Running

Devotions had just finished and people were getting set up for the day. I was in the pharmacy checking to see what medications were needed for dispensing today when someone said “Doctor, I think there is an emergency.” I glanced out the door and there was a man running through the gate carrying a child.

There was a flurry of activity as they were directed back to the section where we start IV’s and told to lay the child down on the table. Everyone gathered around to watch as Dr. Jim asked the translators to figure out what had happened, Rachel worked on starting an IV, Moses obtained blood for a malaria smear, and Mark got the child’s temperature. Apparently the child had begun convulsing this morning, so they brought her straight to the clinic. She was seizing, so Jim got some anti-seizure medication and gave some while others were doing their tasks. I stood back taking it all in and trying to figure out if I could help. The child was hypothermic so I decided to run to the ward and get a blanket to get the child warmed up. I returned a few minutes later with a blanket and hat to warm the child. The child was very sick: she continued to seize despite the medication, her lungs gave a picture of pulmonary edema or aspiration, and her body was limp aside from the clonic or tense part of the seizures. I was afraid the outcome would not be good, but remembered that we serve the God who heals so I began to pray for this one.

By the grace of God and the wisdom of the doctor, the child began to regain her body temperature, the seizing stopped, the breathing cleared, and the child slept. Within 4 or 5 hours the child was awake, agitated by the IV and talking with her parents. When I returned from lunch I met the family walking down the road with a child who looked completely different than the one who had been carried through the gate just a few hours earlier. Kire Ejok Akuj. Surely God is good!