March 2007
Hello Everyone!
Hope you are having a good 2007. Work at the hospital continues.
As the only long-term doctor these last months, much of my job
is advising on the patients with the most complications on each
of the wards and in the operating room. We can do very little
for many of these patients, so I sometimes feel I am going from
one tragedy to another. There is so much suffering, with tender
beauty breaking through the sadness.
A nurse at Embangweni Hospital cares for a sick child.
One example that comes to mind is a 2 year old that the clinical
officer intern and nurse on children’s ward asked me to
see. This little one has AIDS, sepsis, and widespread candida.
By now, he is improving a bit, able to swallow the specialized
milk. His ngogo (grandmother) is acting as guardian. She is elderly,
struggles to understand the instructions from the nurses and homecraft
workers, yet cheerfully perseveres. The patient’s mother
was admitted to a bed on children’s ward last night because
she too has full-blown AIDS, and now is bedridden. This same grandmother
is also her guardian. The ward staff was trying to figure out
whether the mother should be moved to female ward where she can
rest more. As this was being discussed, the grandmother brought
the crying child to the mother, who although very weak, was able
to so tenderly tuck the baby in next to her. The sobs were soothed,
and both were soon sleeping peacefully. Clearly, the mother and
baby need to be with each other. As the child is sicker than the
mother, they will stay as a unit on children’s ward. We
are hopeful they will stabilize so they can be started on anti-retroviral
medicines.
This is the first year in the last ten that we have had any spare
room on children’s ward from December through March. The
census has usually been 50 to 60, instead of this year’s
15 to 30. We guardedly believe this malaria and malnutrition season,
which has been mild so far, is the success of ongoing preventive
efforts, for example, the increased availability of mosquito nets
for people who get severe malaria most: pregnant mothers, children
under five years, and AIDS patients. Last year’s very good
harvest has improved the nutrition in most households. During
the last two years, the government has subsidized fertilizer coupon
programs designed to reach the poor villagers. Though many of
the coupons failed to reach the target population, just having
more fertilizer available overall has meant there’s more
access than the years when the prices were high because of the
overall scarcity. So, this year few patients are coming in with
severe malnutrition; and those that have it always have extenuating
circumstances. With fewer patients, the staff can better address
these circumstances!
We continue our efforts to decrease the number of mothers and
children who present with full-blown AIDS. We’re expanding
our programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission and follow-up
of children born to mothers who are HIV positive. We also have
a two-room AIDS clinic, named the FULU clinic. FULU means “tortoise,”
and the name was given because initially patients slowly trickled
in. Since then, more than 800 patients have been registered there,
including those on anti-retroviral treatment and those not yet
eligible. Thanks to recent donations, we now have enough funds
to finish our integrated health building, and the FULU clinic
will move into part of that structure. As I left children’s
ward this morning I was greeted by a cheerful mother, husband,
and child leaving the FULU clinic. My memory took me back to when
they were as sick as the mother and child I had just left.
Soon I will be in the United States for four months and able
to chat with many of you in person and by phone. During the first
two months, I will be talking at churches and such. The second
two I will be taking a review course and then studying for my
recertification family practice boards exam, scheduled for July
25. The tentative schedule has me in Wisconsin, St. Louis, and
Maryland/Virginia in April. Then Minnesota, West Virginia, California,
and Oregon in May. After that I’ll be in Washington and
Wisconsin and seeing relatives in Michigan. I will be using my
masommers6@yahoo.com
email address, and living with my sister, Bonnie Sommers-Olson,
and her family in Oregon, Wisconsin. Please pray for traveling
mercies.
Wishing you a holy Lent and happy Easter!
Love,
Martha
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 337 |
