Dorchelle

This is Dorchelle. She is 16 months old and weighed 20 lbs when we took her in on Tuesday. She is extremely sick with Kwashiorkor and her body is very swollen. A relative brought her to the clinic, because her mother died in the earthquake. Because down under all the water, she looks pretty good and developed for a 16 month old, it is possible that she got this bad in just a month.

Today she weighs 17 lbs, which means she lost 3 lbs of water in less than a week. Her organs are very damaged and she is in a critical stage of recovery. Her skin is breaking open and fluids are seeping out. Her urine and stool smells very toxic. Tonight, I am very worried. It has been hard to find anything she likes to eat, and she doesn't drink a whole lot. I am switching small bites of different foods and watering down gatorade for her to drink. I am very afraid that she will become dehydrated. That may be confusing because you think "I thought you said all that extra swelling is water?" Yes it is, but that means the water is not in her blood stream where it should be, but it is in her tissues. Please pray for Dorchelle tonight, just as all the other children, I do not want to lose her. She has a sassy attitude which I hope means she is truly a fighter.