Lots to share
So, I'll start at the very beginning, turns out it's a very good place to start.
Almost two weeks ago now, (it was a Sunday) Kylie complained of a sore foot. I didn't think much of it because she had just played a big game of "water soccer" (we've invented a new pool game here) that afternoon, so may be she twisted it or hurt it somehow.
By Monday morning, she refused to walk normal on it, so I took a good look. It wasn't red or swollen at all. Later in the day, it seemed to be worse, so we took her to the Mango hospital. The medical guy (I don't think he was a doctor. you'll understand why in a moment.) took a look, wrapped it in a tensor bandage, prescribed ibuprofen, tylenol and vitamin C, and told us to go home. Oh, and this is where it got weird. Before we left, he poured rubbing alcohol all over the tensor bandage on her foot and told me I needed to do that twice a day. (I'm telling you, I cannot make this stuff up...)
OKay, before I go on, I also need to explain that there are MANY miracles that took place through out this whole thing. so many. If I try to type them all out, you'll be reading for hours. But know that I will try to explain each one as it happened, because God was at work through this whole thing on our behalf.
Nate's friend, Francisco, works at the hospital and came with us, out of sheer kindness, to help out with any explanations etc. Between my French and his English, I understood what was going on. If there was no improvement on the ankle, we were to return for an x-ray Tuesday morning. Which is what we did. No break. So he told us to continue with the meds, the pouring of the rubbing alcohol, and the vitamin C. (I have to admit that when he showed me again how to pour the alcohol over the bandage, it took everything in me not to start laughing.)
So Tuesday night, her fever started. She was up in the night in pain. I knew something wasn't right so I contacted my doc friend in London and amazingly, she answered the phone and we had good chat about what to look for in the coming hours. I was away all day Wednesday, so Nate stayed home with the kids and Kylie continued to get worse. The thing is, her ankle was still looking normal. Just pain and fever. Wednesday night I called Dr. Kelly here in Tsiko (the mission hospital that our new mission hospital is associated with and modeled after). Kelly gave me some more info and told me to keep her posted if anything got worse. We put her on some antibiotics and thought that would do it.
By Thursday at noon, things weren't improving, so we called back to Tsiko and talked to Todd. Todd was very serious from the get go. He's worked with crazy infections in africa long enough to know that you don't mess around. Her put her on multiple meds, including malaria drugs, and told us that if there was not a noticeable improvement by Friday morning, we were to make the 9 hour trip to Tsiko. So Emily and I packed, just in case. I knew by midnight that we'd be going. Kylie's fever had spike to 102.6 degree a couple of times, so that just confirmed it.
We left by 6:30 am (Emily, me and Kylie) and made the trip in excellent time. Kylie traveled like a trooper despite the terribly bumpy roads. With the exception of the last half hour. It was awful. All of a sudden, she was in terrible pain so I climbed into the back seat with her. She was crying and writhing in pain and saying, "Oh Mommy, make it stop. Mommy, help me. It hurts so much, Momma." Even typing that out brings me to tears as I remember it. It was awful.
We pulled into the hospital, after arriving safely on wings of angels (I'm not even being silly with that statement) and both Kelly and Todd were available. They took one look at her ankle and knew it was serious. It has begun to swell on Thursday and was swollen to her knee by the time we arrived. Todd put a little freezing in, then stuck a big needle right into the joint and began removing nasty pus. A lot of it. Poor Kylie. It was terrible.
But God is good. And we made it there. And we were in the right place with the right people.
I'll continue the story later....but right now I need to go check on Kylie. I'll post the rest as soon as I can.
Almost two weeks ago now, (it was a Sunday) Kylie complained of a sore foot. I didn't think much of it because she had just played a big game of "water soccer" (we've invented a new pool game here) that afternoon, so may be she twisted it or hurt it somehow.
