Tough Times on the Ward

Hello all...

Though I've greatly enjoyed reporting to you the wonderful things God is doing here in Liberia, I feel a certain responsibility to also fill you in on some of the recent difficulties we, as a community, have experienced.

Last week was a very trying time for the hospital and all who are involved there. Though we are not equipped as an emergency room, we continue to receive patients, in critical condition, who are dropped off at all hours of the night by desperate family members seeking hope. Though we can't possibly help all who come, there are those that we simply can't turn away.

Both Sade and Benjamin are two of those cases. Sade, a four year old in severe respiratory distress, was brought to the ship one night by his grandparents. As it turned out, he had a very aggressive type of cancer known as Berkett's lymphoma. Over the course of just TWO SHORT WEEKS he had developed a bowling ball sized tumor on his jaw, which had begun to occlude his airway and suck the life from him. He needed an emergent intervention and was brought directly into surgery. During the operation he suffered a cardiac arrest and after several minutes of CPR was revived. He sustained significant brain damage and was placed on a ventilator for nearly a week, receiving incredible care around the clock. Despite massive efforts and the best we could offer, Sade died Saturday morning.

Berkett's Lymphoma, while aggressive, is one of the most CURABLE types of lymphoma, requiring only ONE round of chemo therapy for a lifetime of remission in most cases. Sade simply didn't have access to such medicine and arrived to us a day late and a dollar short, literally.

Benjamin, a fourteen year old with a raging eye infection, arrived somulent and non responsive to the ship one evening. Again, his family heard about the Africa Mercy and carried him a great distance in hopes that we could save their dying son. By the time he reached us, this simple eye infection had crossed the blood brain barrier and essentially caused full blown encephalitis, or infection of the brain. Swelling in the brain, massive systemic infection, and hemodynamic instability eventually led to a need for intubation. He remained on a ventilator in the ICU, beside Sade', for nearly a week. In spite of outstanding care and a staff that rallied around eachother to go the extra miles, we lost Benjamin on Sunday morning.

Again, the infection in Benjamin's eye would never have gone to his brain had he access to effective health care. Given these social injustices, its very difficult to swallow, never mind digest, losses of this kind. These two young boys were supposed to be out running around with their friends, living out dreams, and becoming the vibrant future of Liberia.

In the midst of all of this chaos, I can't help but be reminded of the words to a song by U2, "Where you live should not determine whether you live or whether you die." Bono's right, it SHOULDN'T. But it DOES............

So what to take from these heavy stories? Well, many things of course; too many to get into right now. Perhaps the most practical for each of us, however, is based on the understanding that God is sovereign and has GIVEN each of us so very much WITH PURPOSE.....that purpose being that we DO MUCH WITH WHAT WE HAVE. Let this always be the challenge we present to eachother, as we constantly seek to sharpen ourselves into the tools that HE uses to bring hope to the hopeless......

Love,
KIO