Monday, 2:15 A.M. - Thunder and lightning were flashing outside and the winds were beginning to howl as a storm blew in. Then came a knock on our bedroom door, waking us out of our sleep. Caralina said that Auntie Gertrude (one of the substitute house moms) was at her window calling for us.
Hopping out of bed, we discovered that one of the girls in her house, 7-year-old Chloe, was having an asthma attack and none of her inhalers were helping her. Chloe has asthma regularly and we have a slew of inhalers and a nebulizer for treatment. As I was putting on a pair of sweatpants to dash next door, the skies opened up in a downpour, so Amy grabbed a poncho for me too.
Arriving at the house, Chloe sounded horrible - reminding me of a similar asthma attack I had as a child. We gave her two puffs of the first inhaler, tried steaming water for her to breathe and gave a couple puffs on another inhaler with different meds in it. Nothing helped and she was miserable - coughing and straining to breathe so much.
Our fellow missionary, Claudia, was there as well and we decided that Chloe needed to get to the hospital. Claudia's car was having trouble - even after driving down to House 2A, it wouldn't start. It was about this time that the power went out, leaving the campus in total darkness from the storm. My car battery had gone dead a couple days earlier requiring us to push-start to go anywhere. Having parked on an incline, I was able to push-start my car alone, so we loaded Chloe in with Gertrude and headed off to Buikwe hospital, about 10 minutes away. Arriving around 3:45 a.m. the nurses quickly (though with little compassion, having been wakened from their own slumber) put in a pic line and administered four doses of medications. Chloe's breathing started calming immediately and then it returned to normal. They put her in a bed in the adult ward, since the children's ward was full. They had to move a non-patient out of the bed in order to make room for Chloe, just keeping her for observation.
The hospital guard came in about that time, asking me to go turn off my car. Knowing it wouldn't start again without pushing, I had locked the door and left it running in the parking lot! It was better than trying to find people to help push-start the thing through a muddy parking lot at 4:30 in the morning.
5:30 a.m. - Trekking back to GSF, I was grateful that the road wasn't too muddy after the rain and I climbed in bed for a little sleep before the roosters started crowing.
Chloe returned to GSF today and she is much better. Praise the Lord, who graciously guides us through every adventure here!
5 comments:
Wow! Never boring, huh?
Nope, we never get bored here. They say kids provide great entertainment and also a deterrent from boredom in more ways than one.
I met little Chloe while I was there an actually gave her those inhalers. She was pretty wheezy while we were there. She was a sweet little girl and I'm glad she's doing better. It's hilarious that the nurses were sleeping if I was caught sleeping in the states I would be fired!So different
Mark and Amy, your neighbors from Berkshire stopping in to say hello! We are still praying for you and the children. Love your blogging and wonderful stories
Wow. You keep things in perspective for me. Two nights ago Lexton (my 6 year old) had an asthma attack, and the croup and was recovering from bad poison ivy. I was up with him during the night giving him inhalers, medicines and setting up a vaporizer. I was sleepy the next morning at work. At least I had the supplies and didn't have to start my car with a bad battery and take him to the hospital. You guys are awesome. I'll pray for Chloe's asthma and for your continued stamina.
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