About two weeks ago I was having a pretty busy call. I'm starting to earn a reputation as a "mala espalda", which means "bad back". The reason they call me that is because I tend to be working when most of the sick people come in. In the US, instead of a "bad back", I'd be called a "black cloud". Anyway, it was busy, and at 2 am two girls came into the ER. They were from completely different communities. Rashell is 10 years old, and she lives in an indigenous community deep in the jungle. Miley, age 2, is from Puyo, which is a decent-sized town right up the road. They sell pizza and ice cream in Puyo, so that says a little bit about the differences in their backgrounds.
The resident on call told me about Miley first. That day she had visited a health center in Puyo for fevers, followed by a seizure and left sided weakness. A CT of her head had been performed and was found to be normal. Her doctors there were reassured by this information, she had been sent home. It sounded like she could have been having febrile seizures, which are very innocent--but on the other hand, we were pretty concerned by the fact that she was not moving her left side. We performed a lumbar puncture and drew blood cultures and admitted her for administration of high dose IV antibiotics. Studies of the cerebral spinal fluid confirmed what we had been thinking--she had a probable case of bacterial meningitis.
Rashell seemed even sicker than Miley. She also had been having fevers and had suffered a seizure a few hours earlier. Her dark brown eyes were rolled back and lacked the dance of life that eyes usually have. She made insensible groans with painful stimlation (when the IV was started). Flexing her neck forward also seemed to cause lots of discomfort. Because Rashell's mother, who had died several years earlier, had had a bad experience with a lumbar puncture, the family would not give us permission to draw the fluid from Rashell that would confirm our suspicion--another case of meningitis. She, too, was admitted for high dose antibiotics.
High doses of antibiotics are required to penetrate the blood-brain barrier that protects our nervous system. Likewise, we gave these two girls super-high doses of prayer in an effort to fight this potentially deadly disease. Their families were at peace after the prayers, and I went home to rest for a bit.
The next day Miley was doing much better in that the weakness in her left side was resolving. However, she did have another seizure. We began anti-seizure medications and stayed the course. Rashell's status did not change on day 2, and I began to feel less sure that she would ever wake up.
On the following day, Miley's weakness had completely resolved and she was seizure-free! In addition, Rashell was starting to talk, and she even smiled. That dance had returned to her eyes. Praise the Lord! Little by little, they have both recovered completely from their illness, and today is the last day of their high-dose antibiotics.
It is not rare for a person to die from a case of bacterial meningitis. Survivors often suffer consequences such as residual weakness, or even deafness or blindness. I praise the Lord that these two sweet girls have done so well. I thank Him that he gave wisdom to scientists who invented antibiotics. Most of all, I am reassured once again that I can always find peace and hope in the power of prayer to our God Almighty.
Miley and her Mama
Rashell
Thank you again,for your blogs,it is a great reminder of what an amazing GOD we have....and a reminder of how important prayer is.
ReplyDeleteGOD bless
norma