Sleepless Night

Last night was a very bad and sleepless night for me. I will tell you one of the hardest things about being in Maseru is the lack of good and trustworthy health care options. Faith was feeling bad in the early afternoon and then began to have headaches and neck pain at the base of her head. Her temperature began to rise and when I gave her ibuprofen, it just kept on rising. It hit 104 F/39.8 C as bedtime neared and I had given her both Ibuprofen and Tylenol. My friend Donna, who is a pediatric nurse (and a major blessing) gave me some advice about what I should do if it got any higher or if it was still very high in the morning. So I went to bed with thoughts and fears of meningitis on my mind. I tried to be brave and prayed God's healing over her, but I was terrified that she would get worse.

If she worsened I would have to get her in the car, cross the border into South Africa, and drive her 2 hours to the hospital that would be able to treat her the best. I did not sleep much at all and was up many times checking her temperature. God was very gracious and her temperature went back to 99.4 by morning. It did get worse again this afternoon and went back up to 102.2, but with both medications going, it is staying controlled.

For me, being a mother in a 3rd world country and having my kids get sick is a real fear. In Zeeland,I was so comfortable to call my doctors or take my kids in whenever I felt they needed to be looked at and it was a 10 minute drive and I trusted the doctors and nurses. God has been very gracious and given me a great friend and resource in Donna or I would be a basket case at times ;) It is also a huge blessing to have my mother-in-law here as she is also a nurse and we can bounce ideas off each other. She can keep me calm if I am worried or she can verify that I have reason to worry.

At this point we will keep an eye of Faith tomorrow and if the fever returns we will seek medical care, so please pray that she is feeling better and that this is not a serious illness. More that likely it is just a virus but she has no cold or flu-like symptoms, just head and neck pains, and a fever. Thank you for your prayers for my little sweetie.
Anita