Combat Cholera

The past couple weeks Bethesda has been treating on average 15 Cholera patients each day at a house on our compound right next to the clinic. We have mats, beds, IV and oral fluids, cleaning supplies and everything we need in the house to take care of these patients. Since we first opened this Cholera ward to the community last Wednesday, we have seen and treated somewhere around 70 patients. The majority of our patients, we have been able to send home within 2 or 3 days, healthy and with the knowledge of how to better protect themselves from this disease.

When we first decided to open our doors to care for Cholera patients round the clock, we started by putting up a few tents on the side of the clinic. But after a couple days, we realized we were going to need a much bigger facility and a more efficient means for caring for these people. One of our missionaries, Jane, came up with the idea to turn one of the vacant guest houses on our compound into a mini hospital. Julie and I, being a physical therapist and a radiologic technologist, naturally were selected to set up and run the operation. We had help of course with Dr. Rodney and the other nurses working at Bethesda during the day. However, the first couple of nights it was just me, Julie, and Dr. Rodney starting and changing IV's, changing fluids, changing diapers, cleaning up diarrhea and vomit, and making sure everyone got their meds as needed. Needless to say, we were all completely exhausted after a few days and it was obvious that we needed more help. So Dr. Rodney started to look for nurses to hire outside of Bethesda to come and take the night shifts.Thanksgiving night was particularly busy and draining both physically and emotionally. It was the second day of opening up the house to patient, and we had one little boy 18 months old named Daniello who was especially sick. That day we had tried and tried to find a vein in any part of his body, but it had been extremely difficult as he was already severely dehydrated and still having diarrhea regularly. One of our nurses eventually got one in his head, but it was dripping slowly and not replenishing his water as fast as he was losing it. Both Julie and I took turns all day and night trying to rehydrate him orally with pedialyte but the situation seemed dire. There was nothing more we could do at that point besides pray and ask others to pray as well.

Daniello and his mom

That night we got all of the patients, their families, and some of the missionaries together in the main room and had a little service of singing, bible reading, and prayer. We really tried to encourage the patients and their families by telling them how much God loves them and that He has a perfect plan for all of our lives, even if we don't understand sometimes. Although many of them said that they were Christians, we had the opportunity to remind them of the hope and joy of their salvation, and the Lord's promise of eternal life with Him forever through our faith in Jesus.The next day, Daniello was looking more alert and like he was feeling much better. The only problem was he was still having diarrhea and losing all the water he was drinking. For some reason, that afternoon one of the nurses decided to take him off IV fluids since he was still able to drink. But come dark time he had reverted back to presenting the classic signs of someone who has Cholera: eyes rolled back in their head, sunken in cheeks, mouth hanging open, and general fatigue. We started to get worried when Dr. Rodney was unable to find a vein to start him on IV fluids again. Finally after debating on what our options were, Dr. Rodney came up with the idea of an intraosseous IV. He had never done one before, but we all read the directions together and after 3 tries, got an IV started in his distal tibia bone. That whole night we sat up with him again, changing his diapers and trying to get him to drink oral fluids. There were more than a few times that we thought we were going to lose him throughout the night. He also had fluid in his lungs and was having trouble breathing. Julie did some chest physical therapy and was able to clear some of the fluid out, which made it easier for him to breath and drink.

He stayed relatively in the same condition throughout the next day, but the day after that he was looking much better and had started to become more vocal and interactive. His diarrhea was slowing way down, but he had contracted a low grade fever of about 101 and it wasn't breaking. Our plan was to keep him with us, continue giving him antibiotics until he was completely better before sending him home. His mom was the one with him during this whole time, but she told us that his dad who was living in the Dominican at the time and who hadn't seen Daniello in 5 months, had gotten some kind of medicine from a witch doctor and was coming to the clinic to give it to him. Ms. Prudence told him that Bethesda does not support any kind of voodoo rituals or remedies and that he could not bring that in to give to him. So the dad decided instead they were going to take Daniello and leave Bethesda against medical advice.

When I heard this news I was frustrated, sad, and scared for this little boy. I gave his mother all the medication she needed and told her how much and how often to give it to him. I gave him a bath, and packed him a bag of baby shampoo, diapers, and some shoes and clothes we still had in our house from what people back home had donated. His mom let me take a picture of them as they were leaving. Ms. Prudence gave them an appointment to come back for a check up the following Friday, but I never heard of they came or not. I still think about and pray for that little boy and his family, wherever they are, that God will redeem that situation. I am praying that Daniello will be completely healed to the glory of His name, and that through all of this his parents will come to know the truth that is Jesus Christ, so that Daniello can grow up knowing that it was God who has saved him both physically and spiritually.Right now we have a team here from Nebraska with 2 doctors and 2 nurses who are helping out this week. All of us at the clinic are so grateful for the extra help as it really is draining work for everyone, especially when each of us has other jobs and responsibilities in the clinic added to it. We have set up a few tents out in front of the house for overflow when all of our beds our filled. The first week we had mostly young kids and babies who came, but since then we have had a variety of patients of all ages. These are some of the kids from the first week...


We would all appreciate your prayers for physical and emotional strength in handling this day-to-day kind of work. It has been both heartbreaking as well as uplifting, to see people come in deathly ill, take care of them for 3 days or so, and see the change in them as they start to recover (for some we have literally seen them healed within minutes and turn into a totally different person). It helps knowing that we are sending them home hopefully healthy and with the valuable knowledge of how to prevent the spread of Cholera, as well as the charge to inform as many people as they can. We are not sure how long exactly Bethesda will be working to treat Cholera, but it is predicted that it will be well into the next year. The need for supplies is going to be ongoing, as is the need for more nurses and doctors to come help out. If you or anyone you know would be interested in donating their time, resources, or both, you can either email me or get in touch with us through Bethesda's facebook page.

There is a long road of recovery ahead for this poor country and your continued prayers and support, not just for Bethesda and OMS, but for the country as a whole, is much needed and incredibly powerful. We know God is sovereign and in complete control. He will bring beauty from these ashes and His name will be praised.

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine." Psalm 33:18