she passes, shouldn’t you be home studying?, etc.).
We’ve eaten out twice this week. Thursday we were invited over to the Ebersoles for a Togolese barbecue. Several Togolese and the Ebersole boys, Steven and Nate, cooked up local cuisine, including fu-fu (like mashed potatoes but sooooo starchy it’s eaten with the fingers), beef, pork, and snake. We sat around the barbecue fires, lit the tiki torches, and had a good time of fellowship. Cari and I both tried the snake (puff adder), and sure enough, it tastes just like chicken. Ironically, Russ was late because he was at the hospital taking care of a snake bite victim. The patient ended up dying. (Our general approach to snake bites is to admit everyone for observation. If they start to develop signs of poisoning then we start the anti-toxin, but it’s too expensive and precious to give to everyone who comes in with a bite. As Michael Gayle laconically informed me two years ago – “only about 1/3 of the bites are actually poisonous”…..comforting thought, Michael, thanks). Anyway, the family brought this man in 3 days after the bite and in full cardiac arrest, so we tried to help but there really wasn’t much we could do for him at that point.
Then last night we were invited over to the Harris’ for dinner. Again, traditional African fare plus a pot of spaghetti for the boys (and Andy?). The Harris’ are from South Africa so we had a mix of tastes. It was delicious again. No snake this time. They are considering joining staff at the new hospital up in Mango (the outreach project to predominantly Muslims in the north). He’s a surgeon and she’s an anesthesiologist so they would be a great asset to the medical work. It was fun to hear their story, especially as we’ve just returned from our April trip to eSikhawini. Drew has really enjoyed their two boys, Peter and Robert, who are gracious enough to let him in on ping pong, tether ball, and Settlers games.
Another Cari farm-girl story! The other day I heard a piercing scream from the kitchen. For its character and decibel level and the gasps for air that succeeded it, the best I could surmise was that she was cornered by a python, or a viper, or at least one of the little sand snakes. Fearing for our lives, I glanced around for a weapon to fight the beast as I leapt from the sofa and quickly ran thither. Alas, no snake was found. No scorpion or other beast either. Instead, a wee poor field mouse she had frightened. Trapped in a kitchen drawer it was, now paralyzed with fear by the pitch of her screams. Since then we’ve learned two things: 1) Cari, lover of mice and one-time owner of a pet mouse whose name escapes me at the moment, apparently doesn’t think they belong in the kitchen; and 2) Togolese mice aren’t very fond of peanut butter, at least when used as bait (but the ants love it).
Come to Africa!!!! Missionary advantage #1 – you can go to work in flip flops and shorts!!!
Mawu ne no kpuli wo (May God go with you)
Yours in the service of our LORD,
CADT (The Robertsons)
July 2
2 Jul 2009 – Day 22
Greetings in the name of the LORD, a strong tower.
With Russ gone to the Mercy Ship in Benin and Dr. Martin still not here yet from his one week airline delay, its been a busy week of every other day on call again. But last night I slept the night through with no phone calls! The last several have been filled with moto/car accidents and death so to have everyone doing well is truly a blessing.
An interesting experience Monday night on call. We had admitted a sick, sick old man in the morning. Severe pnueumonia and diarrhea, as well as several months of wasting. The story was typical for AIDS so we ordered the HIV test as well. It was positive which meant his pneumonia was likely TB so we ordered that as well. Ephraim and I talked with the old man mid afternoon about his HIV test and his prognosis (slow recovery, enter government AIDS treatment program, etc..) and he expressed his fear about this diagnosis. Apparently a man in his village also received this diagnosis and died. We shared some hope that our IV fluids and medicines could treat his current sickness and he could get help from the government. Then we talked of Jesus and his frequent reminders (commands?admonitions?) to “fear not” and “take heart” (I have overcome the world). The man was a Christian so we prayed together. It was actually a brief but sweet time of fellowship.
