Slack

I have been such a blog slacker really since Kenya. So probably there are only a few who still even read this. But I process so much through writing and this has been a hard week. Challenging for lots of my friends, for me, for my ability to believe that God is near. A dear friend of mine had her baby who is now struggling in the NICU. Words and music have been my comfort. 

One big thing my RA has taught me is though I may feel like nobody in the world can understand what I am going through or know of the pain I am in, that is a lie. God is there with me in my pain. I am not alone. 

I have been clinging to this idea this week for different reasons. Trying to remind my heart that he is near us in our hardships, hoping my friends believe such truth. The Psalms have been a great reminder. And these lyrics have been running through my head all week. They are from the Jars of Clay Valley song. In many ways I sing them to remind my heart to hope, to believe, to cling to the truth. 

"I will sing of your mercy that leads me through valleys of sorrow to rivers of joy."  

There are rivers of joy for each of us..they may look awfully different than our dreams, but he is near. He will lead us to joy. 

Back Home

We have made it back home and I am beat....just trying to force myself to stay awake until 730. I haven't had much time to decompress or process from the trip at all (my brain was too tired on the plane) so that will come later.
I did have a sweet last day at Tenwek. All our patients had left the unit by the time I woke up from my nap Sunday around lunchtime. It was so nice to have the afternoon off! We went up to check on everyone, took a group photo of all the children and then had some much needed downtime. I went for a walk because I just love the area around the hospital and it is hard to get any Rebekah time during the busy week. While walking, first I saw an eclipse, which I had no clue was happening and then as I continued my walk I saw a rainbow. Between the two incredible things in nature, especially the rainbow and the Biblical representation, I felt so surrounded by God. Seeing that rainbow just reminded me again of how much He loves these children, who would appear to have every odd against them living through a heart defect. But He is present there and He brought each of those children to us. I just loved that thought as I was enjoying the scenery and my time alone.
I woke up early before we left Monday to do the same-go for a walk and get one last look at all our kiddos. It is hard to say goodbye and leave and have to trust that they will be okay. I get so used to seeing them so frequently and having a hand in their care that it is difficult to leave them. But again I was reminded that they are being cared for.
Off to sleep

Shutting things Down

It is Saturday night around 120 AM. We just have two patients in the unit, both are sleeping well and tonight we have no Kenyan nurses. Stephanie and I are holding down the fort here.
The week has flown by!! I cannot believe that it is almost over. Once the week starts it just takes off and I feel like I have no time to process what I am feeling or how things are going. So it will take me some time to get there. It has been good overall. We make progress each year we come, which is good to see. And we had a great team.
I absolutely love the children we get to take care of here. They are each so dear and so tough....much tougher than most American kids. They are all ready to fight back and get to feeling better, getting out of bed and walking so early after surgery.
We are listening to music here in the unit tonight to stay awake and one of my favorites is playing-The Love of God
"The Love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong"
Being here there is no denying seeing God's love-be it in how we care for our patients, or watching a Momma's love for her little one, or seeing how patients recover, or even just our beautiful surroundings...He truly is everywhere and is constantly showing me his love.
Let me try to put up a few pictures of some of these cute faces....

Halloween

Well they don't celebrate Halloween here so it is a bit anti climactic. It was a good day though. I switched to working nights which is nice in some ways. I got to go for a walk today and rest which was nice. And at night it is less chaotic. Day times are just busier. So it has been nice to get a little break.

Today my prayer had been one my Mom passed on to me before I left. I don't have it in front of me but the first portion is something to the effect of This day is yours and it is followed by more but I have just been thinking on this day is yours. And enjoying the gifts and challenges it brings 

Shot from my walk. Love the African skies! 

Emmanuel who I just think is so sweet. 

Whew

I am already so tired an it is wed! How have I been doing this for two weeks on past trips? 

Today was a fun busy day. They did two cath cases who came out on my shift and one surgery where they worked on two valves. The little boy is Ian and he was pretty sick going into surgery. It is amazing to be witness to these miraculous recoveries. They OR team was really worried about him but as we see so much here he had his breathing tube out several hours later. For those on Facebook we have a Hearts of East Africa Facebook page with a great video of him singing and pretending to drive a car. He wants to be a doctor when he grows up. As he tells you on the video :)

The second case came out late, Jemima. She was apparently doing quite well. We were actually supposed to repair her two years ago and she got bumped last minute. I talked to her mother today who told me she still had the beads we had given her two years ago. If we didn't do surgery on her this ear she likely wouldn't have made it another year. 

We sent our first two patients to the wards. They were both such cute little ladies. Faith finally smiled for us once we pulled out her chest tubes. But prudence was still holding onto a mean scowl. She literally sat up in bed for the first five hours of the day looking very stern. Such a trip!!

Here is a picture of Faith

Tuesday

I am about to hit the sack but wanted to put in a quick update. Today went well. Prudence had a VSD closed and is doing great. Already been sitting up in bed ad drinking. She has the sweetest disposition. 

They also did a cath procedure, Selly, who stayed with us for a few hours. During this the use a balloon inserted through the groin to open up a cake in the heart that has become narrowed. 

The second case, Emmanuel, had not come back from the OR when I left at 7. He was a yet repair and supposedly did well in the OR. He was so sweet before hand. Really serious but if you asked for a smile he was quick to give it. Hopefully he is up there doing well as I lay my tired head down. 

Being here is so refreshing and fun. Just getting to take care of patients in a pure fashion is enjoyable. And the teaching, though it is tiring is good too. I am always reminded when I get here how much it is we are trying to teach these nurses. At home they would get a 6 month training an here we are just doing it as we go! 

Okay more tomorrow and hopefully some photos. 

Quick update

Quick update on the day. Faith made it out of surgery and did really well. She has we breathing tube out and is already drinking water. Of course-these children love water and they want it immediately after surgery. She had a hole between the bottom two chambers of her heart that the surgeon closed. They decided to just do one case today for times sake. 

Faiths momma is with her. She is a widow...her husband died when she was 6 months pregnant. Faith is 1 and a half now. She decided to name her Faith because she, as a now single mom, would need faith to handle what lay ahead of her. 

We are discussing the patients they saw today and making more decisions now. 

I am tired! The first case is always stressful. There are so many people and things take longer to work out. But we did it and hopefully tomorrow there will be a few less people in the ICU :) I think it was about 100 degrees as one point in the room.