Guest Blogger? A not-so-hostile take over!!

It's not Erin typing out this blog.  No, no.  It is her visiting brother from cold and wintery Canada here sweating himself to death in hot and humid Tsiko.

I'm the one with the purple shirt, just so there's no confusion.

Words cannot truly describe this place.  Those who have been here will understand.



I could write about the amazing staff and people that work here at the Tsiko Hospital.  They are truly wonderful, caring people that want to give the best care (and friendship) possible.  They are also very gifted and talented medical professionals who all perform at a very high level in a somewhat rustic setting, at least by North American standards.

Here Dr. Kueler (white shirt), Dr. Miller (green scrubs) and OR nurse Bethany Klutz pray with the mother of a young baby while doing rounds.

I could also write about how the sick and wounded Weston kids are coming back to full health under the watchful care of the medical team here - both North American and Togolese.  Kylie seems to prefer Yowvi and Daniel giving here treatments.

I could write about the work to be done maintaining the grounds and the buildings.  Nate and I installed an AC unit for a very pregnant nurse and her family.  (Her husband is a nurse here, as well)  There is a grounds crew that is constantly raking and burning fallen leaves and tall grasses, to keep incidents like the green mamba one - see the blog post from a couple of days ago - from happening more frequently.  John Teusink and his crew have a list a mile long of projects to be tackled, both big and small.  Maybe several lists.

Nate's peeking through the hole we made for the refrigerant pipes.  No power tools.  No, instead you pound through the block walls with a hammer and chisel...  I picked Nate to do the attic electrical work.  I was outside in 94F heat; can't imagine how hot the attic was!!

I could write about the fresh fruit and veggies in the market - oh, the pineapple is FANTASTIC! - or the smells and sounds of the people and animals and the dust and smoke.  It's so hard to capture 'dirt' and 'dust' and put it in a blog.  Equally tough is the squawking of chickens and roosters, the bleating of sheep and small, stocky goats.  The booming of what appears to be pop music "Togo Style" from the odd vendor's stall, the raspy note of small engined motos weaving in and out of the mess of people, potholes and displays can't translate into words.

I can tell you the rules of the road however:  The bigger the vehicle, the more rights you have!  Motos are a step up from pedestrians and bicycles, who pretty much just fend for their lives!  A small car - think Toyota Corolla sized - just beeps the horn to get the moto to move over so they can pass on smooth roads.  Small vans and SUVs have the same privilege.  A beep of the horn forgives many sins!

A large truck, like a flatbed or stake truck gets a wide berth.  They get to cross narrow bridges without having to wait for oncoming traffic, likely because the brakes are sketchy!  Likely no working horn, either!

Any vehicle with red license plates trumps all of the above, they are likely government or NGO vehicles.  A blue license plate pretty much is the ultimate in power and authority.  Accident?  Hit a pedestrian??  Maybe kill a goat??  They just keep driving.

These 'rules' can all be very intimidating and confusing, but after a couple of hours on the roads it makes perfect sense.  The African way.

I asked Pirico, one of the hospital drivers, if he knew the roads like the back of his hand.
"No, my friend... like the front, so when I cover my eyes I know where I'm going!"
Perfect.  He's actually really good!

I could tell you of simple things taken for granted - clean drinking water from an actual tap; no scorpions; power for you fridge, lights and fans without the need for a back-up generator; internet connections that don't stop because Togo is playing soccer against the Ivory Coast and the staff at TogoCel have left to watch the game...


I could tell you about the amazing beauty of this wild, powerful country.  The colours of the reddish clay against vibrant greens of the plants, the sounds of the crickets and bats chirping and calling outside at night all are hard to grasp without living it for a few days.  The harsh climate - for a white guy who left Canada in the dead of winter - and the hardy people that make a living here.  The smiles of the children, chanting and dancing when they see a truck full of yovo (white people).  The giggles and laughs when we sing back to them from the windows as we slowly go by...

These little guys were singing and dancing and hitting their pail and bucket with sticks as we turned the truck around in the lane way.  They laughed and ran away as we sang and waved back.  Super cute!

I can tell you that it's a wonderful feeling to see your family.  To know they are doing well, to see where they live, to meet their friends, to know they are in a good place, it's very reassuring.  To know, to really know that they are doing good work that will have eternal results is fulfilling.  To know the same God that watches over us in our little part of the world is that same One watching over this family here in West Africa gives confidence and peace.

