"If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-David Livingstone

December 29, 2010

Sabbath

2/27/10
I'm sitting here right now at almost ten o'clock at night beside a woman with her 4-year-old grandaughter on her lap who's having difficulty breathing. They came as an emergency this evening and it only took one quick listen to the wheezing in her lungs to stop my murmuring. R 60. No doubt about it, it's a nebulizer case. So the treatment's just finished and we're waiting half an hour to decide what happens next. Definite improvement. Don't always get results this quickly. Respirations down to 36 and wheezing is noticeably improved.
I'm back down in the valley at the school for the weekend. Been a busy day. Started out this morning by the arrival of a very pregnant woman. Her vision got blurred this morning and then she went blind, she had a severe headache and was vomiting as well as obvious edema. Needless to say, there was reason to be concerned and Mama and Daddy took her into the OB clinic in the refugee camp about an hours drive away. Turns out she was pregnant with twins and had severe toxemia. They got back just in time to help transport the students back to the school from church and then we're informed that one of our big girls from the school, SawSawPaw, is sick and having breathing difficulty. So I grab a stethoscope and bottle of Sabumol and run down to the girls dormitory. I find a very miserable girl, moaning and crying on the floor surrounded by various students and staff attempting to help. I do the best I can with vital signs and medecine and decide that this is urgent. In short order we're on our way to the Metta ER. After an eons wait (I actually was so exhausted that I found myself a bench and had a nice nap!) we're informed that there is no problem. All it is is hyperventilation from mental problems (yeah, right! - I don't like to doubt the doctors, but I'm not sure... but then I guess I'm biased toward our students and naturally don't like to accept that kind of diagnoses. We'll see...) We no sooner return and I find my comfy mat as I left it and get reasorbed in my book than there is the arrival of a new patient. This time a little girl. I take one look at her and her mother's placid expressions and silently groan. Why is it that people can't only come for EMERGENCIES on the weekends!?! So much for a day rest and relaxation off of my mountain.:) But we are soon informed that our little girl has a fishbone stuck in her throat and that she has vomited blood. I attempt to peer down her throat with the aid of an otoscope and tongue depressor, but to no avail! I clearly am not equiped for this. What continues to astonish me is our little patient's composure. No hystericalness, whimpering, gasping, or throat clutching as we had with our last little patient who had a chicken bone lodged in her throat. I'm truly starting to suspect that it must have been dislodged already and has only scratched her throat. But, no, they assure me that it's there alright and that this particular liitle girl has a reputation for being quite unflappable. So off we are to the Metta ER yet again. The doctor promptly fishes the bone out and in short order we're on our way back again when home base contacts us and advises that we hurry as SawSawPaw's having problems again. Back down to the school I go. She's better this time, in comparison. Moaning and still kind of out of it with dizziness and a headache, but having no breathing difficulty. Kept an eye on her and spent some enjoyable time with the girls in the dorm. She eventually fell asleep and I hope will be better by morning.
So here I am doing the 2nd neb treatment on our new little girl. Here is the sweetest grandmother you could ever hope to meet. She tells me thank-you so much for learning Karen and hearing that makes every painful moment of the on-going learning process worth it. 2nd treatment's finished and, much to my relief, the wheezing's all but gone. They leave with many smiles and thank-you's. It's one of those moments where I know that Im right where I'm supposed to be. I'm not focused on yesterday and I don't know about tomorrow, but right here, right now, at this very moment, I know with a certainty that I am right in the place where I was made to be for this moment in time. And it's the bestest feeling in the world!
On that warm and fuzzy note, it's 11:10(+). Goodnight, folks!

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