Oh my word(s)

* I started this post two days ago but just got the chance to finish it.

We have had such a bad day here. I don't think I could possibly recount everything so I am going to give you some specific things to pray for tonight.

This couple came in a few minutes apart and they husband was in super bad shape. In between gasping breaths he said he was worried about his wife who was coming behind him and he thought she was worse. They had walked 5 STINKING HOURS with cholera. After we got him stabilized a visiting doctor went out to meet the wife on the road and she was able to walk the rest of the way up. They stayed two days and went home happy and healthy today! I passed the wife on the road and she ran up to me and gave me a big hug of thanks!

All he kept wanting was his wife next to him in bed, it was so sweet.

What do you do when you need to warm a patient up and have no electricity? That would be use hot water from MRE kits to warm the IV fluid. So degaje.

All in this horrible day, Lesseo's stomach blew up. Thankfully, it was just a fluid overload and it went down in a day, but I was super worried.

This is Darlens, who many of you know because he has been here so long and is so loved by everyone, especially Anna. I wrote this post when he was first here after the EQ, he was one of the worst kids I haver ever seen. He and a few other kids seem to have caught this bug that might be a flu, starts out with vomiting and diarrhea and then dehydration, lethargy, then respiratory symptoms and a high fever. He is such a fragile little child and went really bad on us on Friday. Licia and Jess flew up the mountain with him to me and Lori up at the cholera house so we could look at him. All of us, including the nannies who have taken care of him for so long began to sob, knowing that he just wasn't going to make it. With nothing else to do we came back down to the clinic so we could put him on oxygen and miraculously he is still alive today, and seems to be maintaining. Please continue to pray that Darlens would survive this!

Sadly, Maurency who has been here for quite sometime and was on the list ready to go home also got this bug and died this morning. It was awful. He had been up at the cholera house so we could watch him closely and he was still having some vomiting yesterday and was super lethargic. When I left last night he had a fever and cough so we gave him some tylenol and told the night shift to keep an eye on his fever and sit him up a lot so he could cough that stuff up. This morning was crazy for the nurses as there was a very bad little boy admitted with cholera so by the time I got up there he had a fever of 102 and really junky lungs. I gave him tylenol and flew down here to the clinic to give him a breathing treatment. I flipped him over several times and beat on his chest, but he wouldn't really cough for me. I checked his pulse ox and it was 85-90% so I put him on 5 Liters of oxygen and he hated it. He was kicking and fighting to get the mask off, super alert, wanting to drink lots of water (not acting like a hypo-oxygenated child). I stayed around until he fell asleep and headed back up to the cholera house and shortly after Licia called to say he stopped breathing. I ran as fast as I possibly could and jumped in where Licia was bagging him and did CPR for about 5 minutes, but he was already gone. I picked up his little lifeless body and sobbed. He shouldn't have died. I bathed him, and put his sweet little white dress on and thanked Jesus that Maurency was healed. I imagined what it is like to hear all of those angels singing and told him there were many days I would trade places with him. I have been here for the death of more than two dozen kids and doesn't get any easier to bury them. Life is just so hard here but Jesus promises redemption, and to that I cling.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

psalm 100

Enelson and Mirlene also have the same bug so we are watching them very closely, please pray.