I could tell you all of these things, share dozens of stories of Coku (mon frere noir), cool double hernia surgeries I was part of, hiking in a torrential downpour in the dry season, shopping in a foreign market, speaking French, English, Ewe' (pronounced evay, the second most popular language behind French), and hearing a dozen more tribal languages... but there's nothing like experiencing it for yourself.

I'm off to eat some fresh baked bread, some pineapple and then have some Fan Ice ice cream!!
I'm dialling up MY Africa!

FAMILY VISITS!

Last Saturday night my brother, Derek (aka Uncle Deeker) arrived in Lome.  Anna, Dr. Kelly and I went down to Lome to pick him up.  He told me that he'd be the white guy in the black shirt carrying a fishing pole -- in case I didn't recognize him! 

So here we are, in the airport parking lot.  Do you see how happy I am??  

We stayed overnight in Lome and on Sunday morning hit a couple of grocery stores and then headed back to Tsiko.  Nate and the kids were waiting for his arrival - what a joyous reunion it was!

He came with his four pieces of luggage: 2 rubbermaids of loot for us, his own backpack (which was his carry-on), and his "personal item" which was the precious fishing rod.

When he arrived and we got through the hugs and greetings, he cracked open those rubbermaids and handed out the loot:

Teddy got some little tractors!

Kylie and Jack playing with a toy that Nana & Papa sent.

High fives for peanut butter, protein powder and drink crystals!!

Nate checking out the rod that they hope to use once we return to Mango.

Ethan receiving a knife he had ordered online.  He was pretty excited.

And Kylie with a watch that Auntie Marshy sent her.  She
was thrilled and surprised!

We settled into our place and put away all our fun loot - maple syrup (thank you Robson family), candy (thank you Prevetts!), cards (thank you Sandra, Mrs. Farrow, Kendra, Marshy, Nana) and FOOD (thanks Mom& Dad for canned soups, Dream Whip, instant mashed potatoes and more!)

On Monday, we took him on a tour of the compound and then went off to market.  If you want to read his version of our market experience (and all his Africa experiences) check out my bro's blog at :

www.deekersonemorething@blogspot.com

 After market and lunch, the guys took the kids for a swim.  I was at home and got a call that a green mamba had been discovered and needed to be "dispatched", so I ran to the pool and got the guys.  They were super pumped about seeing/killing a snake.

When we got there, Dr. Miller (now known as Dr. Killer) had taken a shovel to the green mamba and dispatched it into many pieces.  It was still writhing when Nate, Nolan and Derek got there.  Thankfully, I brought my camera.  

Here it is:

Green mambas are skinny and long.  This one was about 4 ft. That's
a pretty good size.  You can see his head almost hacked off.

Dr. Killer holding his prize with a coup-coup.

Now he's really dead.  Yuck.

After that excitement, we went home for dinner and had a birthday party for Dr. Kelly. On Tuesday we went to Kpalime and showed Derek around.  In the afternoon, he, Nate, Nolan and Dr. John Gall went for a hike up the mountain.  Incredibly, they got caught in a torrential rain storm.  It rained like crazy which is totally unheard of this time of year.  They hid in a little hut while it rained, realized it wasn't going to let up, so they hiked down and got soaked.  

News on the kids:

Kylie and Ethan are doing quite well these days.  For those of you who are medical, Kylie's SED rate has not come down like we hoped it would.  She was a 120, then a 93 and on Monday when we tested her, she was still 83.  Normal is 40.  For those of  you who are non-medical, a SED rate measures inflammation in your body.  After 4-plus weeks of antibiotics, we had hoped her numbers would be more normal, so now the doctors are wondering if perhaps she had a septic joint as well as some "osteo-militus" (read: bone infection, sorry if my spelling is wrong!),  Sadly the only way to tell that is by MRI and that's not available here.  So, we have decided to change meds again and do another 2-4 weeks of another antibiotic.  The good news is she can take it orally so we can GO HOME TO MANGO!!

Here's Kylie's feet - one of these things is not like the other.

Ethan is also doing really well.  He's up and about on crutches and is having less and less pain.  We are so thankful for all the help here - both medical and spiritual!!

Dr. Kueler and our kids he treated.  Thank you, Lord, for this man!!

This picture is for Tammy and Karla.  These are real Norfolk Island Pine trees.
I think I have bought and killed several of these back home in Canada,
but look what they can be like if you have the right climate! Sadly,
the tops are being eaten by bats so they won't live here
forever, but I thought it was cool to see them in their natural environment.
The needles are just as soft as they are at home!

