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A Shadow of the Future


 So this is gonna be a heavy one...

Today Matt, Anna, Nicole and I got to step into the world of neurosurgery at Kijabe Hospital as we shadowed Dr. Leland Albright and team on their morning rounds and then observed surgery on a 2-week-old Spina Bifida baby. I cannot even begin to describe what an amazing opportunity this was. One I was glad to wake up at 5:30am for.

Rounds at the pediatric neurology ward of the hospital really opened my eyes to the unique aspects of practicing medicine in other countries, especially ones where quality medical care/resources can be scarce. Each bed that we visited introduced something new:
  • The Spina Bifida infant who is potentially stuck on oxygen for life due to a shrunken lung taught me that cases are often much more complicated than in the United States. Spina Bifida is rarely just Spina Bifida and is accompanied by a range of issues from head swelling (hydrocephalus) to missing kidneys.
  • An infant and mother longing for home but requiring antibiotics taught me that hospitals often have fair stocks of antibiotics that can be given by I.V. but lack oral supplies that could allow patients to go home sooner.
  • A post-op Spina Bifida baby and mother from far north Kenya in Kijabe because they do not live near a single hospital or clinic taught me that we are blessed to have medical care practically around every corner in the States.
  • A Masi-tribe mother that doesn't speak a word of English or Swahili with a Spina Bifida infant whose head is rapidly swelling and in need of surgery showed me the challenges of rural cross-cultural areas. Dr. Albright, when asked how they would translate, responded that they are forced to hope that there might be someone else among the hospital patients that knows the Masi language.
  • Children born in Kenya with a Spina Bifida spinal chord gap that is "open" are rarely operated on and have little options but a slow death. This idea really hit home when we realized that the 11-year-old boy traveling with us from Longview, Connor, was born with one such "open" diagnosis.
Today I caught a glimpse of my future. Dr. Albright is a world-renowned neurosurgeon but has chosen to come to a place where here is largely unknown, where he can use his valuable skills and passion to change one life at a time. That's what I want.

About halfway through the two-plus-hour Spina Bifida surgery, as I sat outside the operating room (OR) to catch my breath and my stomach, I began to fight off panic. "This isn’t supposed to happen... I'm supposed to be strong, I'm supposed to be a doctor…" I panicked as I imagined my grasp on my ever-sure future slipping away. I lifted my gaze to find a mural across from my seat, a painting of Peter clutching Jesus as he sinks among the waves that he so boldly stepped upon moments before. I took a deep breath to calm my thoughts and smiled. Whatever God wants me to do in life, he'll get me there. My job is to believe. With my new-found peace, I walked confidently back into the OR theatre to watch one of the coolest things I've seen in my life.

Observing this pediatric ward was especially valuable because our entire purpose in Kenya is working with kids that have the very conditions we were seeing at Kijabe Hospital (Spina Bifida, cranial TB, ect…). I realize how even more special spending time with these kids is. The testimony of the Joytown chaplain Francesca taught me the startling fact that often times in smaller rural communities, children born with any kind of disability are outright poisoned to be removed as a "burden" from the family. I would encourage you to listen to Francesca's story here. It may be hard to hear but it's life here in Kenya and many other places.

Life that needs to be known and prayed over.

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