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I should have known something was wrong last Friday night, when I offered Kylee an ice cream cone and she turned me down. That was the first sign. The first sign that she was sick. Last Friday, April 14, after dinner Kylee started mentioning that her head and stomach hurt. She said she was tired and she wanted to go to bed. If you know Kylee, you will know this is concerning behaviour. Kylee never wants to go to bed. She never wants to miss an ice cream cone and she never wants to miss time with others. Needless to say she was ill. For the following three days she had a high fever, headache, backache and neckache. By Tuesday afternoon she had a rash. When we saw the rash, knowing the symptoms of several concerning Filipino illnesses, we rushed her to the local clinic. When we got to the clinic they ran a blood test to check her platelet count. They were concerned she might have had a mosquito borne virus called "Dengue Fever". They did not have the equipment to test for Dengue.. but they could watch for the platelet count to drop, a symptom of Dengue, using the test they did have. After taking the test and seeing her platelet count was a bit low, they sent her home and gave us strict instructions to return within 24 hours for a follow-up blood test.
That night, Kylee slept with me. Rather, that night Kylee
stayed awake with me. Her headache was so bad and the fever was so high that the Tylenol (Paracetamol in this country) had no impact. Part way through the night she threw-up. Malcolm was downstairs at our friend's house. Siann was still up working on her school work and quickly jumped into action, without even being asked. She took Kylee out of bed and helped her shower, washed her hair and braided it again and helped her find new pajamas, while I cleaned up the mess.
The next morning, with Kylee getting progressively worse, we rushed to the clinic again.When we stepped into the clinic the power went out. It went out across the whole island. The clinic was extremely hot and uncomfortable without fans. (It is an extremely simple clinic... no air conditioning, no privacy, very limited equipment... but a very kind and loving staff.) Worse than the heat, which was causing an already very uncomfortable, feverish, vomiting Kylee to be even more uncomfortable... the lack of power made it so that clinic's already limited lab offerings were completely out of commission. They could not test Kylee's blood. They could not do any follow-up procedures. All they could do was examine her, give her Tylenol, wipe her down with a cool cloth, put in a manual IV drip... and recommend very strongly that we get her to a good hospital as quickly as possible... a good hospital... meaning Manila.
Within 15 minutes of us texting our island friends, our ministry leader, Dan, was at the clinic texting like a mad man ( When dealing with an issue he literally double-fists it, one cell in each hand.) trying to find a flight for us to Manila. Our Filipino leaders, Teresa and Rolando were there providing support, prayer and Sprite. They advocated for us in Filipino to help eliminate any language barriers with the clinic staff. With their help, in under two hours, Malcolm, Kylee, the clinic doctor, Dr. Lo and I were headed for Manila.
The trip to Manila took place in several steps. Step one, we had to take a van to the jetty port. Step two, we had to take boat to Caticlan. Step three, we had to take a van to the Caticlan Airport (landing strip two metres) :) . Step four, we had to take a plane to Manila. Step five, we had to take a van (driven by Dan's wife Tori) through Manila traffic (notably one of the craziest, dangerous places in the world to drive). End step, after almost three hours of travel we arrived at St. Luke's Medical Centre in Manila.
The entire trip Kylee's wonderful doctor, Dr. Lo, held Kylee's IV bag up over her head, arm extended up in the air accepting no help. Dr. Lo's other arm was wrapped around Kylee. They had made a connection more significant than the IV tube. The entire trip, Kylee said fewer than ten words. She was in pain, listless and weak. And yet, when you see the picture above that a friend took (we didn't have time to take a camera.) you would never know how ill she was. She saw the camera and smiled. Then she closed her eyes and drifted away again.
The hospital in Manila was amazing. By far one of the nicest hospitals I have ever seen. The staff were kind, gentle, loving and competent. Four doctors looked at her and four doctors were convinced she had Dengue. They also checked for Typhoid. They were very concerned. Over the next 24 hours, nothing would stop Kylee's head pain and fever. The rash was spreading and she was very dehydrated. After many blood tests and an excellent pediatrician's (the fifth doctor) examination and observation skills... it was determined that Kylee had the measles. (Malcolm had actually predicted this much earlier... using his Google skills... but we had dismissed it.)
Yes, Kylee has been immunized. Yes, Kylee got her booster. But, Kylee has a mother (me) who also was immunized and received a booster as a child. And Kylee's mother (me) found out in her 20s that she was not immune to the measles. So, she got another shot. Then when I was pregnant with Siann they said I was immune to the measles. Then, when I was pregnant with Tesha.... they determined I was not immune any longer and prior to getting pregnant with Kylee I received an immunization shot for the fourth time. It turns out that Kylee seems to have followed in my footsteps. If we had stayed at home, like I did as a child, she probably never would have been exposed to the measles. But in this country, surrounded by children every day, none of whom have been blessed to have received immunizations, she must have come into contact with it. Add the heat and dehydration... and she became extremely ill.
