No, it is a
Prostrate; Adventures in Kenyan Surgery
September 8,
2005
There are always adjustments when you return to a
country. One of the first is health issues; you meet up with a whole new set of
germs, and it can take time for your body to get used to them. Ben has had a bad
cough for a week and diarrhea for almost as long. He has been amazingly patient
through it all, getting up six or seven times a night, walking into the
bathroom, unzipping his feetie pajamas (it’s COLD here at night) doing the deed
and then calling `I need a wipe, please.’ After said wipe, he says `I love you;
see you in the morning.’ And repeats six or seven
times.
I knew this had gone on too long when he called out the
other night, and I responded to the call. It was three am, and I was out of
practice in getting up at night. Ben looked at me and asked `Daddy, why are you
wiping my head?’
So, when JT complained of stomach pains, we suspected
more of the same. It got progressively worse, and on Tuesday he could barely
walk to class. He went to student health and asked for something to help him get
through the day. He lasted one class, and then he gave up and came
home.
He wasn’t doing any better the next day, and
Twenty minutes later, the surgeon had confirmed that the
appendix should come out and he was put in a wheelchair. While we were waiting,
the power went off twice, which will NEVER give you a warm fuzzy before surgery.
But the doctor is a first class surgeon who has given up so much to come to
serve the poor in
The surgery was successful, and we got to see our son.
He was in a room with many beds, and the old equipment that was monitoring his
vitals was attached to a battery backup, which tended to give one pause. But
there is always that Kenyan moment and it came when JT asked the doctor if he
could see the appendix.
At RVA, we save old bottles and containers for the
hospital. When asked to donate a sample, you might be given an old shampoo
bottle, or a vitamin can, or any number of different things. Dr. Byrd went
through a number of bottles on his desk labeled such things as you don’t want to
know, and then an orderly came into the room carrying something in a Flintstones
vitamin bottle.
Dr. Byrd: Is that the
appendix?
Orderly: No, it is a
prostate.
JT did get to see his appendix finally, and he then went
to the recovery ward. At one point, it looked liked he would get to spend the
night in the maternity ward, but a new wing, which is not officially opened,
was made available, and he even got to have a private room. He was
hurting, but Ben and Kate, who love JT more than life itself, had to call to
talk to Big Brother:
Kate: JT, are you still
big?
JT: Yes Kate.
Ben: JT, sometimes when you are sick they give you
medicine that does not taste nice.
JT: Thanks Ben.
The nurse came in the next day and the three of us had
an illuminating conversation:
Nurse: Have you passed gas,
JT?
JT: Yes.
Nurse: That is a very good
thing.
Me: You are the first person to ever say that to my
son.
Nurse: It is very healthy to pass gas after
surgery.
Me: Then he is the healthiest person on the
planet.
Nurse: (Long pause; many eye blinks) You are saying that
he passes much gas!
JT: (Ultimate teen eye
roll)
JT said that besides the above conversation, the worst
part of the ordeal was the ride home. The roads are so bad that they are always
bumpy, and he was in lots of pain on a ride that should take two minutes (it
took ten because we were going so slow) He is home and resting and we are
grateful for a great staff that caught it early. He is a little stressed about
all the work he will miss, but he is getting stronger by the hour, and should be
able to get back to classes by early next week.
And we are very grateful that wasn’t HIS prostrate in
that bottle.
Your pal,
Steve
Steve and Nancy
Peifer
Stateside Address: AIM
Home Number:
011-254-20-32046-458
Office Number:
011-254-20-32046-170
Steve's Cell:
011-254-0734-124292
Website: http://peifer.kijabe.org/index.html?intro.html&1
Foundation:
http://www.solutionbeaconfoundation.org/programs.htm