Here's De, Coku and Nate.  Coku is the resident handy-man, delivery boy,
hard-worker, killer of bees, bats, snakes etc. and generally awesome
guy to have around!

 So that's us!  We're having a great time with Derek here.  He and Nate have been working on Nate's motorcycle to repair where it was scraped and cracked in the accident.  Right now, if all goes well (and let's be honest, NOTHING has gone as planned so far, but whatever.) we will get Kylie's new meds from Ghana tomorrow and head north to Mango early Saturday morning!  

We'll see if that actually comes to pass.

Pics from the OR

IF you hate blood and guts, just go ahead and close up today's blog post.  It gets pretty nasty.

Dr. Briggs just arrived back here in Tsiko about a week ago from his year in the USA.  He went into the OR with Ethan to take video footage and photos of the operation.  He kindly shared these with us.

So here we go...

The drill bit kinda thing is going in his knee to drill out the bone.
The doc on the right is holding the bone with pliers.

The knee is open!

Choosing the rod size.

Putting the rod in.

The Sign Nail contraption before it goes in.

The Sign Nail contraption is in!

Here he is being worked on.

Poor Todd was working like a beast to get this done AND fighting
malaria symptoms too.

The incision to get to the bone.

 So there ya go. The video footage is pretty interesting and rather frightening, actually.  Orthopaedic surgery is pretty aggressive stuff.  But again, we are so so grateful that these men were able to help Ethan!  And I know he's getting better - how do I know that, you ask?  Today after I took him some breakfast he said this to me:

"And Mom, for lunch I'd like a sandwich with meat, lettuce, tomato, mustard, and bbq sauce.  Oh, do you have onions?  Then I'd like onions too."

I have never been happier to make that boy a sandwich.

The Moto Accident

I’ve mentioned this book before in other blog posts, and today my daily devotional from “Jesus Calling” was this:

“I am leading you along the high road, but there are descents as well as ascents.  Your assignment is to follow Me, allowing Me to direct your paths.  Learn to trust me when things go “wrong.” Disruptions to your routine highlight your dependence on me.  Trusting acceptance of trials brings blessings that far outweigh them.  Walk hand in hand with Me through this day.  I have lovingly planned every inch of it. Breathe deep breaths of My Presence and hold tightly to My hand.”

Wow.  I so needed to hear that today. So here’s what happened over the last 48 hours:

On Wednesday, our Togo Team Meetings started. It was two days of meetings with both the North team (that we’re on) and the South team (the missionaries from Tsiko and surrounding area) and it only happens once a year.   After a fun afternoon of Ultimate Frisbee and a swim, we planned a prayer meeting at our place at 5 pm.  Nate and Ethan took off for a quick moto ride up the mountain shortly after 4 pm, promising to be back by the time prayer meeting started.

I didn’t think too much of it when they weren’t there right at 5 pm.  People started arriving and then we started praying.  A few minutes into it, I saw Dr. Kelly come in quietly.  A few seconds later I felt her tap me on the shoulder and motion me to come with her.  We walked into the dining room and she put both her hands on my shoulders, looked me in the eye and said, “I have something to tell you.  Nate and Ethan were in a motorcycle accident on the mountain.  They are both okay.  Nate has some scrapes and bumps, but Ethan has broken his femur.”  She said a lot more than that too but I just remember starting to shake my head no as soon as she started talking.  She gave me a huge hug and after a few minutes, we got some stuff together, and walked down to the hospital.

Yep, it's broken.  

Here’s what had happened:  Nate and Eth had gone for a little rip up the mountain and turned around to come down.  They were on their way down when Nate hit a soft patch on a hair-pin turn and felt the bike starting to go.  He had to pick to go down in a ditch or on the edge of the mountain, so he tried to slow it down and ease the bike into the ditch, which he did.  Ethan told me that as soon as he landed, he just knew he had broken his leg.  Nate got up and ran to him and made sure he was alright just as four guys stopped to help.  They wanted to strap Ethan on the back of one of their bikes but Nate said no.  Just then a truck came down the mountain.  Nate waved him down and turns out the driver was a doctor in Lome.  They loaded Eth into the back of the truck and came to the hospital.  Nate said Ethan was amazing, and very brave. Ethan told me that his first thought was this:  “What would Uncle Deeker  (my brother) do?  Well, he wouldn’t cry so I’m not going to cry.  Now, what would Jesus do?  He would pray.  So I’m going to pray.”