Numerous times throughout the rest of the afternoon the two daughters asked to take him home to die. I talked with them at length about giving the medicines time to work (at least more than 4 hours, please…….). Well, sure enough, around 2am, the nurse called because he was much worse. When I arrived he was near death and the daughters were visibly upset (because he was dying or because the yovo doctor was so stubborn?). It is a terrible thing to die in a hospital, I think partly because taxi drivers charge exorbitant fees to transport dead people (40,000-50,000 cfa ($80-$100) versus 3,500($7) – the average income is about $1 a day (500 cfa) so the regular fare is about a week’s wages!). I asked about transport options now but because it was the middle of the night it would also cost a lot more. The nurses called around and we found a taxi driver willing to take the family for 18,000 cfa ($36). I volunteered to pay the fare, we asked him to come quickly. We disconnected the oxygen and carried the man (quickly) out the door and up the steps to the taxi – as he gasped for air I sensed the Togolese nurses actually quicken their pace to a near run. We got him in the taxi alive and off they went. The family was exceedingly grateful and thankful – and here I was feeling bad about keeping him. I found out later he died not 15 minutes into the 2 hour trip – but considered here to be a successful evacuation. I’ve been thinking about him a lot. I was glad we had a chance to pray together, and I was glad we could serve the family and help them avoid a monster bill, but how different from medical ministry in the States! One could make a compassion ministry out of paying cab fare for families of deceased patients.
Akpe na Mawu (We thank God)
Yours in the service of our LORD,
CADT (The Robertsons)
Greetings in the name of the LORD, a strong tower.
With Russ gone to the Mercy Ship in Benin and Dr. Martin still not here yet from his one week airline delay, its been a busy week of every other day on call again. But last night I slept the night through with no phone calls! The last several have been filled with moto/car accidents and death so to have everyone doing well is truly a blessing.
An interesting experience Monday night on call. We had admitted a sick, sick old man in the morning. Severe pnueumonia and diarrhea, as well as several months of wasting. The story was typical for AIDS so we ordered the HIV test as well. It was positive which meant his pneumonia was likely TB so we ordered that as well. Ephraim and I talked with the old man mid afternoon about his HIV test and his prognosis (slow recovery, enter government AIDS treatment program, etc..) and he expressed his fear about this diagnosis. Apparently a man in his village also received this diagnosis and died. We shared some hope that our IV fluids and medicines could treat his current sickness and he could get help from the government. Then we talked of Jesus and his frequent reminders (commands?admonitions?) to “fear not” and “take heart” (I have overcome the world). The man was a Christian so we prayed together. It was actually a brief but sweet time of fellowship.
Numerous times throughout the rest of the afternoon the two daughters asked to take him home to die. I talked with them at length about giving the medicines time to work (at least more than 4 hours, please…….). Well, sure enough, around 2am, the nurse called because he was much worse. When I arrived he was near death and the daughters were visibly upset (because he was dying or because the yovo doctor was so stubborn?). It is a terrible thing to die in a hospital, I think partly because taxi drivers charge exorbitant fees to transport dead people (40,000-50,000 cfa ($80-$100) versus 3,500($7) – the average income is about $1 a day (500 cfa) so the regular fare is about a week’s wages!). I asked about transport options now but because it was the middle of the night it would also cost a lot more. The nurses called around and we found a taxi driver willing to take the family for 18,000 cfa ($36). I volunteered to pay the fare, we asked him to come quickly. We disconnected the oxygen and carried the man (quickly) out the door and up the steps to the taxi – as he gasped for air I sensed the Togolese nurses actually quicken their pace to a near run. We got him in the taxi alive and off they went. The family was exceedingly grateful and thankful – and here I was feeling bad about keeping him. I found out later he died not 15 minutes into the 2 hour trip – but considered here to be a successful evacuation. I’ve been thinking about him a lot. I was glad we had a chance to pray together, and I was glad we could serve the family and help them avoid a monster bill, but how different from medical ministry in the States! One could make a compassion ministry out of paying cab fare for families of deceased patients.
Akpe na Mawu (We thank God)
Yours in the service of our LORD,
CADT (The Robertsons)
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)
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)
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Cari's First Entry
Hello friends and family!
Andy's been getting on my case about doing one of these, but I don't think he understands how hard it is to concentrate long enough to write coherently when I have a two year old who is finding all sorts of cool things in the game closet behind where the computer is! But I finally figured out that I could get an email in after the boys are in bed if I do it before 10 (after that, the ants and cockroaches come out to play in the computer area which really kind of grosses me out). So I have a little peace now...
