Hospital Life

So His fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought Him all the sick, 

those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics and paralytics, 

and He healed them. 

Matthew 4:24

In many ways, our life revolves around the hospital. I work mostly in the Outpatient Department, Kathy visits and prays with mamas in the Bethany Kids pediatric ward, and we walk through the hospital on our way to the dukas (shops) or to various friends' homes.

Our hospital has been designated by the Kenyan government as one of the top referral hospitals in the country, and much more growth is envisioned for the next few years. Each day, patients travel hundreds of miles and often from other countries to see one of our doctors.






It's a lively, bustling place, filled with patients, visitors, and staff. We see several hundred outpatients every week, and the 300+ inpatient beds are often completely full.















On nice days, patients and families like to gather in the central plaza, in the sunshine or under a tree.

We see some pretty interesting things here. This teenager from western Kenya had been coughing for 2 years, and we found the cause - an object lodged in his airway. 






Unusual injuries occur during everyday life in Kenya - here's what happens when you get hit in the leg by a jerry can filled with fresh milk.

I've grown to love the people I work with, and I often walk home grateful to be part of an amazing team in an amazing place, sharing the love of Christ through the care that we provide.

- Doug

RTA

For He will command His angels concerning you,

to guard you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:11

I’m on call at the hospital this weekend. Today I made rounds in one of the “High Dependency Units” at the hospital, for patients who need a higher level of care, but not quite ICU care. Today’s rounds left me feeling angry and sad.

The HDU has 5 beds, and 3 are currently occupied by victims of what we call road traffic accidents, or RTA’s. Two of them have severe brain injury, with a guarded prognosis. 

In Snohomish, we have a skilled nursing facility which has specialized over the years in caring for patients with severe traumatic brain injury. But no such facility exists in Kenya, so these two men will spend weeks in the hospital before going home to an uncertain future. 

Due to the level of surgical and orthopedic care we offer, and because of our proximity to the highway, Kijabe Hospital treats a large number of RTA victims.

But many don’t make it. Every year thousands of Kenyans die in road traffic accidents, a large number for a country this size. Hardly a week goes by when we don’t hear of another tragic accident somewhere in Kenya, often on the main 2-lane highway on the escarpment above Kijabe. Last week a bus careened off an embankment west of here, crushing the bus and killing over 50 people. 

Other times it’s a matatu accident, often involving high speed, reckless driving in these 14-passenger minivans. Most of the main highways have only 2 lanes, and it’s common to see vehicles passing dangerously on a curve or playing a Kenyan form of “chicken” with oncoming traffic. Buses and matatus are often not maintained properly, and safe driving laws are routinely ignored.

Kathy and I travel somewhere every couple weeks, usually with a private driver whom we have hired. We know that there is a risk every time we take to the roads, and we pray each time that God will keep us safe. And we pray for the thousands of Kenyan families who lose loved ones every year.

- Doug

Photos courtesy of The Daily Nation

The Mara

And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, 

and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:25

The Masai Mara never ceases to give us wonder and amazement. Teeming with wildlife, there are miles of open grasslands, tall acacia trees, and thickets of brush.

We went there last month with another couple, Morgan and Kim, visiting pathologists from California. Together we spent three days with our guide Joseph in a safari vehicle, driving around the Mara, wherever the animals were, pulling in close while respecting their dignity and wildness.

I'll let the photos tell the rest.

- Doug

Antelopes of many types, from the tiny dikdik ...

... to the mighty eland.

White rhino, endangered and protected.

The king of beasts!

And the lioness, resting after a night of hunting.

A few members of a huge herd of Cape buffalo.

Hyena resting in the shade.

The elusive leopard. 

Stopping for lunch.

Zebra.

Cheetah, in the shade ...

... and in the open.

The Masai Mara.