Afi's hope

Remember Afi?

She's the little girl I mentioned in one of my prior posts. The sweet girl with the tracheostomy that I didn't want to forget.

I'd like to share her story.

Afi came to us 21 days ago to be exact. Yes, she's been with us for three weeks now! She came with her mama directly from screening because she has a tumor in her mouth that is growing and slowly occluding her airway. Due to the fragility of her respiratory status, the team sent her directly to the ship where I soon got her settled in the ward. Hours later, a tracheostomy was placed to ensure a stable airway until we could later operate on her tumor.

But before we could remove the tumor, two things had to be determined. Number one, the histology results had to be negative for cancer. And number two, she had to be free of infection. After waiting a week for the results, number one was taken care of... the tumor was benign!!

Praise God!!

Number two, however, not so easy. A very nasty and highly contagious bacteria was growing in her lungs. We had to put her in "isolation." This meant we had to put her in a corner bed and place curtains around it to separate her from the other patients-- all to lessen the spread of infection and protect the other patients. This meant all those caring for her had to "gown up," as well as less contact with others, confinement to her "corner," and restrictions from going outside-- even from walking around the ward.

This is a big deal. And an even bigger deal in the African culture. Isolation is very disheartening and isolating (for a lack of a better word) to a culture that thrives on community; that is dependent on others, and whose value and worth is gained from their place and acceptance in society and in their community. It is devastating to say the least. Not too mention how unfair it is in the mind of an active five-year old girl who doesn't fully understand!

So, over the last few weeks we've all worked really hard to find ways to acknowledge Afi, interact with her, and brighten her spirits, along with treating the infection. This has not been easy. After three rounds of two different antibiotics, discouraging results showed no response. Still infection. And even worse, the bacteria became resistant to those antibiotics!

Surgery was once again held.

Our last option was to give the only other drug it still showed susceptibility to; a drug we have in limited supply, reserved for only special circumstances, and a cost of a couple thousand dollars!

Her only hope.

We gave her a full cycle over seven days and waited. And we prayed. Hard. Surgery was now dependent on this one drug (and God's power). If this didn't work, Afi's surgery would be indefinitely cancelled. We would not be able to do her surgery due to the infection.

And guess what?!! Yesterday the results came back with no infection!!!! Woohoo!! When I got the results I squealed with joy! I ran over to Afi's bed, waving the results up in the air while two other nurses very dramatically tore down those awful curtains that separated her from everyone else. When those curtains came down, her face broke into the biggest smile!! We explained to her what it all meant. Oh the joy!! After a good clean, she immediately and eagerly walked around the unit, touching anything and anyone.

Afi is back! :-)

Praise you Jesus, praise You!!

She is scheduled for surgery on Monday. She will be a very big and complicated case. Please pray for wisdom, guidance, and skill over the surgeons, and a successful recovery.