Kijabi Hospital
After a long week I went to the Upper School Talent Show at 8:00. Halfway through the first act I noticed a sharp pain in my stomach. After making it to the Junior High girl's bathroom the pain got worse. I decided to call the school nurse and told her I would meet her up at student health.
I knew the pain wasn't normal and was impressed that I was able to walk up to meet Kim (a 35 year missionary nurse who is also supported by WBC with her husband). We quickly decided the pain was severe enough to go down to hospital, so her husband started the car and drove us down the hill.
I have to admit, I was pretty scared about the pain level, but I was just as scared when I laid down on the hospital bed and the Kenyan doctor wanted to draw blood. I think I would have been a little less frightened if the nurse who brought me down had stayed with me, but she had to go get my paperwork started. I made the doctor let me watch while he pricked me. I know my fears were irrational, but I couldn't help being afraid of a dirty needle or them missing or something.
Thankfully, my friend came back and held my hand while the IV dripped 1gram of panadol. Slowly the pain became more manageable. While we waited for the doctor to come the Kenyan man explained that if I wanted to get an ultrasound to check for kidney stones I would need my bladder filled with fluid. We didn't realize till later that they could do this through IV, so while we waited we figured it was a good idea to go get clean water from RVA. The RVA nurse's husband went back up the hill in the car to get water.
15 minutes later a white lady came in. I was so confused and didn't totally get that she was my doctor for a minute. The going theory was that I had a Kidney stone that was passing. Since my pain was manageable she planned to send me home and told me I wasn't allowed to sleep in my house alone for the night. While I waited to be discharged I sat hooked up to all the monitors and my nurse friend encouraged me by saying...
"At least we have a hospital that is close by."
Wow, what a huge blessing for us as missionaries and for our community. Can you imagine having to drive hours? With the pain I was in, it would have been much more scary than the 10 minutes it took to get down the hill.
In the mean time, the nurse's husband came back with a backpack full of water-bottles. He had included a pink cut for me, two cold bottles and a warm bottle in case I wanted one or the other. What a sweet guy. He has clearly been the husband to a nurse for many years.
After the nurse paid for my visit on the RVA account, which would be charged to me later (very thankful we could do this) I was glad to get the wires off and head home. Thankfully, my neighbor was still up at 10:00 and she helped bring a mattress and my bedding over to her house so I could sleep in her living room in front of the fireplace.
I have to say, it was definitely an experience I will never forget and now I have an account at the Kijabi Hospital in Kenya. I could not be more thankful for the wonderful RVA nurse and her husband, the hospital near by, the wonderful Kenyans who took care of me and my neighbor, friend.
I knew the pain wasn't normal and was impressed that I was able to walk up to meet Kim (a 35 year missionary nurse who is also supported by WBC with her husband). We quickly decided the pain was severe enough to go down to hospital, so her husband started the car and drove us down the hill.
I have to admit, I was pretty scared about the pain level, but I was just as scared when I laid down on the hospital bed and the Kenyan doctor wanted to draw blood. I think I would have been a little less frightened if the nurse who brought me down had stayed with me, but she had to go get my paperwork started. I made the doctor let me watch while he pricked me. I know my fears were irrational, but I couldn't help being afraid of a dirty needle or them missing or something.
Thankfully, my friend came back and held my hand while the IV dripped 1gram of panadol. Slowly the pain became more manageable. While we waited for the doctor to come the Kenyan man explained that if I wanted to get an ultrasound to check for kidney stones I would need my bladder filled with fluid. We didn't realize till later that they could do this through IV, so while we waited we figured it was a good idea to go get clean water from RVA. The RVA nurse's husband went back up the hill in the car to get water.
15 minutes later a white lady came in. I was so confused and didn't totally get that she was my doctor for a minute. The going theory was that I had a Kidney stone that was passing. Since my pain was manageable she planned to send me home and told me I wasn't allowed to sleep in my house alone for the night. While I waited to be discharged I sat hooked up to all the monitors and my nurse friend encouraged me by saying...
"At least we have a hospital that is close by."
Wow, what a huge blessing for us as missionaries and for our community. Can you imagine having to drive hours? With the pain I was in, it would have been much more scary than the 10 minutes it took to get down the hill.
In the mean time, the nurse's husband came back with a backpack full of water-bottles. He had included a pink cut for me, two cold bottles and a warm bottle in case I wanted one or the other. What a sweet guy. He has clearly been the husband to a nurse for many years.
After the nurse paid for my visit on the RVA account, which would be charged to me later (very thankful we could do this) I was glad to get the wires off and head home. Thankfully, my neighbor was still up at 10:00 and she helped bring a mattress and my bedding over to her house so I could sleep in her living room in front of the fireplace.
I have to say, it was definitely an experience I will never forget and now I have an account at the Kijabi Hospital in Kenya. I could not be more thankful for the wonderful RVA nurse and her husband, the hospital near by, the wonderful Kenyans who took care of me and my neighbor, friend.
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