Ethan was already in x-ray by the time Kelly and I got there, so I walked into the room and there’s Dr. Keuhler (the lovely surgeon who has helped treat Kylie, changed her dressings daily, stitched Jack up and was now treating Eth!) working away.  I went right over and spoke to Eth and it was so surreal – just like in the movies, “It’s gonna be okay buddy, Mom’s here now.”  And then there was Nate, standing in the corner, looking scraped and bloody and devastated.  We hugged and cried and hugged and cried.  I made sure he was in one piece but he didn’t want anyone to even pay attention to him.  I knew it was killing him to see Ethan suffering.  As they moved Eth from the gurney to the x-ray table, he was just screaming in pain, so I had to leave the room.  I couldn’t take it.  Just before we stepped out, in walked Dr. Todd and Peter (our team leader) and John (the guy who puts Kylie out for her procedures). They had all heard and wanted to help.  We stepped outside the room and there was Adam coming down the path.  He and Nate just hugged and cried together.  Then came Anna, Cindy and Judy, then Jim and John  Everybody just loving, praying and supporting us.  It was awful and wonderful at the same time. 

A few minutes later, Todd called us in to let us know that they wanted to take Ethan to surgery right away.  He explained that the procedure was called a SIGN Nail, and the hospital had only gotten this system in the summer.  Miracle!  It would allow for Todd to put a rod up into Ethan’s femur and have him walking within a couple of days.  If they didn’t have this system, Ethan would have been in hospital, in traction for 6 weeks.  The other amazing thing was that Ethan was tall enough to have the rod put in, if he had been shorter, they wouldn’t have had a rod small enough for him.  So we signed some waivers, we kissed him goodbye and they rolled him in the OR.  The amazing thing was that all the docs (except for Kelly, who stayed with me) were in there:  Todd, who was the only one who could do the SIGN Nail thing, Dr. Keuhler, Dr. Briggs, and Dr. Miller who all needed to learn the new system, Dr. Stott who is a visiting anesthesiologist and John who works in the OR.  Ethan was in  such good hands.

Here he is just after surgery.

Nate and Dr. Dave and Dr. Eric, right after surgery

After we gathered up Ethan’s clothes and shoes, we headed home with a bunch of people who just wanted to be there to help us.  We were told that the hospital would call us at home throughout the procedure to let us know how it was going.  So we sat in our house and just prayed and sang and talked.  After an hour or so, they phoned to let us know that they were done and that the procedure had gone better than anticipated.  (Long story of why that is, but know that it’s just another miracle of God!) and that Eth would be out in about 30 minutes.  We went back to the hospital and they wheeled him out – he looked so pale and so big on that gurney.  They showed us his four incisions where they went in through the knee to drill out the femur and slide the rod in.  Dr. Briggs took video and photos of the surgery and it’s pretty freaky stuff!

Here's his incisions where they put the rod and screws in.

Around 10 pm, Nate went home with the kids and the docs left.  John helped me get settled to stay the night with Eth.  When they moved him and changed his dressing, I had to leave – I just couldn’t stand to hear him in such pain.  But they got him into a room and set up a little bed on the floor for me.   Around 11 pm, he really came around and wanted to talk.  I was surprised how much detail he remembered of the accident, of coming into the hospital etc.  When he first arrived at the hospital they gave him meds right away to help with pain and he was saying all sorts of crazy stuff, but he remembered that too.  He had decided to sing “Away in a Manger” to Dr. Kelly at one point, and when I asked him if he remembered, he totally did!

Here he is, up on crutches less than 24 hours after the accident.

He was on morphine every two hours throughout the night, so we got a little sleep but not too much.  Overall though, the first night was okay.

Thursday morning around 6 am, Nate came down to trade off jobs with me.  He brought a banana for Ethan to try eating and by 8 am, they had him up and walking with crutches.  The morphine was a bit too much for him, so he vomited a few times.  We got him settled in one of the two private rooms at the hospital and he slept most of the day.

People came in to see him all day.  The staff members of the hospital were so kind.  Yowvi came in to see us and had written us notes of encouragement, telling us to stand firm and be encouraged.  I could tell they all felt so bad that another one of our kids was hurt. 

Todd told us that we’d be here for another two weeks or so with Ethan.  We would also have to return to Tsiko in June for Todd to remove the rod from Eth’s leg.

Nothing says Family Fun like getting IV meds together!

