Shanksteps
Neonatal Tetanus
Watching him in full tetanic spasm was probably the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. Kaldoussa came to us at 8 days of age. He had been born at home with the help of a family member. Mom had not had any prenatal visits or counseling, and therefore also not received her tetanus vaccine. At 7 days old the spasms started. The family brought him to a nearby clinic that immediately referred him to our hospital. Tetanus is a horrible disease. The sooner after the “injury” the spasms start,
the higher the mortality. I suspect his “injury” was cutting the umbilical cord with something dirty. Anyhow, when he arrived, we had some of the necessary medications, but not all. So we did the best we could, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed. After three days in the hospital, his mother was extremely discouraged and decided to take him home. She said that he wasn’t getting any better, and she had no money to pay for his treatment. When someone comes in with tetanus, we immediately explain
to the family that their disease will take a long time to recover (sometimes up to several months) and the medications will be very expensive. We explained all this to the mother, but after three days she decided to give up. I sat down with her and explained that stopping now would probably be a death sentence, and that she would have wasted the first three days for nothing. I explained that since he would most likely be in the hospital for at least a month that she would have some time to come
up with the money. This dear woman responded that she wanted more than anything to be able to continue treatment for her son, but that she didn’t want to promise that she would come up with the money for the bill when she wasn’t sure she would be able to. She explained that she had nothing to sell (goats, chickens, millet, onions etc), and hardly any food until the next harvest season. My heart went out to her.
While we were home on furlough, we spoke at several churches and camp meetings. At one church in WV, a woman gave us a donation specifically to be used to help children whose parents couldn’t afford treatment (Thanks Susan A!). Usually if we consider helping someone financially, they have to come up with a good portion themselves, however I truly believed that this woman had nothing. So, I told her that I love children, and God loves children. Neither of us (myself or God) wanted to let Kaldoussa
return home without doing everything we could for his survival. I told her that we would take care of the rest of the bill and for her not to worry about finances. She broke down. She said that that was her responsibility as a mother, and yet here we were helping a family we didn’t even know. She truly had no words to express her gratitude.
So, we continued to treat this little fella. Every morning in my personal worship I prayed for him. In our prayer group every morning we prayed. Eliza (peds nurse) and I prayed for him before making rounds, and then we prayed with him and his mother every day when we checked on him. From a medical standpoint I was very worried that he wasn’t going to survive, but I had an impression that God was going to make something out of this experience. As of today he has survived 10 days and is almost
spasm free. He had a high fever for several days, but after the right cocktail of antibiotics he has now been 24 hours fever free. I believe that he just might survive this ordeal. Perhaps more importantly thought, his mother has experienced love from a stranger and the love of Christ working through this experience. Kaldoussa will probably be with us for at least several more weeks during which time we can also minister to his mom. Please continue to pray for this itty bitty guy and his mom.
Thanks to everyone who has given donations, love and prayers. We need all three.
In His Hands, Aud
PS: Unfortunately for this small child, he was not able to support the spasms. We expect to someday see him in Heaven when Jesus comes to raise the dead who fell asleep in Him. Greg