A few days worth!!!

Some Kenyans working in a garden with the mountains in the background


The view from our house!!! Amazing

April 8, 2009

We have been here for about 3 days and I am already worn out. Combining time change with full OR schedules, tough orthopaedic cases, and just the chaos of living in a totally different environment makes for an exhausting combo. The last two days in the OR have been jammed packed. The difference between a jammed packed OR schedule here compared to the US is a combination of a few things. First, the cases are usually more complicated here and require a much more difficult surgery. Second, the tools we have to do the cases are usually incomplete. So if you are used to fixing a certain fracture with a specific tool, you may not have it here, resulting in extra time trying to reduce fractures, etc. Lastly, it takes more time for me to do a case compared to Dr. Albertson. Of course I am not complaining about this because this is unbelievable experience and Dr. Albertson is such a great and patient teacher.
As many may know, I spent 1 month doing an Orthopaedic rotation in Charlotte, NC. I was blown away by the amount of trauma that they had and how busy their OR schedules were. Although it is on a totally different scale, I think Tenwek is just as busy. Put it this way, this hospital is the ONLY hospital for a population of about 1.2 million people. Imagine only 1 hospital serving a community that is larger than Birmingham and that’s what you have at Tenwek.
Today, we had Ortho Clinic. It started at about 9:30 am and lasted until about 6pm. We saw a total of 77 patients, which paled into comparison to the usual 95 patients. One of the patients I saw came in with a neck fracture that happened 3 days ago. He had been walking around for the past 3 days in only a soft collar that had been put on backwards. Remarkably, by the Grace of God, all of his extremities were OK and there was no paralysis. Another guy came in with a kind of wrist dislocation that Dr. Albertson said he had not seen since residency. One of the most amazing things to me about clinic was the people’s patience and gratefulness for medical care. All of them showed up at around 8 am. They sat out in the sun on rocks until their name was called and never made any complaints. Some of them waited all day. It makes me really think about how it is so easy for me to complain when I wait just 1 hour at a Doctor’s office.
It is so beautiful here. It rains for about an hour everyday so everything is green and blossoming. We are at about 6700 feet above sea level (you can understand why Kenyan’s are great runners), and surrounded by mountains on all sides. Up top are a few pictures of our surroundings. Hope you enjoyed them.

April 10, 2009
We are gradually making the transition to life here. Overall, we are much busier here compared to our time in Cameroon a few years ago, but it has been great. Jeremiah is gradually getting on a schedule and is sleeping quite a bit better.
I was excited about getting some time off this weekend, because the hospital takes Good Friday and the Monday after Easter as Holidays. That makes for 4 days of only emergent surgery. This morning I was able to sleep in until 6:30 instead of waking up at 5 like the other mornings. Then, I was off to the hospital for rounds and then only a couple of cases that should be short. Danielle was excited because we were planning on being back before lunch and then spend the rest of the afternoon together. That all changed as soon as we finished our last case. I had just made it back to the house when we got a call from Casualty (the Kenyan word of ER). There was a man that had a fractured shoulder that needed to be seen. We made the ¼ mile treck back up to the hospital only to find out that after the patient got his X-ray he decided to leave, most likely because he did not have the money for the care. So I was thinking, well I guess we will head back down to the house. Then as we walked out of the ER, we were shown a child with a broken forearm that was needing a reduction (pulling and pushing to align the bones) and splint. The whole process takes a while because you have to shoot a series of xrays to see if your reduction is acceptable. As we were applying the splint, a nurse walked in with another xray of child with a fractured arm that was needing reduction and splinting. After all was said and done, I got home at about 5:45 pm.
I have to confess that I was a little frustrated as I walked down the hill. I was really looking forward to spending time with Danielle and Jeremiah this afternoon and now the whole afternoon was gone. Very quickly, the Lord reminded me of why I am here. It was as if He was saying to me, “why do you think I brought you here? This is your calling. Do you not trust that My calling is the best for you? Why are you complaining? By the time I made it back to the house, I had asked forgiveness for my lack of faith and lack of gratefulness for the ability to care for His people. I then vowed to never complain again about caring for patients. Because I know that this is my calling, and my calling is from an awesome loving God, I will always know that however hard and tiring that this profession may become, it is what is truly best for me and it is what truly glorifies God the most.





