Stories

Shanti - Shanti, a two year old girl with severe malnutrition, was brought to the hospital by her father. She had been fed only on biscuits by a family unaware of the need for nutritious food for a growing child. She was irritable, lethargic and her whole body was swollen with a skin infection. After two weeks of love and care in hospital she began to smile again. During this time the Nutrition Rehabilitation Nurse taught her father how to prepare more nutritious meals from locally available food  as well as other health related issues such as basic hygiene. It is hoped that as the child and father return to their village he will pass on his new knowledge and skills to others.

Hari - Hari Tamal Sanga is a school teacher in Pharping, in the hills to the south west of Kathmandu. Walking on the local dirt road in his chappels (flip flops) he slipped and cut his foot on a rough stone. It was an ordinary event but two weeks later he began to feel very unwell and had difficulty in opening his mouth. Nobody locally could help him so his family brought him into Patan Hospital where tetanus was diagnosed. The next day he needed respiratory support from a ventilator, which continued for several weeks followed by intensive nursing care for a further five weeks. Without the hospital care he would have died, depriving his family of not only a husband and father but also the breadwinner.

Sita - Sita, a woman in her 40’s, was carried into Tansen Hospital hardly able to breathe having been bitten by a snake in her home. The snake had come into the house at night whilst the family slept and had also bitten her two sons. In between shallow gasps she asked how her sons were. “Fine” her relatives assured her, “just fine”....but they were dead. She only survived because of days of intensive nursing care and eventually was able to return home to look after her young daughter.

Maya - ​Maya Kumari was cutting fodder for the goats in her mountain village. The monsoon mists hovered overhead. She reached over the edge for the juicy shoots….. six hours later her unconscious body was found and her loving, caring relatives carried her to the nearest health post. A bad head wound and a fractured collar bone were diagnosed but as she regained consciousness it was realised that she was paralysed from the waist down, poignantly tragic as her wedding was planned for two weeks later. It took two days for her to be carried to Amp Pipal Hospital where she remained for five months waiting for a place in a rehabilitation centre in Kathmandu. In Kathmandu she is learning tailoring skills so that she has a means of support when she returns to her village.

Nani - If I had a six year old child with a sore throat I would have done the same as Nani’s parents. I would have given her love, reassurance and pat on the back - and maybe some paracetamol. The problem for Thani was that the love, paracetamol and the pat on the back didn’t work. What now? Well they did what most parents would do and visited a health facility in her village. That is where her journey in the Nepali health system began. She was diagnosed with tonsillitis and given an antibiotic but she just kept getting worse.

We finally met Nani in Tansen Mission Hospital and by that stage she was very unwell. She had high fevers, wasn’t able to eat and in fact she couldn’t even swallow her own spit. Her “tonsillitis” was in fact diphtheria.

To most of us diphtheria is a vague historical illness that has been eradicated through vaccination programs, right? Well, not quite. In Nepal we still see diphtheria (incidence 14.5 per 100 000). Diphtheria causes a fever, sore throat and some other more sinister complications. It can block the airway and stop someone breathing and can also cause heart problems.

Nani was very unwell and needed intensive care (as intensive as we can do in the hills of Nepal). She was managed with antibiotics, other medications, oxygen, prayer and love. Close contacts in her village including her whole family were treated with preventative antibiotics and a booster shot for diphtheria. This was done through some telephone calls via our medical administration to her village. We got some immunoglobulin for her also which was transported to us from Kathmandu (this helps mops up the nasty effects of the bug in the blood).

She was watched like a hawk for the development of complications over her stay. Nani was a little trooper and although very unwell (and there were a few tears also) she complied with treatment and put up with our constant prodding and poking – all with the aim of getting her well again.

Thankfully we did eventually see her well enough to go home. Her father was thankful and had a smile on his face as she improved. We pray Nani and her family have their tears wiped away not only for the time being but for eternity.

Revelation 21.4. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

Dr Anastasia Pickering (Tansen Mission Hospital, Nepal)

Snake Bite - It was a rainy night in early August in a village a couple hours north of Tansen.  Something woke the mother in her typical Nepali mud house - and when she looked over to where her 12 year old daughter, B, was sleeping, something didn't seem right.  As she lit a lamp in order to see better, she was shocked to see a large snake wrapped around her daughter's neck!  It was a Krait - and it had bitten her!.  The mother yelled for her husband, and they managed to get the snake off of her and killed it.  They realized they needed to get help as soon as possible.  Calling for an ambulance from where they lived wasn't possible - so the father hurried out into the night and managed to find a vehicle willing to drive them to Tansen.  They started off towards the hospital.  Unfortunately, the car broke down after some way.  They got out and found another vehicle and continued on in the dark and the rain.  This next car ran out of petrol...but the third vehicle finally made it to the Emergency Room at Tansen Hospital.  By now, this young girl was struggling.  The Krait is the type of snake which causes paralysis of the nerves - and it was getting hard for this girl to continue to breathe.  Within minutes of her arrival in the ER(Emergency Room), she had to be put on a ventilator as she was no longer able to breathe on her own.  She was moved to the HDU (High Dependency Unit), where she was given multiple doses of anti-venom, and the prayers for her healing began.

The next morning 12 year-old B’s face, neck, and breathing muscles were completely paralyzed from the snake venom.  This made her look unconscious, except that she was able to weakly squeeze a hand when asked to do so, and to wiggle her toes a little. Her mother, who had stayed at the bedside all night, was convinced that her daughter was as good as dead, and was quite despondent despite assurances that she would now likely recover.  B had a long journey back to health.  She took a long time to get off the ventilator, and then developed a pneumonia which required intravenous antibiotics.  However, we are so pleased that B survived and is now thriving. Her smile lit up the Pediatric ward and warmed the hearts of all who met her.  Her family returned to life in the village - and didn’t go into huge debt thanks to the generous giving of so many friends from around the world who support the Medical Assistance Fund.  Thanks for your continued prayers for Tansen hospital - and for B and her family.