Nate stayed Thursday night with Ethan and I think it was a better night.  Today (Friday) was pretty decent.  They changed the dressings on his leg and had him up and walking on crutches around the hospital.  Kylie had her IV meds given to her in the same room as Ethan, so after she was finished Dr. Kelly discharged Eth and we got to bring him home.  He’s on some different pain meds now and we’re hoping that tonight is a decent one for him.

Changing the dressings.

I can’t tell you how crazy this all was.  It did NOT seem real, even though we were living it.  It almost seemed ridiculous – how could this have happened and really, what lesson is God trying to teach us that we’re not learning??

But the truth is, we don’t know.  There are no answers, but one.  And that is this:

God is good.  Even when things are tough, He is faithful, true and good. And so we trust Him.  Even in all of this, there is so much to be thankful for.  SO MUCH. The fact that our kid is here in our home, alive and in his bed, is just plain amazing.

And I want you to know that truly, truly God’s grace is sustaining us.  You must all be praying so hard for us, because we’re doing okay.  So keep ‘em coming – we need all the prayers we can get!

Me and Dr. Kelly, true friend and excellent paediatrician!

And here's the boy.  Still smiling.  He's a tough kid and we
are grateful parents.

You're Never Going to Believe This.

You're never going to believe this, so I'm just gonna come out and say it.

Yesterday, Nate and Ethan were in a motorcycle accident. They are both alive.  Nate just has some cuts and scrapes.  Ethan broke his femur and had surgery last night to put a rod in.

There.  I've said it.

There's way more to this story and I want to share it all: more miracles, more time at the hospital, more photos even.  But I just got home from staying the night in the hospital with Eth and I need a shower MORE than I need to blog.

Please pray.  We've got some tough days ahead.

Things you need to know.

I have come to realize that sometimes I type out things and you may not have any idea how to pronounce them.  I know that for me, this drives me crazy.  If I'm reading a book and there's a name or place that I cannot naturally figure out how to pronounce, then I usually work away at it in my head until I can come up with something that I'm comfortable with saying to myself as I read.  If I don't do that, I won't enjoy the book.  I'm just weird that way.

So perhaps this post is more for me than for you.  Perhaps tonight I'll sleep better just knowing that you who are reading these blog posts know how to pronounce some of the names and things here in Togo.

1.  Mango: the town where we live.  Please do NOT pronounce it like you'd pronounce the fruit.  Remember this country is a french colony so you need to add a little french-y-ness to all the local words.  Pronounce it M-ahn-go.  Ahhhhhh....that's better.

2. Tsiko: the town where we are staying right now.  It's a tiny tiny town, surrounded by beautiful mountains.  To pronounce it, say cheek-o.  Cute, eh??

3. Kpalime:  this is the town where Nate was working on the bridge.  Don't be afraid of this word.  Just because it starts with Kp doesn't mean you just brush past it as you read my posts.  It's pronounced like this:  Pal (as in your friend)-ee-may.  (The K is silent.)  Although my kids call it: Ka-pal-ee-may.

Now for some fun tribal words and sayings you might want to add into your own repertoire:

4.  Du Courage: We've heard this particular saying A LOT since Kylie's ankle trouble.  "Du courage."  Meaning "have courage".  They say this here all the time!! Oh, you got a paper cut on your pinky finger??  Du courage.  (Say it with french flair now, it's "do-cour-ahj" with a soft j sound.) Oh, you just were in a terrible motorcycle accident and you might not make it?  Du courage.

5.  Babalo.  This is a fun word to say.  We hear this a lot.  It's not french, it's Ewe. (this is a language and a tribe of people here in Togo, pronounced "e-vay" with a short vowel e at the beginning)  You pronounce it just like it looks:  ba-ba-low.  It means "sorry for you." Kind of like a tribal version of "du courage".  Babalo. AND if you want to say "sorry for me" - you say baba-now.

6.  Yo.  This is another Ewe term.  It's an answer for everything.  If I say thank you to an Ewe person, their response is "Yo."  But not a short sound like yo-yo.  Drag out the ooooooo part, and let your voice drop, almost like you're sorry.  It might be considered like our "mm-hmmm" - an agreement sort of noise.
Like at home you might say, "Do you like my new dress?"  Response:  Mm-hmm.
Here you might say: "Thank you for the lovely dinner."  Their response:  Yo.

I think that's it for today.  It's been a lot for you to take in.  And I hope this helps so that as you read posts you'll know how to say things.  I'll sleep well tonight knowing you've got some of the Togo terminology down.  Yo.

