News from Kenya - #19

Journal entry 19

Wednesday May 5, 2010-9.00PM Day 38

I just came home from the hospital after visiting Rom. He is still unstable and almost unresponsive. I appreciate hearing from my friends and knowing that many people are holding Rom in prayer.

Last night after I finished writing my journal I was too worried and upset to try to sleep. I prayed for a while but felt like I needed to talk to someone “human” who would understand the situation here. It was about 1 AM so it was 6PM back home. I tried Skyping my sister Terri and my nephew Mike but they weren’t online.

I hesitated about calling my friend Abby in Oxford, England because it was 11PM there. I decided to call her anyway and I was glad I did. Abby is remarkable and so supportive. We had a poor connection on Skype so she called me back on her landline. We didn’t talk too long but it was long enough to give me some support. (Thank you Abby)

I was still wide-awake so I was looking up liver disorders and causes of jaundice online. It was almost 3 AM when I noticed my niece Michele was online so I sent her a chat message. At first she didn’t respond but after about 5 minutes she wrote; “I’m here”

Michele has been to Kisumu 4 times and I knew she would be able to understand my situation. We decided to try Skyping and IT WORKED J. We could see each other although it was not perfectly clear. There was a delay in our talking but considering we were half way around the world from each other it was pretty remarkable.

We talked for almost an hour and then my sister Karen arrived at Michele’s house following a bike ride. I got to see her and talk to her for a couple of minutes and then the connection failed. It was a relief to talk to people back home and helpful.

I finally crawled into bed about 4 AM but sleep wouldn’t come. I tried reading but I couldn’t concentrate. I played freecell on my IPOD Touch and then I heard the Muslims singing their morning prayer about 5 or 5.30 AM. That must be when I fell asleep.

Paul called about 8.15 AM to see if I had heard anything from Connie. I told him no and tried to go back to sleep but I was awake so I got up. I called Connie. She said that he had a very bad night and they gave him blood transfusions. Early this morning they put in a nasogastric tube and gave him some milk and porridge. He pulled the tube out shortly after they finished the feeding but at least he had a little food. Official visiting is not until 1 PM so I was planning on going up then.

I ate my breakfast and did some more research online and checked my emails. This little modem has been very helpful even if the connection is poor much of the time. Somehow it got to be 11.30 AM and Paul called to say he was leaving school and would come by and we could go to the hospital together. Maurice, our Tuk Tuk driver, arrived shortly and off we went.

When we arrived in the ward about 12.30PM, Rom responded a little with a bit of a smile. He is not able to talk at this point. Connie was sitting on an empty bed near Rom. She said she stood next to his bed most of the night as he was restless trying to pull at the IV’s. I had stopped at the store and brought up a box of gloves so they could at least use them when they cared for him. Rom was having diarrhea so Cecelia went to the store to purchase adult pampers. They have no bedpans or urinals.

Visiting hours hadn’t officially started yet so the ward was not crowded. There was a new young man in the bed where the patient had died yesterday. He was very sick and was vomiting on the floor. He did not have a basin. No one came to his assistance. After about 30 minutes one of the nurses came over and noticed the vomit on the floor. She got a pail of water and a mop and wiped it up. Paul tells me they do not have disinfectant for the water that it was just plain cold water. She was not wearing gloves. I was beginning to feel sick myself but it was just at the hopelessness all around me.

A few minutes later the young man in the bed across from Rom was crying. He was very upset but it didn’t seem to be from his illness. We then discovered his concern. His knapsack had been robbed while he slept and he lost the 1000Ksh he was going to use to get an X-Ray that he needed. No procedures or medication are given without paying first. A security guard came in to investigate, and one of the patients, an older man, said he saw another young patient rummaging through the man’s knapsack during the night. The security guard questioned the young man and he became “almost white”. They looked in his things and found the money. He returned it to the man he stole it from. They decided not to arrest him as he was supposed to be discharged that day and was still quite sick. They just let it go since the man got his money back. Everyone is so desperate. I was considering giving the man the 1000 Ksh so he could get his X-Ray but was relieved when the money was returned. If I gave it to one there are 24 others that need money just as badly and I can’t help everyone-much as I would like to.

At about 1:15 PM visitors started pouring into the ward. Rom had so many visitors, from his family, the staff from Buburi, Roberts’ wife Jennifer and friends of Connie. There were 15 of us standing around his bed. Several people led prayers. I was standing near Rom’s head so I was praying and holding his head. Some of the people were crying. Rom did not respond in anyway during all this.

