A Smile

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon as I strolled in the front door of our ER.  At a glance I was able to survey the large white brick room with its 7 beds.  About half the beds were full at the time which is fairly common.

I had come at the request of the nursing officer to evaluate several patients.  Bed six had an 8 year old little girl.  I grabbed her chart and headed over.  Her big brown eyes showed fear as I approached.  She looked very ill, dehydrated, and uncomfortable lying on the exam table.  I began talking to her parents trying to determine what had brought them to the emergency room.  She had a fever, diarrhea, and vomiting for several days.  It was an easy call to admit her to the pediatric ward for antibiotics and IV fluids to treat her Typhoid.

While fever, diarrhea and vomiting are not fun to suffer through in the United States,  in the developing world death from dehydration secondary to diarrhea and vomiting is a very real concern.  With recognition and treatment lives can be saved.

I finished my call early Sunday morning.  Then, around 10:30AM, my family and I made our way back to the hospital for church.  We were joining other missionaries to do an outreach Sunday service on several of the wards.  I walked onto A ward with my baby girl strapped on my back and holding the hand of my little guy.

As my eyes scanned the room, there was the little girl I admitted.  She was sitting up in bed with a huge smile across her face, her eyes popping with joy and cheerfully waving when she recognized me.  A very different little girl than the night before.  Because she was able to receive medical care here at Nazarene Hospital, she will make a full recovery.