Life in Tsiko

You can probably understand that internet connections in a tiny town in Africa aren't so consistent, so that's my excuse for not regularly blogging these days.  My other doozie of an excuse is that I've been busy.  Tsiko is a pretty fun and exciting place!

We've continued our twice-daily visits to the hospital and have gotten to know the staff and some of the patients.  Kylie and I are regulars there so we've gotten to see some pretty interesting stuff.  Some pretty real and raw stuff.  That's another whole blog post about tiny premie babies, crazy amounts of malaria cases that cause death, and hospital care in Africa in general.

IF you're sensitive to yucky photos, just scroll quickly through the next couple of photos.

The other day I got to "scrub in" (don't I sound so doctor-y??) for a c-section.  AND I didn't barf or pass out.  I watched the whole thing and it was incredible!  

Here's me with Dr. Dave and Todd.  Post-c-section -- we're smiling under those masks!

Here's Todd working on the Mom's uterus, making sure it's healthy and strong.

The sad part of this petit photo journal is that I didn't get a photo of the baby girl when she was just coming out. I had no idea HOW FAST c-sections went.  I sat on my little stool watching and thinking I had 10 or 15 minutes to get my camera ready and in less than 3 minutes, I heard Todd saying, "Here she is!"  I was totally unprepared!

And here's Mom being stitched up - nastiness!

 And here's our sweet baby girl!!  

(Her auntie is holding her.)

In other news, we are excited to show you our Kylie walking -- on her own two feet!!

She went from being carried, to crutches and now walking on her own.  She's so good at getting IV's in her hand that she can now rate the nurse on how good he or she is.  I think she's up to 8 IV sites now, but she's so tough she just waits patiently while they do it.

This is what Todd did when Kylie walked over to see him at his house!  Happy doc, happy girl!

Yesterday we went to the village of Kpalime.  It's a beautiful town surrounded by mountains.  We drove up two different mountain and I took photos, but because Harmattan is so bad and there's so much dust in the air, we couldn't see clearly.  So here's what it looks like from the top of Mt. Agou during Harmattan season.  (Teddy thought the name of this mountain was Mountain Dew.)

A beautiful road-side waterfall.

Little Red Ted exploring at the bottom of the waterfall.

 So that's us.  The week has gone by quickly.  Nate started working in Kpalime at the Blind School helping rebuild a bridge and had to suffer EVERY DAY by driving his motorcycle through the mountains to get to and from work.  He's such a trooper.  

The kids and I got back to school in a feeble attempt at normal life here in Tsiko. We also swam at the pool, watched a movie with friends and the boys played with the DeKryger boys (they have four boys of similar ages, so it works great.)

Our plan was to have Kylie finish all her meds by this coming Wednesday, stay here in Tsiko til my brother Derek arrives here in Togo on Saturday (yahoooooo!) and then head north to our home in Mango.  But Kylie had a little procedure on her foot this morning and some yucky stuff came out of the wound in the back of her heel, so our plan might change a little depending on how long they will continue her on IV antibiotics. 

Time will tell. And for now, life is Tsiko is pretty calm and pretty sweet.  We are so thankful to our Father in Heaven and thankful to you for all your prayers.

The Story Continues (Not for the Faint-of-Heart)

And the story continues….

After the first procedure of removing the pus, the docs proceeded to inform me that she was indeed a rather sick little girl and that it was God’s grace that we came in time.  Not that she would have died on the way, but her ankle joint was septic. “Septic arthritis” they said.  And that we were fortunate to get her to Tsiko before the infection moved from her joint and into her blood stream.

They took some of the pus and cultured it, hoping to discover if the infection was strep or staph.  And they started her on some heavy antibiotics!  She was on two or three different kinds, plus pain killers.

Todd and Kelly told me to bring her back at 9 pm that night (still Friday) to do the whole procedure again – suck out pus, and then irrigate the joint by putting three needles into her foot, and then basically flushing it with water.  The water goes in one needle hole and comes squirting out the others.

Here's Kylie's foot with the water coming out and hitting Todd's hand

We got settled in our room in the guest house and then returned to the hospital.  Amazingly, there was a man from the USA who was an anesthetist who extended his stay in Tsiko until December 29.  Gordon is Kylie’s hero!  He came to the treatment room and put her to sleep with some nice meds.  He called them “the milk of amnesia”!  They were able to do the entire procedure in less than half and hour.

Kylie's new Best Friend, Gordon!

