Whirlwind Wednesday

I followed behind on the winding route through the neighborhood, high stone walls on either side of me. A__'s uncle walked with urgency towards my car. A__ hung limply from his back, her frail arms barely holding on.

I had called to say hi the previous day. "She's sick," her grandfather told me. "We took her to the closest hospital but it didn't help. She keeps vomiting up the medicine. Now she can't walk, she can barely stand. Can you take her to another hospital tomorrow?"

I didn't know if I would have time, but I said I would try my best to make it. Praise God a meeting finished sooner than I expected the following morning. I had a window of opportunity. I took A__ and two of her relatives to the requested hospital. Two of us sat in the dingy corridor while the uncle carried her in to the urgent care room.

We waited forty minutes. Finally, a nurse came out and said they wanted to give her intravenous fluids but didn't have the right equipment. They wanted me to go buy the material at a pharmacy.

The closest pharmacy didn't have any. I had reached the end of my window of opportunity. I had to go teach my first class of the afternoon. I took the uncle with me, stopped at the pharmacy nearest home, bought the supplies, gave him money for transport and my number, and told him to call with any updates.

After I finished my class, A__'s grandfather called me. "How is everything at the hospital?" 

"They haven't returned home?" I asked in surprise? "I have time before my next class, I'll go back to the hospital and check on them." I jumped back into the car.

A__ looked stronger after having the IV drip. A nurse gave us a list of medication to buy at the pharmacy and released her. We stopped at the pharmacy on the way to their house and I made it back just in time to teach my evening class. 

What a whirlwind of a Wednesday. I'm glad it worked out to help her but I wish I knew how she's doing now. Unfortunately, a cyclone hit Nampula yesterday and I haven't been able to check back in on her. Hopefully next week I can see how she's doing.