How are we doing - the boys and myself? (I think Andy does a good job of showing you his life) Well - we are doing very well. As Andy has mentioned, the boys have already made friends - both human and animal. It turns out our friends Jeremie and Elise (from our last trip) are living nearby in Tsiko, so their boy, Jean, and their nephew, Papi, come over nearly every day for about 2 hours of fun. Papi speaks great French which really helps me and the boys all seem to understand each other well enough to play. So far the food has been great and neither boy has trouble getting enough to eat. Drew is sleeping well, but Tony is struggling a bit. I would like for him to get more than 8 hours of sleep at night - and have it be good sleep (he tends to wake up crying several times a night) We are working on a few adjustments hoping it will help him to be well rested.
I have not been working with the teachers in training this year, which is a little difficult for me. I really enjoyed that last time, but having Tony is even more important, so I have been looking for ways I can help even with a 2 year old. It turns out that one of the Missionary Kids (MK) here is in a British Literature home school course. Since it is not his mother's forte, I have most readily jumped in. I have also been helping with the kids' club every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It is a real challenge since I mostly work with the younger ones who only speak Ewe - not French. But they enjoy the attention and we sing lots of songs and play games. Drew and Tony look forward to kids' club, as well. Otherwise, I have been doing what I would deem "servant"tasks - cleaning, organizing, babysitting. Those things that can be done behind the scenes, and can also end up meaning a lot. So I feel good about what God has given me so far.
Thank you for your prayers. We certainly appreciate it! And if you could, please add a hospital worker to your list who was poked by an HIV contaminated needle today and will have to take some fairly intensive preventative drugs for the next four weeks. I cannot imagine the stress of it on him or his family.
I will end with my Ewe greeting which means "Have a nice day
ngkeke nyuie yowo
Cari
Andy's been getting on my case about doing one of these, but I don't think he understands how hard it is to concentrate long enough to write coherently when I have a two year old who is finding all sorts of cool things in the game closet behind where the computer is! But I finally figured out that I could get an email in after the boys are in bed if I do it before 10 (after that, the ants and cockroaches come out to play in the computer area which really kind of grosses me out). So I have a little peace now...
How are we doing - the boys and myself? (I think Andy does a good job of showing you his life) Well - we are doing very well. As Andy has mentioned, the boys have already made friends - both human and animal. It turns out our friends Jeremie and Elise (from our last trip) are living nearby in Tsiko, so their boy, Jean, and their nephew, Papi, come over nearly every day for about 2 hours of fun. Papi speaks great French which really helps me and the boys all seem to understand each other well enough to play. So far the food has been great and neither boy has trouble getting enough to eat. Drew is sleeping well, but Tony is struggling a bit. I would like for him to get more than 8 hours of sleep at night - and have it be good sleep (he tends to wake up crying several times a night) We are working on a few adjustments hoping it will help him to be well rested.
I have not been working with the teachers in training this year, which is a little difficult for me. I really enjoyed that last time, but having Tony is even more important, so I have been looking for ways I can help even with a 2 year old. It turns out that one of the Missionary Kids (MK) here is in a British Literature home school course. Since it is not his mother's forte, I have most readily jumped in. I have also been helping with the kids' club every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It is a real challenge since I mostly work with the younger ones who only speak Ewe - not French. But they enjoy the attention and we sing lots of songs and play games. Drew and Tony look forward to kids' club, as well. Otherwise, I have been doing what I would deem "servant"tasks - cleaning, organizing, babysitting. Those things that can be done behind the scenes, and can also end up meaning a lot. So I feel good about what God has given me so far.
Thank you for your prayers. We certainly appreciate it! And if you could, please add a hospital worker to your list who was poked by an HIV contaminated needle today and will have to take some fairly intensive preventative drugs for the next four weeks. I cannot imagine the stress of it on him or his family.
I will end with my Ewe greeting which means "Have a nice day
ngkeke nyuie yowo
Cari
Andy's Fourth Medical Journal Entry
22.Jun.2009 -- Day 12
Egbebedo! Dog-be. Yo-lo.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labor in vain.”