Jeremiah at the Easter Egg Hunt

April 12, 2009

Happy Easter from Kenya. Our day started as usual with getting ready, feeding Jeremiah, and getting him dressed for church. John David left to round on patients at around 8am. We met him at church at 9am. The church service was great. We sang worship songs (hymns and contemporary), had an offering, a time of prayer, and a sermon. The service lasted about 2 hours. It was an awesome experience to worship with other missionaries and Kenyans. There is no nursery like at home so I held Jeremiah the whole time. Luckily I had him in the wrap. Amy Summerville suggested I bring it a long with me especially for the airport/airplane (thank you Amy) and I am sooo glad I did. It is sometimes hard to put Jeremiah in the stroller because of stairs, rock, etc. so it is so convenient to put him in the wrap.

Anyways, back to Easter day. After church, Francie and I came home to prepare scalloped potatoes to take over to a missionary family’s home where we were having lunch. They are a couple from Birmingham (he is an opthomologist) that has been here 3 years and are full time. They have 3 boys (ages 6, 4, 2) and moved here when the youngest was only 3 months old. They are great and have given us some perspective on missions (especially for me with children).

So after an amazing lunch of ham, about 6 different casseroles and 3 desserts (she cooks like a southerner) we relaxed; except John David who was still at the hospital. John David unfortunately had to work all day and didn’t get home until about 5:30.
At 6:30 we went and had dinner with a couple that has just matched into ortho in Vermont and will be starting residency the same time as us. It was great to hang out with a young married couple and talk about medical school, match, and residency. They actually had ranked Greenville first, but got their 2nd choice. How ironic if they too were moving to Greenville, but they are excited about Vermont.

So this will be a funny story for those of you who have boys or all boys! :) The missionary home we were at today with the 3 boys is an exciting home-you can imagine. The adults were all sitting around talking in a screened in deck that is upstairs. So we could see the children playing downstairs in the yard. Well, Jenny (the wife) tells here husband to go assist the boys with the game they were playing. Apparently, they take their radio flyer red wagon up a big hill as far as they can, hop in, and ride down the hill going as fast as they can!!!!! So the husband tells Jenny that it will be ok and we just sit and watch these boys go down the hill. And for most of it you couldn’t see them just hear them. It freaked me out because I looked at Jeremiah thinking that one day he would be doing things like that and it scares me just a bit. I guess it is a good thing daddy is going to be an orthopedic surgeon. But that is part of the fun of seeing these children grow up on the mission field. This place is paradise for a little boy. I am constantly watching them climb trees, run around barefoot(they never have shoes on), play and get covered in mud and anything else they can get into. It is so fun but as for those of you who know my OCD personality, it is a little scary to think Jeremiah could get that dirty. Oh and just to let you know how much they get into to: Jenny says that she “de-worms” her 3 boys about every 3 months!!!!! Which means she gives them a pill to clean out their system of anything they may have picked up along the way. All laughing put to the side-I pray that I am a mom who in a short time will let Jeremiah just be a boy!!!

