Well December is not even halfway through yet and it feels like I’ve
had a rollercoaster of highs and lows already. Last week I was at a farewell
dinner for a friend who is leaving for her 6 month furlough home to the US,
when I received a frantic phone call from one of the uncles out at Gyero saying
that one of the little boys Matthew (who I had been treating for the last 3
days for vomiting, fevers and headaches) was getting worse and that his
‘breathing has changed’. I’ve realized over my year here, that it’s difficult
for non-medical people to describe symptoms to me. Then add the cross-cultural
barrier of language PLUS being on the phone and there is room for a lot of
frustration and miscommunication. But from what I grasped, it was urgent and
they were going to take public transport to the hospital. I rang ahead to Dr Sheppard
(a colleague of mine who helps me with urgent consultation of the kids in an
attempt to by-pass the slow triage and treatment system in the ED) and asked
him to meet me at the hospital and then 10 minutes later rang Uncle Chris back
to find out how far away from the hospital they were, only to be told Matthew
had ‘gone’, he’d ‘given up’. I couldn’t believe it. As you could imagine the rest of the dinner
was ruined when I couldn’t control my emotions and burst into tears at the
table and had to tell the news to all the other missionaries, many of whom
loved and cared for Matthew over his years at Gyero. Matthew was our only child
in the ministry who suffered from sickle cell disease. For those of you who are
unaware of this condition, the red blood cells of a patient who suffers are
sickle shaped and so have a tendency to clump together more easily. Sicklers
(as they’re referred to here) have regular ‘crises’ which present as painful
swollen joints predominantly and so I’ve spent a lot of time with Matthew,
using heat packs, ibuprofen and prayers. I am unsure what actually ended his
life, but I have a feeling that his illness (? Malaria) brought on a sickle
cell crisis and that he either died from a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in
his lungs) or an aneurysm in his brain (blood clot in his brain). It was a huge blow for everyone out at Gyero
because he was such a sweet gentle boy who always had a smile on his face, even
in the midst of his pain, and would always help other children with homework or
stick up for another child who was being bullied. He will be missed.
That next weekend, (I credit God for the excellent timing) the girls
and I had arranged a 2-day holiday in Abuja.
It was so needed by that time I assure you, and by the end of the
weekend I felt back to my normal emotional capacity, recharged for the
Christmas season and the many Christmas parties with the kids. The usual things
that one does on a visit to Abuja (that you can’t do in Jos) include going to a
nice pool for a swim (we chose the Hilton and I could have easily forgotten I
was in Africa when I looked around at the tropical setting with beach chairs
and umbrellas), eat nice ice cream and go to the movies. I’m sure these things
don’t sound terribly exciting to many of you, but to us it was heaven!
The next exciting thing to look forward to this month is my Mum
coming to visit me in Jos! I am so looking forward to being able to show her
around this place that has become my home, introduce her to all the people that
I have grown to love and watch her experience all the cultural experiences I
did when I first arrived. I’m just
praying her experience of the Lagos airport won’t be as daunting as mine was!
