Last week was one of the most difficult weeks for me so far. It was a busy week, with several really sick patients. By the end of my four day work week, I had worked in all the wards at least once; because I got shifted around to where the more serious patients were. It started out with giving 2 and 3 hourly tube feedings to two little cleft lip/palate babies - Marius who had had his surgery, and Obrien who was still gaining his strength so he could have his; and ended with sadness as we celebrated the beautiful life of Obrien, while at the same time mourning his death, that seemed to have come too early.

Obrien was the beautiful little boy we called our "miracle baby". He had had a rough time of it since his arrival. A few weeks ago, he got worse off when he aspirated (inhaled) some formula into his lungs and got aspiration pneumonia. We had put him on a little bit of O2 (oxygen) "blow-by", but after this happened, he wasn't able to keep his O2 saturation levels up high enough. So next they tried CPAP, which gives the patient slightly pressurized air, so that the lungs stay inflated better. He still wasn't able to keep his O2 up for any extended time. After more than an hour of trying different things, the Dr. and nurses decided that the only thing left to do was intubate - put a breathing tube down his throat and let a machine breathe for him. This was not a good situation, because he was so malnourished that it was very questionable that he would ever be able to come off the ventilator.

As the two nurses were getting the supplies ready for intubation, they noticed it had gotten very quiet over by the bedside. they looked over to see the two doctors praying over Obrien. After preying, one of the doctors took the O2 mask off and placed it beside Obrien's head; his O2 levels started going up, he stopped having to struggle so much to breathe, and was finally able to rest. His heart rate, which had been up very high, came slowly down to normal. Although it was hard for them to believe at first, they finally realized they had just witnessed an amazing miracle.

So it was hard for me to understand why this little baby, who had had such an amazing miracle worked in his life, died. Maybe God knew that this little life wasn't going to be in this world very long but still used him for His glory, because He knew that with all the difficulties this outreach, we needed to see such tangible proof of his continued presence and love for us.

I feel so honored and privileged to have been able to care for Obrien during his short, difficult life; and will treasure all the memories of him for the rest of my life. Please pray for his family, especially his mother. She is such a wonderful person and one of the most loving and attentive mothers I have ever met. Please also keep the crew in your prayers as this has been hard for all involved.




Little Obrien in the ICU.










Obrien, his mama, and nurse Kristen















Marius when he first came.














Marius after his surgery.