Daily we had challenges to pray about. For over 20 years this
woman had this problem with no relief. She had so much trouble walking. After
studying the problem of elephantiasis or lymphatic filiariasis I discovered that
when the leg is in this state, that preventing secondary infection is one of the
primary goals. The disease has been known for over 4,000 years. It is carried by
a mosquito and is known to infect 120 million in the world. Anyone going into
mosquito infested areas should take precautions of creams, coils, and mosquito
nets.
There
are 1.2 billion at risk. India has 1/3 of the infections. This disease
takes away hope and is a problem psychologically because of disfigurement. The
filiaria need a bacteria to survive and reproduce so an antibiotic doxycycline
is being used to kill the bacteria that this blood parasite depends on. The
lymph system is destroyed by heavy infections of this parasite so the return
flow of fluids into the blood system becomes one of the challenges.
We
saw babies and children with fevers and many cases of anemia with weakness and
trembling being extremely common.
Many suffered neck pain and headache. It is no wonder they have neck pain when you see the load of water they have to carry daily and the work they go through in doing their washing. They are a very strong people.
They loved my neck therapy. It seemed like people would tell about what they got in clinic and compare notes on what to complain about so they could get the same nice service.
I closed clinic by 1 so I could be resting for one hour by 3pm. It was hard to close the door on those who had waited all night. Sometimes we went till 4pm. The emotional strain was intense. I wished I could speak Telegu and just provide more days
Daily we had challenges to pray about. For over 20 years this woman had this problem with no relief. She had so much trouble walking. After studying the problem of elephantiasis or lymphatic filiariasis I discovered that when the leg is in this state, that preventing secondary infection is one of the primary goals. The disease has been known for over 4,000 years. It is carried by a mosquito and is known to infect 120 million in the world. Anyone going into mosquito infested areas should take precautions of creams, coils, and mosquito nets.
There
are 1.2 billion at risk. India has 1/3 of the infections. This disease
takes away hope and is a problem psychologically because of disfigurement. The
filiaria need a bacteria to survive and reproduce so an antibiotic doxycycline
is being used to kill the bacteria that this blood parasite depends on. The
lymph system is destroyed by heavy infections of this parasite so the return
flow of fluids into the blood system becomes one of the challenges.
We
saw babies and children with fevers and many cases of anemia with weakness and
trembling being extremely common.
of clinic so as to release the bottled up tension for not ever getting to me from the back of the line in the heat of the sun.
Since Jesus had the same challenges with large groups, I know He worked through His meal times, and rest times, and even personal needs had to wait.
One man had a terrible accident for which he needed metal plates and pins to stabilize his ankle break. I offered to pay half of the surgery but the family did not seem to want treatment. A tribal medicine man bound the wound with cloth and bamboo to stabilize it and dripped plant juices on it. When he cried out for a Bible and for prayer I found him 7 days after the accident. He had a high fever and the other leg had infection in the gaping wound to the bone. Flies complicated things and the odor was terrible. I expected him to die. I prayed for him and he allowed about 5 treatments of charcoal soaking the open wound to control the infection and antibiotics. We left the village before resolution of his problem and wonder how he is. His name was Samson but he was not the strongest man anymore.
Every day we prayed for wisdom to do our best for those
suffering. We were so thankful for two young men who helped translate for
clinics. Provin and Ravi were a blessing in their helping these people. It is
not an easy task. It is so much easier for me to treat people in Mexico for I
can understand and speak Spanish and it is faster and I therefore get through
the waiting line at a more reasonable speed. The language barrier frustrates
those waiting in the hot sun. When they try to speak with me directly they begin
to realize how impossible it is for me to understand. So they start shouting at
me. It is a natural instinct to shout at those who do not respond to their
comments. The shouting complicates things. The visiting among the waiting line
increases volume so they can hear each other above the other shouting. It gets
impossible for Jenny to do blood pressures or for me to hear heart tones. For
this reason we kept them locked outside the gate.
Vision
problems were the most important and common reason people came to clinic. We had
been given a few glasses that we hoped to fit as close as possible to their
needs. With simple vision screening and trying on the lenses we made a few very
happy people. The rest were crying because they wanted to see so badly. They
asked if I could just give eye drops so they could see. This one lady wanted to
see to read her Bible. I gave her a magnifying glass and she was so thrilled.
Next trip I want to take a few more magnifying glasses along.