Dublaise

Dublaise, an 8 year old boy, has been coming to the hospital frequently since our arrival. His mother is also HIV positive and his father has died.

He is on ARV’s but almost every month he comes in with worsening whole body swelling, fluid in his abdomen, and difficulty breathing.

The amount of suffering that the child and mother experience is almost unbearable to watch.

However, with medication and prayers, he improves and goes back home… a small miracle in spite of tremendous suffering.

We always know he is better when his insatiable appetite returns

Thank you Dr. Garlitos

Dr. Garlitos, is an internal medicine doctor from Southern California.  He has come to Njinikom through Mission Doctors Association.

He has been with us for the last month and has been working on the Male and Tuberculous wards.

He has also helped in the out patient department and with our therapeutic committee which overseas our HIV patient population.

We have really appreciated all of his help and look forward to his next visit!

Conversations

Last Sunday as we were waiting outside the church for the 6:30 am Mass to finish before we went in for the 8:30 Mass. A brother (14 yo) and sister (12 yo) came up to Jennifer to talk. Both are HIV positive, presumably from birth, as their Mom is as well. They were reporting to her that their CD4 levels (the cells in their blood that fight off infections in the body) had increased and that they were taking their medications faithfully.

It was such a profound moment for me. These young children face such a difficult life to begin with and now, with their HIV as a lifelong chronic disease, their day to day routine is so different from the cares I had as a child.