Watching them do it to her made me feel a little queasy.  And Emily hadn’t eaten well on the trip down so by 9 pm we were both tired.  I knew that it was possible I could faint, but I stayed in the room but with my eyes down, in fact they were closed, just praying and praying and praying.  Emily had to hold Kylie’s other leg down so she ended up watching most of the procedure.  But by the end of it, we both felt like we were going to faint and had to put our heads between our knees.  Just after, Kylie came out of her “sleep”, took one look at the two of us sitting side by side, and in her post-drug-induced-sleepy and slurred voice, said “What’s the matter with those two??”  It gave us all a good (and much-needed) chuckle.

We went back to our room and I thought we would have a terrible first night.  But graciously, God allowed Kylie to sleep quite well, even though I had to wake her up in the night (and every night after) to give her meds.

That night I knew that people were praying, and my heart was so full of gratitude for those who were praying, for this hospital, for the kind staff and medical personnel, and for God’s goodness and mercy to Kylie.

At that point in time, Todd had talked to me about having to stay for about two weeks.  I was shocked.  When we left Mango that day I thought we’d be back in time to celebrate Christmas with Nate and the boys, as well as our team.  Bummer.  But we knew we had to stay so it didn’t take long to get over the disappointment. 

Saturday morning, we did the procedure at 9 am again.  A little less pus.  We came back to our room and she slept.  We went back again at 2 pm for more meds.  Returned to our room and she slept.  When we went back after supper for the procedure again, half way through it, the hospital lost power.  The room went pitch black and was silent.  The only sound was me, and I just whispered, “Oh my goodness!”  Thankfully, in just a few seconds the generator started up and we were back at it.

We went back to our room and Kind Dr. Kelly came to our guest house room at 11:30 pm to administer the last IV meds for the day!  Talk about great care – house calls!

Here's my sleepy head with her big splint/cast thing.  

And so that’s how the days went, back and forth to the hospital for meds, procedures etc.  Before each procedure, the docs and other staff gathered around Kylie and prayed.  Every time they did it, I almost cried.  Almost.  I was just so grateful for the care they give and the love they show!

On Saturday, Kelly came in with the lab results.  Turns out the antibiotics they had her on weren’t strong enough for the infection.  It was indeed a staph infection and staph was resistant to the medication.  They came up with a whole new plan for medication and we started again.  When she broke the news, I did start to cry.  I was just discouraged but at the same time thankful that we hadn’t been doing these meds for days and days before the lab results came in.  It had only been a day (but it felt like five!)

On Sunday, we did the same sorta stuff.  But they took the procedure down to every 24 hours rather than every 12.  And then another miracle!  Dr. Joanie came in to see Kylie and it turns out that Dr. Joanie’s job in the USA is to consult on septic joints in pediatrics.  I’m not kidding.  Dr. Joanie does a lot of other stuff, including internal medicine, but this was one of her areas of expertise.  God is awesome.

On Christmas Day, we did the procedure early in the morning so that Todd could be with his family for Christmas morning.  So Kylie, Emily and I were back to bed before 8 am!  We joined in the Tsiko team’s Christmas dinner and celebration and just as that was wrapping up, Nate phoned me.  Teddy was sick.  Nausea, fever, back pain.  And who was walking by just as I took the call?  Dr. Kelly – the pediatrician.  She told us what meds to give and said that if it didn’t clear up in the next day or so, to start him on malaria meds.  The next day all the symptoms returned and so Teddy was treated for malaria.

At Christmas dinner, I sat with Todd and his family and we had a heart-to-heart chat about Kylie’s condition.  It was a good.  And poor Todd, he’s a great doc and he’s tough and strong and treats things aggressively.  But as he chatted about our Kylie, he started to tear up.  He also let me know that she was getting pretty special treatment.  It wasn’t normal protocol that at a patient’s procedure that all the doctors showed up.  Every time she had it done there was Todd, Kelly, Dr. Dave, Gordon, Emily, me, (as if we’re part of the medical team!!) and sometimes John. We were receiving excellent care! Todd came over that night to change the dressings on her foot and then Kelly came at midnight for her late-night-meds.

 

Our real medical team.  Gordon, Emily, Todd, Dr. Dave and John.
Where am I?  Look at the next pic...

Like any good Momma, I'm sitting in the wheel chair,
just in case I faint at all these fun procedures!

On Wednesday morning, we had our first “pus free” day.  Yay!!  And Thursday it happened again.  Good news again!  Nate and the boys were coming on Saturday, so I only had to make it another day before they arrived.  I was getting really tired.  Late nights, early mornings, emotions, having to carry Kylie around the hospital (one day the truck had a flat tire, so I actually had to carry her TO the hospital).  I was done.

