A Taste of Soddo TLC

Getting sick on a hospital compound has certain advantages.  I discovered them first hand last week.  Subtly an inner ear illness had been creeping up on me over several months like a cat crouching in the flowers slowly inching up on his victim before the final pounce.  My pounce came with a vengeance last Tuesday morning.  Feeling a bit shaky and dizzy while working on the computer Tuesday morning, I went into the living room and lay down on the sofa thinking I could work on the computer lying on my back.  That was a big mistake.  The room began to spin and my eyes started flickering and violent vomiting ensued.  My sweet house worker Demeketch grabbed a pan and held my head as the vomiting continued without ceasing.  Just when she thought she had time to empty the pan it would start again. I realized this was no stomach flu and told her to send someone to get Mark.  Within fifteen minutes I heard his comforting voice enter the room along with Dr. Ruth (our internist) and my friend Jackie Anderson.  They did the normal things like take my pulse and BP and scratch their heads.  What in the world could this be?  Ruth suspected it was something with the inner ear but hadn’t treated it before so she left to do some Internet research.  The vomiting continued…on and on and on. Any movement of my head brought on vomiting.  The sunlight hurt my eyes so they covered my face with a towel. Ruth wrote a prescription for some medication from the hospital pharmacy.  The meds she wanted were unavailable but there were substitutes that might work, she thought. Later I heard Amharic voices in the room but could not see where they were coming from. I felt, but could not see, the two OB nurses as they worked to start an IV in my arm and give me nausea medicine. Later Stephanie Hail checked on me and went to a city pharmacy and brought some different medicines. Mark had one surgery to complete so Jackie Anderson sat with me during that time.  I literally could not raise my head from the pillow, even to take a sip of water.  They talked about taking me to Addis Abba but there was no way I could make the long 6 hour drive.  Actually, in the states, I don’t think I could have even gotten to a hospital.  The vertigo was so intense and the vomiting so violent that movement was impossible. How fortunate for me that everything I needed could be carried down the hill from the hospital to my house and a makeshift hospital room set up in my living room.

My make-shift hospital room

The IVs with medication helped and the vomiting ceased in the late afternoon.  Mark talked to our kids on Skype and asked them to pray for me.  He also put on Sara’s prophetic piano music which was like a balm for my soul. I felt the Holy Spirit gentle my soul and I rested quietly on the sofa drifting in and out of sleep. Slowly the intense vertigo subsided in the evening to where Mark could carry/drag me to the bathroom like a recovering stroke victim. My balance was nonexistent. I remained another day in bed with no light and no movement but could take tiny sips of icy carbonated water called Ambo. Lucky for me it was a national holiday called Meskel so Mark did not have to go into the hospital. Dr. Paul Gray slipped in that morning and prayed for me.  Jackie came and prayed for me.  Our chief resident and his wife, our head midwife came and prayed for me.  I had Amharic prayers and English prayers. Both were equally beautiful to my ears. And then just as it came quickly, it left quickly.  I sat up in bed and thought, “My head feels clear.”  I put on my glasses and everything focused.  But my balance was still off and it took another four days before I could walk without holding on to someone or something.

So what did I have?  Between all the specialists on the compound and my own family doctor, Dr. Tom Watkins, back in Muskegon, they felt like it was an inner ear infection caused by a virus and labeled it labyrinthitis. I am still not 100%.  I tire very easily.  Last night I was in bed by 8:30.  And my balance is still off.  On Wednesday I played a game with my students which required moving from side to side. The dizziness came back quickly and I lost my balance. I love to exercise and I’ve had to give that up for a while until my balance returns. So my kickboxing DVDs will gather a little dust until my head feels normal.  In the meantime, I’m walking and doing some physical therapy exercises that are supposed to help the crystals in my ear realign. If this is something you or a loved one has gone through I would love to hear from you.  In the meantime, I am so grateful for my missionary friends here in Soddo and our Ethiopian hospital friends who came down to the house to check on me and pray for me.  I am so incredibly blessed!