Sorry it’s been so long between emails. Four calls in 7 days, several deaths, lots of heartache, some joy, and not quite enough sleep. (Although I did get one of the brownies Cari made for me for Father’s Day!) Life has picked up here in the last couple days. The new short term surgeon, Dr. Harris, is here, which will be a good relief for Dr. Briggs, the Family Doctor who’s been covering call. Dr. Harris’ wife, Hillary, is also an anesthesiologist – they jumped in on a case just a few hours after arrival. They are from Cape Town South Africa, although Hillary grew up in Zimbabwe (travel was only two planes and 8 hours for them). They have two boys, ages 12 and 11 so the place is loaded with kids now. (Harris - 12 and 11, Briggs - 21, 17 and 15, Ebersole – 19 and 17, a family from Mango – 14 and 13, Jade a 21 year-old college student, and Taylor – a 20 year-old college student). The Harris’s are also thinking about and planning for long term missions. The teachers arrived over the weekend and started their training today. Cari hasn’t been able to help teach yet this year but she’s contributed with some of the prep work.
John Briggs invited me to play tennis on Tuesday and all the teens were on the court for street hockey on Thursday. Drew, Tony, and Cari finally were able to use the pool this week. Cari’s been to market in Adeta. Andy’s been attacked by army ants a couple times and Cari’s been attacked by mosquitoes (no snake stories yet). We’re not too happy about the rooster crowing at 3 or 4 in the morning, but the boys enjoy helping ATsuTse (aChooChe) feed the chickens and collect the eggs. We’ve learned that a couple chickens outside the coop happens a lot and is no big deal so for the moment no more exciting “farm-Cari to the rescue” stories. Andy has been mostly working or sleeping but we have managed to squeeze in some Carcassone and Settlers. Cari says she has plans to write an email at some point but can’t get her nose out of her Jane Austen books (maybe when she’s read through them all once?).
The medicine has been a bit rough. Stayed up almost all night with an unconscious man who had seizures and then stopped breathing – turns out he had taken WAY too much insulin (10x his dose) and gone into hypoglycemic coma, took us a bit to figure that out and almost lost him, but after about four hours and tons of glucose IV he suddenly woke up and started pulling out his various tubes! Insulin is hard to explain here, even if you have a fridge to keep it cold. He had long-acting and short acting which usually are given together to optimize sugar control. He had been using his short acting vial first and then when it was gone he was going to start using the second vial (long-acting)!!! I had two kids die on the same day – one of renal failure after toxic epidermal necrolysis (very bad…and two weeks after taking medicines we gave her here at HBB) and one newborn baby. Then Russ had two more die in the next 16 hours – one was a six year old whose twin brother had passed away less than a day earlier (Witchcraft is common here, and the Togolese nurses asked about it. Apparently there is another family in the village with long standing animosity against our patient’s family – so some suspect a curse was put on them. Our other working hypothesis was cashews, some of which can be very poisonous, although mom had also eaten the cashew meal and was fine. Of course, we will never know….). We’ve also sent home several patients to die including an elderly lady with pneumonia and a 5 year old with renal failure from nephrotic syndrome. We currently have seven babies in isolettes (31 week and 32 weeks premies doing great, 32 week premie not feeding well, 28 week premie born today, 2 week old recovering well from sepsis, 3 day old with seizures, and 3 day old with heart failure and probable seizures). One of the things we could really use is IV nutrition (TPN) – we joke about how much sugar kids in the States get but some of our babies are alive because of sugar IVs! The 5 year old MVA has awakened from his coma and is drinking a tiny bit but hasn’t talked yet and doesn’t really follow commands. He’s got a long road. The caustic ingestion kiddo is doing well (hide your bleaches!!!!!!).
It’s been a rough week. Tiring, and I’ve made a few mistakes (several with adults, even a few with kids). A reminder that God is the one doing the work here (Ps 127:1, Is 31:1 and Zech 4:6) not me. And my job is to be obedient and humble, to find my identity in Him (Luke 3:16), not my profession. Thank goodness we have a God of power and forgiveness, might and mercy. More rests to come this week. Maybe even a chance to join the kids in the pool.
We hope all of you are well. Happy Father’s Day Tom and David and all you other fathers. Everyone give your kids a big hug and thank God for another day with them! May God be the source of your strength and your song.
In the Shadow of the Almighty.
CADT (The Robertsons)
Egbebedo! Dog-be. Yo-lo.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labor in vain.”