Here's the nasty foot with the drain still in, allowing pus to escape.

This is like a total "action shot" - look at the goo coming out her heel.

On Friday, Kylie had the procedure again and Todd really manipulated the joint, so sweet Gordon (by this time, everyone knew that Gordon was Kylie’s favourite!) gave her some morphine to help with the pain.  Wouldn’t you know that Kylie would react to morphine, so we had to stay at the hospital a little longer to make sure that she was okay (breathing is important, they say).

By Friday night, I was so done.  Tears were flowing freely – and if you know me, I hate crying!

This is Yowvi, the best nurse ever at getting an IV in!
Kylie loves this guy too.

Saturday morning, we woke up to a knock at the door.  There were two of Todd’s boys, with plates of fresh hot waffles for Kylie and I!  Can you believe it?  Waffle delivery is good medicine and heals all wounds.

Nate and the boys arrived mid afternoon and we had supper together.  It was so wonderful to be back together again.  We moved from the guest house to an actual house since by now, we were told that we would be staying in Tsiko for at least a month.  All the docs agreed that a LONG course of IV antibiotics was necessary to make sure that Kylie would regain full function of her joint. I was in no hurry to get back to Mango after all the love, care and kindness the Tsiko staff had shown.

I had a meeting with Todd and Kelly at 7 pm, so I took off to that shortly after we finished dinner.  The meeting was only about an hour and a half and when I returned home, there was Jack with a huge HUGE bandage on his head.  In the time I had been gone, he had decided to jump from the top bunk of the bed to the other bed in the room  – and didn’t take into account the ceiling fan.  Basically he was scalped.  Two layers of sutures (25 I think in the top layer) later, he was back at home bouncing around.

As I walked in the door and was told what happened, I sat down and uttered the words, “I’m going home.”  But Jack bounced around telling me he was just fine.  I guess he came out of the bedroom with blood pouring out of his head, so Nate sent Ethan running back to the guest house to find help.  Judy (an ex-EMT) came running and helped Nate get Jack to the hospital where Dr. Dave stitched him up.  Kelly’s parents are visiting from the USA, heard the commotion and came over the help, so they stayed with the other four kids.  By the time I got home, it was just Nate and the kids in the house, all the blood was cleaned up, and Jack was stitched back together.  All in an hour and a half.

Here are out two invalids!

The drain comes out!  Look at the hole where it was.  So yuck.

On Sunday night, Kylie began to have an allergic reaction to her antibiotics.  So the docs debated about what to try next.  I think Todd thought I was going to have a major melt down, so he tried to break it to me nice. They came up with a good option called Vancomycin.  It’s the strongest antibiotic there is. And it’s not available in Togo.  We called home to see if my brother could bring it out when he comes in mid-January.  Turns out he can, but it will cost us about $4000.00.  So we prayed about it. Todd had his pharmacists call around in country and amazingly they found it.  For just a few hundred dollars.  Yay – miracle number 11294958!!

And so we're at today - the new meds arrived yesterday and Kylie started them at this morning’s procedure (this is Thursday, I think....) She had a nasty reaction called “Red Man’s Reaction” (you can probably guess what happened to her) but it’s not an allergy.

Because this med is so strong, they have to slowly figure out how best to administer it to her, so we’ll continue to go to the hospital twice a day for IV meds.

Me and my Kylie-bear.  She's one tough cookie.  I'm one thankful Mom!

Kylie and Nate - so happy to have him here with us.  (My arms were getting so tired from carrying her!)

The Medical Team - kinda.  Me and Emily (the fakers) with Gordon and Todd (the real ones.) And Kylie
hanging on to her most favourite med!

One more gross shot.  This one is for my sister. She hates this stuff.

So that’s where we’re at.  There is actually MUCH more to tell, but you’re tired of reading already.

Thank you for praying.  Thank you for kind words, encouraging notes and supporting us through this.  We have certainly felt the LOVE!

We’re here in Tsiko until January 18^th or so, if all goes well.  We plan to enjoy our time here and consider it a blessing from God to be in such a beautiful place, settled nicely into a comfy and cute house, surrounded by some of the kindest people I have ever met.

God is good.  Yes, He’s good.

(Oh, and P.S., we celebrated Christmas as a family on December 31.  We now consider that date “African Christmas”!)