A Devastating Disease

 

There are approximately 35 millions people living currently with HIV, with a vast majority of these individuals living in Sub-Saharan Africa.  In fact, 71% of people affected by HIV/AIDS reside in Sub-Saharan Africa even though this region only makes up 12% of the world’s population.  Of these 35 million, 3.3 million are children.  In 2011, there were 17.3 million children orphaned due to both parents dieing from AIDS; 88% of these children live in Sub-Saharan Africa.  This is just a snap-shot from 1,000 feet up of this devastating infectious disease.  Of course I knew that I would be treating patients here at Tenwek with HIV but the shear enormity of the problem is astounding.  I feel as if almost every other child in the ward is HIV positive.  Many of these children have co-infections with Tuberculosis, or some other opportunistic infection such as PCP or Cryptococcus.

This week I met two young girls, ages 13 and 15, who are dieing from AIDS. They look as if they are ghosts barely living inside a skeleton of a body. Their eyes are gaunt, their cheeks and temples are sunken, and their oral cavities are covered in thick white plaques made of fungus. I can close my thumb and index finger around their legs. It is pretty much indescribable. One of these girls, Chelanget, was infected with HIV in-utero and her mother has not been compliant with giving her the anti-retrovirals that she requires. This girl is 15 years old and weighs only 18kg  (39 lbs). The other girl, Sheila, has already lost both her parents and two of her siblings from AIDS. She was just diagnosed 1 year ago and started on anti-retrovirals in November.

This morning during our morning rounds, Shelia’s aunt suddenly started screaming. Her already lifeless body was even more limp than it was before and when I went to check her pulse I found nothing. We quickly carried her into a side room down the hallway away from all the other children in the ward and began CPR. It was almost sickening to be compressing the chest of this emaciated and innocent girl, feeling her ribs crack beneath me. I thought with 100% certainty that this girl was dead. But after approximately 10 minutes of resuscitation Sheila’s heart began to beat again. It really was a miracle. We prayed over her after we had further resuscitated her with fluids and electrolytes. Her state is still quite tenuous, but she is such a sweet girl and so young. I’m praying for a miracle. Shelia’s aunt does not know Jesus so I am also praying that we can continue to minister to this family and show God’s love to them.

There are so many stories like this one, and so many children’s faces here that reflect sadness. But on the flip side, there are also many children who are being healed and bringing joy to those around them. Here are some pictures of a few children and the hospital here:

14 month old Deborah who I treated in clinic. Her family invited me over to their home for dinner!

Is she not one of the cutest things ever??!

Ken and Shelia, parents of Deborah. Treated me like a queen!!

Baby junior getting ready for discharge after being severely dehydrated and malnourished

Half of the pediatric ward

A premie with gastroschisis, The surgeons are keeping his bowel insulted in a foley bag and waiting for his stomach to grow so they can attempt to replace his bowel inside his abdominal cavity.

A newborn with obstructive hydrocephalus. His mom tenderly feeds him every 3 hours via NG tube.

Here is a picture I took today of a boy that gives me a hi-five every day. I traded him a few starburst candies for a picture =)