I am happy to say that after four days in the hospital, several days on constant IV's, fever, vomiting and pain meds, Kylee is doing very well. Malcolm returned home yesterday to be with our other children and Kylee and I should be released from the hospital tomorrow. We will be spending the next three nights confined to a hotel room, because she is still contagious and is not allowed in a plane yet or even to go out into public without a mask. Additionally, over the next two weeks, to avoid post-viral issues, we have to keep Kylee from exerting herself, and try to keep her out of the heat - a bit of a challenge due to daily 41 degree humidex ratings, but, believe me, things could be so much worse.
To summarize, here is my list (I love a good list) of nine (ten would be too predictable)
blessings I received though this experience:
1)
Peace - the peace I felt during the entire process... the peace that comes from knowing no matter what happened God would hold us and help us... the peace that defies logic... the peace that knows that this world is not our home... the peace that comes from an eternal perspective... for that peace I praise God, for His peace I am overwhelmed with gratitude. (For me, Peace is not the absence of fear... it is the limiting of fear. It helps us defy despair. )
2)
Prayers - the constant prayers of family and friends and inspirational texts we have received
for Kylee have been so encouraging.. there are no words to express what
they have meant. ( I am now a BIG believer in the power of a well-worded text.)
3)
Our kids -Our kids were amazing. Cati and Tesha held down their responsibilities tutoring at the school. Siann, who was at home doing her school work, had to use my frantically put together texted lists to try to pack our bags so we could leave for an unknown period of time. She not only got all the things I asked for, she included things I hadn't even thought to ask for. (Like Kylee's Bible and my pajamas!)
4)
My husband - Marriage is not an easy thing. Okay, maybe for you it is. For me it isn't. I take my husband for granted, daily. I forget that he is kind, compassionate, dependable and sincere. When he leaves his clothes on the floor EVERYDAY... I forget. Then, when I hit a bump in the road and I am blessed to have a rock to lean on.... I remember. The trick, I believe, is to remember every day. Even in the face of a carpet of dirty clothes.
5)
Kylee - despite feeling miserable and in much pain, Kylee continued to be Kylee. She never once whined or complained. She was polite to the people dealing with her and endured the travel and needle pricks like a trooper. She even managed to throw in her new-found Taglog words when communicating with the doctors. When she began to feel better and was confined to her room, she found fun in the little things. She was amused by the sudden appearance of masks when the staff realized she had the measles. She got a kick out of how the food tray was delivered by a knock on the door and a quick departure. She enjoyed driving the wheelchair when she was too weak to walk. (Something she has always wanted to try.) And the only thing about the experience that she lamented was when she would hear toddlers crying in hallway, and she could not go out and cheer them. I believe she gets this positive attitude when things are challenging from my mother... certainly not from me.
6)
Friends - our friends on this island were incredible. The four that showed up at the clinic and held our hand to the boat. Our friends who without question accepted full responsibility for our three other girls who we left behind in their care... not knowing how long we would be gone. Our friends who threw money in our direction when they knew the power was out and the ATM was down and we had no more access to funds... in a totally cash based community. (We actually had to pay cash for our plane tickets! Imagine.)
7)
The doctors and nurses of the Philippines - I have never witnessed a more attentive, gentle, kind group of people. On the island, they lacked equipment and resources, but they did not lack compassion. In Manila, they had equipment and resources and kept the compassion. It was amazing.
8)
Insurance and the money to pay for it. I know, without a doubt, without the money that God has blessed us with, Kylee's outcome could have been much worse. She had good healthcare because we could afford not only to get her to it, but to pay for it when we arrived. All around us are examples of people who lack for the basics. They do not have the healthcare system that we so often take for granted in Canada. If they don't have money (and most do not) they do not have access to good health care.
One of our student's grandmother's, his only guardian, has cervical cancer. She needs surgery and she needs hospital treatment. She is at home treating her cancer with tree leaf tea.
Several weeks ago I attended the funeral of a mother, my age, who had six children. She died of complications from diabetes. She was not in a hospital.
A few weeks before that her neighbour, a young woman of 26 died from an infection after giving birth at home.
My friend's niece was in a house fire a month ago. She is two. She is badly burned on both legs, one arm and a tiny bit of her face. She is in the hospital. Her family spends each day wondering how they will pay the bill. The bill is so high already that it would take my friend's entire teaching salary for two years to pay it off. The baby will not be allowed to leave the hospital until the bill is fully paid. Each day the baby is there, more debt is accumulated.
I could go on.
It can be overwhelming. It is hard to hide from the injustice in our world when it smacks you in the face every day. Every where we turn someone has a need. Our job is to not get so overwhelmed that we feel ineffective. Our job is to be good stewards of what we have. Our job is to never take for granted our blessings. Our job is to recognize that what we have is a blessing. Yes, we worked for it.... but people all over the world work as hard or harder than us and are still gripped in the vise of material poverty. We didn't earn it, we were given it. Our job is to recognize that. Our job is to share.
9) Gratitude - enough said.
Well, I better go. The nurse will be in here shortly to check on my sleeping Kylee. So I need to catch some sleep before she arrives and turns on the light again.
My love to all, Mair (from St. Luke's Medical Centre - Manila, Philippines)
P.S. I don't expect many of you made it to the end of this blog. No worries... this one really is a personal journal for me. For those of you who made it to the end... thanks for your tolerance of this middle-aged rambler. God Bless ya. :)
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