Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family at home. This was the first big family holiday that we have missed, but we are thankful for the missionary family and friends that we have here in Cameroon to spend the holiday with. Fitting to the season, we have also had some wonderful successes recently at the hospital.

We had a large potluck Thanksgiving dinner last night.  This shows the spread just as we were about to dig in.  Unfortunately there are no turkeys here in Cameroon, but we ate delicious chicken, vegetables, and desserts.

Now to what we are thankful for at the hospital recently.  This baby was a 7 week old twin who came in apneic (not breathing), cyanotic (blue) and lifeless. He had a severe case of bronchiolitis that his twin unfortunately had already died from. Thanks to one of our pediatricians (JR Young), a wonderful CPAP machine that was donated, and God’s provision, this child was resuscitated. He stayed with us for several weeks and finally was able to make it home.

Baby Victory (aptly named) came in as a newborn with meconium peritonitis and perforation. Stool got stuck in his intestines, causing a hole which stool leaked out of. He was operated on 3 times due to new perforations and leakage. He was only intermittently able to eat. However, he was a strong and resilient baby. He survived all of these surgeries and has gotten up to full feeds. He is still in the hospital due to a wound infection, but he should be going home soon. It is amazing that such a small baby survived so much.

This little one was born at term and expected to be a healthy baby but then we noticed swelling of his scalp, that continued to get worse and worse. He had a subgaleal hematoma (which is a rare type of bleeding that can happen between the skin and bones of the scalp). Babies can lose a lot of blood this way. This baby’s hemoglobin dropped to less than 4. Unfortunately, the hospital at the time did not have the correct blood type to give him a transfusion. We thought he would die overnight, but he held on until we were able to get blood the next day. After the transfusions and some phototherapy this little baby was able to go home with his parents.

We are thankful for our new bedside ultrasound.  This was donated from Angela's dad's office.  We have been using it for quick bedside evaluations, FNAs (fine needle aspirations), and teaching the residents the basics of ultrasound.  This picture is of Chuck and Kamdem finding the mass in a liver before doing an FNA.  Christy Lee (OB/GYN) has even started using it for some urgent evaluations when there is not time for a more formal ultrasound by the hospital techs. 

We are thankful that Isaac really enjoys playing with Cathen.  He is always watching out for her and likes to take her by the hand when we go walking.  Sidewalk chalk is their new favorite activity.  When playing together, he occasionally bulldozes her over, but she is very forgiving.

We are thankful for the new wildflowers that we see on all of our hikes now.  They are a beautiful addition to the landscape, but they seem to signify the end of the rainy season as the rains have officially stopped.

We hope you are as thankful as we are for the blessings God has given all of us.  We continue to be thankful for the support each of you give us here at Mbingo.