Friday, January 21, 2011

Testing new waters...


The day arrived more quickly than I thought it might. Two girls showed up this morning to visit earlier than is usually normal. I sat on the porch with them for awhile before I finally realized that they came with a purpose. Their dad had visited last evening telling us his daughter had a swollen hand that was causing her a lot of pain. I gave him some Ibuprofen and said she could come see us if they wanted. Well here she was. She showed me her hand... and I wondered what to do. I tried to ask some questions, but she didn't have a lot of answers. She didn't know why it started. She didn't have any sores on her hand. So I decided first of all we should make sure her hand was clean. Then a soak in hot water never hurt. So as I was preparing all that, her father showed up. He helped translate some... and explained that the yesterday a friend had tried to open up her hand with a razor blade to relieve some pressure. Then they packed it with the leaves of some tree. I suggested going to the DR. but in the meantime I consulted my handy 'Where There is no Doctor' book. Her had was hot to the touch and definitely had an infection inside. Whatever caused it we don't know. So I told them hot compresses four times a day, keep it clean, and take her to the Doctor. I don't know if she need antibiotics or not. I dried up her hand and put on some antibiotic ointment and a bandage. I gave them more bandages and my antibiotic ointment and sent them off with blessings for better health... I hope she gets better soon... Pray for wisdom for me as people come to us with health issues. We are fortunate to have a medical clinic here as well as a hospital. I don't know how good the Doctors are, but I guarantee they have more experience than I do...



4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Heidi,

An older experienced missionary taught us to have them soak the infected him in hot/warm salt water...we've seen amazing results from such a simple procedure. Sometimes it needs to be done 2 or 3 times a day until the infection comes to the surface.

Love your blog...you should write more often!!

MaryLou said...

Hey Nurse Heidi...I am guessing that..."you've only just begun" to serve in ways you'd never expect! Even tho' you do have lots of field experience already... Your blog is such a great outlet for these stories, it helps make your whole experience in Mali so real to us...over here!
Like Rusty said on facebook...your hats will change faster than you'd ever imagined!

Christine H. said...

Wow! You go girl...or should I say, Dr. Frazee. : ) They came to the right place, even if you couldn't help them much physically, you showed them your amazing hospitality and warm heart, which will go a long way and you definitely are "storing up treasures in heaven" with acts such as these. God bless you, my sweet friend!

Unknown said...

hi Heidi

i'm not sure it's the right word : clay (we say argile in french).
I often use this when there's infection : a big amount of pasta clay (water and green clay)leave it for one hour, rinse and do it 4 times a day.
it helps cleaning the infection.
don't you use esential oils ?