By Monday morning, she refused to walk normal on it, so I took a good look. It wasn't red or swollen at all. Later in the day, it seemed to be worse, so we took her to the Mango hospital. The medical guy (I don't think he was a doctor. you'll understand why in a moment.) took a look, wrapped it in a tensor bandage, prescribed ibuprofen, tylenol and vitamin C, and told us to go home. Oh, and this is where it got weird. Before we left, he poured rubbing alcohol all over the tensor bandage on her foot and told me I needed to do that twice a day. (I'm telling you, I cannot make this stuff up...)
OKay, before I go on, I also need to explain that there are MANY miracles that took place through out this whole thing. so many. If I try to type them all out, you'll be reading for hours. But know that I will try to explain each one as it happened, because God was at work through this whole thing on our behalf.
Nate's friend, Francisco, works at the hospital and came with us, out of sheer kindness, to help out with any explanations etc. Between my French and his English, I understood what was going on. If there was no improvement on the ankle, we were to return for an x-ray Tuesday morning. Which is what we did. No break. So he told us to continue with the meds, the pouring of the rubbing alcohol, and the vitamin C. (I have to admit that when he showed me again how to pour the alcohol over the bandage, it took everything in me not to start laughing.)
So Tuesday night, her fever started. She was up in the night in pain. I knew something wasn't right so I contacted my doc friend in London and amazingly, she answered the phone and we had good chat about what to look for in the coming hours. I was away all day Wednesday, so Nate stayed home with the kids and Kylie continued to get worse. The thing is, her ankle was still looking normal. Just pain and fever. Wednesday night I called Dr. Kelly here in Tsiko (the mission hospital that our new mission hospital is associated with and modeled after). Kelly gave me some more info and told me to keep her posted if anything got worse. We put her on some antibiotics and thought that would do it.
By Thursday at noon, things weren't improving, so we called back to Tsiko and talked to Todd. Todd was very serious from the get go. He's worked with crazy infections in africa long enough to know that you don't mess around. Her put her on multiple meds, including malaria drugs, and told us that if there was not a noticeable improvement by Friday morning, we were to make the 9 hour trip to Tsiko. So Emily and I packed, just in case. I knew by midnight that we'd be going. Kylie's fever had spike to 102.6 degree a couple of times, so that just confirmed it.
We left by 6:30 am (Emily, me and Kylie) and made the trip in excellent time. Kylie traveled like a trooper despite the terribly bumpy roads. With the exception of the last half hour. It was awful. All of a sudden, she was in terrible pain so I climbed into the back seat with her. She was crying and writhing in pain and saying, "Oh Mommy, make it stop. Mommy, help me. It hurts so much, Momma." Even typing that out brings me to tears as I remember it. It was awful.
We pulled into the hospital, after arriving safely on wings of angels (I'm not even being silly with that statement) and both Kelly and Todd were available. They took one look at her ankle and knew it was serious. It has begun to swell on Thursday and was swollen to her knee by the time we arrived. Todd put a little freezing in, then stuck a big needle right into the joint and began removing nasty pus. A lot of it. Poor Kylie. It was terrible.
But God is good. And we made it there. And we were in the right place with the right people.
I'll continue the story later....but right now I need to go check on Kylie. I'll post the rest as soon as I can.
Oh my goodness. I don't know how the two of you got through that terrible drive with her in such pain. So glad she's getting good medical care. All our love and prayers.
ReplyDeleteRubbing alcohol evaporates very quickly. I suppose that by pouring it all over a cloth bandage, you might produce a cooling effect, which could, in theory, reduce swelling . . . in theory, if you had the right diagnosis in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI had tears reading this. What a horror. I'm so glad she's on the mend. I pray daily for full, quick, and miraculous healing.
Oh my. I'm so sorry you're going through this. My niece had a staff infection when she was young, so I understand. We're praying for you.
ReplyDeleteDarlene
Oh Erin....ack. What a terrible ride that must have been. I teared right up
ReplyDeleteWith you as I read. So so glad she is doing si much better and anxious to read the rest. Love u all