From JD- A reflection on Easter in Kenya
As I was walking up to the hospital this morning for rounds I began to think about the Lord. It has been said that Jesus is one of three types of people- a liar, a lunatic, or LORD. As my feet climbed up step after step of the hospital, I realized how much of an impact Jesus has had on this world. Here I am, in the middle of a totally different country, hidden away in the beautiful Kenyan mountains, and Jesus has touched even here. It is not just any touch, it is a touch of love, sacrifice, and healing. I reflected on how His life reached all the way to the very bricks that built the multiple buildings that make up Tenwek Hospital. His life and words have caused multiple families to leave their homes in the US, Europe, and Asia just to come here to tell the native Kenyans of the hope that Christ has brought. There is no liar or lunatic that can have impact like that. Can you believe that He lived over 2000 years ago and He is still having such an influence? Think of the greatest revolutions in history. Think of the greatest leaders to have ever lived. How long have they lasted? 50 years, 100 years, maybe even 300 years, but eventually they die and go away. Christ’s impact has never died; it has always lasted. Centuries and centuries have gone by and His life is still changing lives. How can this be? I think there is a simple answer to this question. HE IS ALIVE!!!
On a different note, I began to weep during the service this morning as the offering plate was being passed around. As the plate was making its way toward the back, it began to overflow with Shillings from the Kenyans who were in the congregation. I don’t know why but I was overwhelmed with emotion. I began to think of how much they are in poverty, but yet still joyfully give. To give you an idea, some of the wealthiest people in Nairobi earn around 30,000 shillings per month (about $380). Most make around 3,000 to 5,000 per month (about $60), and I saw multiple 1000 shilling bills in the plate. I looked back and all I saw were happy faces. Most of the people in the congregation don’t even know what a percent is, much less have the ability to calculate 10%. They just give what they feel led by the Lord to give, and they do it with such a grateful and joyous heart. The Lord surely convicted me to evaluate my finances in that moment. It really makes you think when you add the perspective of how much it cost for a meal at Wings or Sabora. In most cases, we spend about ½ of a Kenyan’s monthly salary on 1 meal.

April 14, 2009


Jeremiah with our house help, Lillian



Some things different, some things the same!

So reflecting on the US compared to Kenya-dishwasher is all I have to say. I knew that we wouldn’t have a dishwasher but man you can’t appreciate yours until you go without it. We have been here a little over 1 week and I am so wishing I had a dishwasher. You can imagine with 4 people and 1 baby, we have a lot of dishes. Francie and I wash dishes about 3 times a day-that is when Lillian isn’t here. And I appreciate Lillian and my dishwasher so much. This is the way it goes: 1. We have to boil water to rinse the dishes with. 2. Run the dishwater with soap and wash the dishes. 3. Rinse the dishes in the boiled water to kill off anything the soap didn’t. 4. Dry the dishes with a towel because we have no where for them to dry.

I know that plenty of people do this in the US and I respect them greatly. I am looking forward to having a dishwasher again. On the same note, a clothes dryer. We have a washer, which is a huge blessing, but no dryer. So we hang our clothes out to dry. They have that great sun dried smell, but it rains here daily. So you have to watch out or you will find yourself out in the rain trying to yank the clothes off the line.

Now to what is the same: my child who will not eat. Many of you may remember that back a few months ago we had problems with Jeremiah screaming and spitting his food out. Well that has returned unfortunately. This time it is worse. Before he was eating his baby food at least 1-2 times a day. Now he will not eat any of it. When he sees the spoon he starts screaming and spitting before it even gets to his mouth. Please join us in prayer that the Lord would give us wisdom as to what to do. We have considered everything: teething (still a good possibility), throat hurting (JD and I have a cold), not wanting baby food anymore, being stubborn, etc. So far from praying multiple times a day about it, I feel the Lord telling me he wants real food that he can pick up and eat. He is really hungry which shows in his fussiness, crankiness and lack of taking naps. But he is so stubborn he won’t eat his food. So that is what we are giving him and we have increased his bottles to 8 ounces, 4 times a day. So what are some of the things he has eaten and loves: pizza, kidney beans, zucchini bread, blueberry muffins, bananas, spaghetti, green beans, homemade apple sauce, banana nut bread, and some others I can’t think of right now. So as you can see, real nutritious!!! But we are just wanting him to eat at this point. He loves being able to feed himself. So we are praying that we have an answer and some peace soon about the whole thing.

On a fun note, John David and I have scheduled our safari trip. We are going on the 24th. Carl and Francie are going to keep Jeremiah. We decided to go just for 1 night, but we may change to 2 if we feel we need a bit longer break. We are very excited. We are hoping to get awesome pictures and video to share with all of you.