Paul and I had arranged to have Maurice come back to get us at 1:30PM and take us to Kanyamedha, the school where Paul teaches. He is a volunteer, as I’ve mentioned before, so he had gone early in the morning to teach and then was able to leave to go to the hospital. It was another bumpy muddy ride to the school. The Tuk Tuk got stuck very close to the school so we got out and walked. Paul called some of the students over to push out the Tuk Tuk and off he went.

We arrived at the school about 2.30 PM. They were on break and having lunch of corn and beans- a traditional meal. I had a dish. It was tasty. The corn kernels are very large and very tough. The beans were good and soft. After lunch Paul took care of some of his business and I looked over some of the exams the teachers had prepared. The questions are so hard. The students get a good education but there are so few job opportunities once they finish. I think a high school education makes them more fulfilled as a person and is worth it even if it doesn’t result in a job.

We walked over to the house Paul rents. He lives there with his cousin Stephen who is HIV + and two boys in Secondary school. It is a nice house with a cement floor and two rooms. The compound is secure with a gate that is locked at night. It is a good location for Paul as it is very close to the school.

We walked back to the school and I talked to one of the third-year girls, Mercelline, about the “STOP THE SPOT” Program. FIOH-USA provides funding for sanitary napkins for all the girls in the school. She spoke briefly on the video and was very grateful.

Gordon, the principal, gave us a ride back to town. He asked if I would stop on the way to see one of the teachers that was hit by a motorcycle about a week ago. He wanted me to look at her X-Rays and also see if there were any exercises I could show her. She had fractured the inferior and superior ramus of her right pelvis (for all you medical people reading this). She had been on complete bed rest with her right leg in traction using a plastic bottle with some water in it. She also was wearing a lumbar support. She seemed rather groggy and I though it might be from pain medication. She also seems quite depressed. She is seeing a physiotherapist at her house and it seems like they are using OK treatments. We no longer use strict bed rest in the USA for that problem but when I was a young therapist it was the normal treatment. He was starting to let her get up once/day for a very short time. She told me in another week they would begin to get her up walking with support. I gave her some exercises to do with her arms and her good leg and ankle pumps to prevent blood clots. She said her therapist had told her to do some of the same things. However I don’t think she has been doing them. I gave her a pep talk explaining some of the possible complications if she did not keep her body strong. I also encouraged her to eat her food. She said she had not been eating. I explained that her body could not heal without proper nutrition. I’m sure she has heard it all before but at least I tried.

We continued back to the flat and Paul rushed to his driving lesson. I came up and watched some of the video by Donna Eden on Energy Medicine. I used some of the techniques on myself and I did feel less tired. Paul came from his lesson and we had cup-a-soup and the small sweet bananas for supper. Neither of us felt like going to a restaurant. We tried watching more of the video together but we were both too distracted by Rom’s illness. We decided to go back to the hospital.

Maurice took us again. We got there about 7:00 PM and visiting had ended at 6:00PM, but they let us in. Clementine was there so she was able to tell me what was going on. Not really much of anything. They had still not done any liver function studies or examination of his stool. His blood sugars continue to fluctuate widely but are consistently lower than on admission. He is still severely jaundiced. He can’t seem to control his tongue and it stays up at the roof of his mouth. When I first came in he smiled and I noticed a right facial droop. I asked him to say hello and he did try and managed to whisper it. He is moving his arms and legs without difficulty. He was getting another blood transfusion and kept trying to pull on the line. Cecelia was holding his hand and making sure the blood continued to run smoothly. Ebrine and Caroline, Connie’s sister-in-laws were there as well as Clementine and her husband.

There is what they call an Amenity Ward in the hospital. It is where people who can afford to pay stay. I asked Clementine about moving Rom to that ward as it is cleaner and there are not more than two or three patients in a room. She said the medical care is better in the ward and there are more eyes around to see if anything is going wrong. She was going to have him moved to ICU but it is overcrowded and understaffed and she thinks he has a better chance in the ward until he stabilizes. In the amenity wards the doctors are called in as consultants and are not available all the time. She says treatment is delayed. I don’t know home much more delayed it could be than it is already.

They sat Rom up some by raising the head of the bed and he did swallow about 6 tablespoons of porridge. Then he couldn’t swallow anymore. He was trying but he couldn’t. They are thinking of putting in another naso-gastric tube.

By now it was 8:15PM and Paul and I went down to meet Maurice to travel back to the flat. Paul and I talked a little bit and he went home. I started writing this journal. Please keep up the prayers.

Tomorrow Fr Charles, Paul and I are scheduled to go and see a project Fr. Charles wanted us to see, and also visit Obama’s family home here in Kenya. It is not far from here. Rom, of course, was supposed to go with us. We decided to go anyway as there is not much we can do at the hospital and there are many relatives staying close.

End of Journal 19