Sorry it’s been so long between emails. Four calls in 7 days, several deaths, lots of heartache, some joy, and not quite enough sleep. (Although I did get one of the brownies Cari made for me for Father’s Day!) Life has picked up here in the last couple days. The new short term surgeon, Dr. Harris, is here, which will be a good relief for Dr. Briggs, the Family Doctor who’s been covering call. Dr. Harris’ wife, Hillary, is also an anesthesiologist – they jumped in on a case just a few hours after arrival. They are from Cape Town South Africa, although Hillary grew up in Zimbabwe (travel was only two planes and 8 hours for them). They have two boys, ages 12 and 11 so the place is loaded with kids now. (Harris - 12 and 11, Briggs - 21, 17 and 15, Ebersole – 19 and 17, a family from Mango – 14 and 13, Jade a 21 year-old college student, and Taylor – a 20 year-old college student). The Harris’s are also thinking about and planning for long term missions. The teachers arrived over the weekend and started their training today. Cari hasn’t been able to help teach yet this year but she’s contributed with some of the prep work.
John Briggs invited me to play tennis on Tuesday and all the teens were on the court for street hockey on Thursday. Drew, Tony, and Cari finally were able to use the pool this week. Cari’s been to market in Adeta. Andy’s been attacked by army ants a couple times and Cari’s been attacked by mosquitoes (no snake stories yet). We’re not too happy about the rooster crowing at 3 or 4 in the morning, but the boys enjoy helping ATsuTse (aChooChe) feed the chickens and collect the eggs. We’ve learned that a couple chickens outside the coop happens a lot and is no big deal so for the moment no more exciting “farm-Cari to the rescue” stories. Andy has been mostly working or sleeping but we have managed to squeeze in some Carcassone and Settlers. Cari says she has plans to write an email at some point but can’t get her nose out of her Jane Austen books (maybe when she’s read through them all once?).
The medicine has been a bit rough. Stayed up almost all night with an unconscious man who had seizures and then stopped breathing – turns out he had taken WAY too much insulin (10x his dose) and gone into hypoglycemic coma, took us a bit to figure that out and almost lost him, but after about four hours and tons of glucose IV he suddenly woke up and started pulling out his various tubes! Insulin is hard to explain here, even if you have a fridge to keep it cold. He had long-acting and short acting which usually are given together to optimize sugar control. He had been using his short acting vial first and then when it was gone he was going to start using the second vial (long-acting)!!! I had two kids die on the same day – one of renal failure after toxic epidermal necrolysis (very bad…and two weeks after taking medicines we gave her here at HBB) and one newborn baby. Then Russ had two more die in the next 16 hours – one was a six year old whose twin brother had passed away less than a day earlier (Witchcraft is common here, and the Togolese nurses asked about it. Apparently there is another family in the village with long standing animosity against our patient’s family – so some suspect a curse was put on them. Our other working hypothesis was cashews, some of which can be very poisonous, although mom had also eaten the cashew meal and was fine. Of course, we will never know….). We’ve also sent home several patients to die including an elderly lady with pneumonia and a 5 year old with renal failure from nephrotic syndrome. We currently have seven babies in isolettes (31 week and 32 weeks premies doing great, 32 week premie not feeding well, 28 week premie born today, 2 week old recovering well from sepsis, 3 day old with seizures, and 3 day old with heart failure and probable seizures). One of the things we could really use is IV nutrition (TPN) – we joke about how much sugar kids in the States get but some of our babies are alive because of sugar IVs! The 5 year old MVA has awakened from his coma and is drinking a tiny bit but hasn’t talked yet and doesn’t really follow commands. He’s got a long road. The caustic ingestion kiddo is doing well (hide your bleaches!!!!!!).
It’s been a rough week. Tiring, and I’ve made a few mistakes (several with adults, even a few with kids). A reminder that God is the one doing the work here (Ps 127:1, Is 31:1 and Zech 4:6) not me. And my job is to be obedient and humble, to find my identity in Him (Luke 3:16), not my profession. Thank goodness we have a God of power and forgiveness, might and mercy. More rests to come this week. Maybe even a chance to join the kids in the pool.
We hope all of you are well. Happy Father’s Day Tom and David and all you other fathers. Everyone give your kids a big hug and thank God for another day with them! May God be the source of your strength and your song.
In the Shadow of the Almighty.
CADT (The Robertsons)
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