Need to breathe

Breathe in, breathe out. For most of us, the days pass by without us even thinking about breathing...it just comes naturally. Unless you have had severe respiratory problems with a condition like asthma, you probably don't know what it is like to feel like you cannot breathe.  I can't say I've ever experienced that before. The best way I can relate is to picture myself caught under a huge wave struggling to come to the surface for a breath of air as the panic and anxiety are flooding in. For one little boy, that was his life. 

Meet Emmanoel. He is only four years old and he came to us struggling for his life. Emmanoel had a tumor the size of a fist that had been growing in his neck for two years. Despite the fact that the tumor was beginning to suffocate little Emmanoel, the Congolese doctors told his mother they could not do anything. By the time Mercy Ships arrived in the Congo, the tumor was so bad that Emmanoel would actually lose consciousness from the lack of oxygen...sometimes up to three times a day! His parents were desperate to help him before the tumor took the life of their little one! 

Emmanoel's father actually worked in the port where the Africa Mercy would be docked and he saw the ship sail in...a symbol of hope for one father who had nearly lost all hope. His parents brought him to screening day and he was scheduled as one of the first surgeries to be done in Congo due to his compromised airway. 

I first met Emmanoel on the ward the day before his surgery and my heart just broke. As a nurse, I knew this little guy needed his surgery fast before it was too late! He had all the symptoms showing us he was in distress: stridor, retractions, nasal flaring, you name it...The poor boy was also very anxious, partially from being in a new environment (not too many African children are comfortable coming on a ship with a bunch of white people the first time!) and partially because it was evident that he felt like he couldn't breathe. It was so hard to watch little Emmanoel as he struggled. His Mama looked sad, but hopeful. We were all praying that his surgery would go well and that he wouldn't need a tracheostomy. 

The next day, a huge team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and intensivists welcomed Emmanoel into the OR. They said a prayer for him before starting his surgery. Many others were praying for this little guy, including all of us who had met him on the ward. The team were prepared to do a tracheostomy if need be, but we were praying that it wouldn't be necessary. The surgery was long and required a lot of people and a lot of work...not only did they have to remove the tumor, they also had to rebuild his palate, which had been greatly affected by the tumor. While Emmanoel was still in the OR, I ran into one of the surgeons who had been helping with the surgery in the hall and asked about our little guy. He told me that by the grace of God and the gifting of their team, they hadn't needed to do a tracheostomy! After finding out that Emmanoel was doing well and didn't need a trach, I raced back to the ward to tell Mama who was eagerly waiting. Her eyes lit up at the good news and she thanked me with a smile on her face...a little while longer and she would be reunited with her sweet boy!

Emmanoel came back to the ICU for recovery. He was still very fragile, but the tumor was gone and his Mama was smiling with relief! Although I am not an ICU nurse, I was working in the ward next door and would peek in and check on Emmanoel and his Mama as much as I could to say hi and see how he was doing. My friend Amy was taking care of him, so I knew he was in good hands.

Several days later, I came by to see Emmanoel on the ward and found out that he had gone up to Deck 7 to get some fresh air! When I came outside, I could hardly believe he was the same child! Emmanoel was playing with his new little friend in the red wagon without any respiratory distress, as though he had been a healthy child all along! It was the first time I had seen him since he had been out of the ICU and my heart was so full of joy at the little miracle before my eyes! 

I find it very fitting that this precious little boy is called Emmanoel. Although it is spelled differently, it is the same name "Emmanuel" which means "God with us." It was very evident that God was with this little one, who could've died from the tumor growing inside of him. God brought Emmanoel to us at just the right time and gave us an even more amazing outcome than we thought possible! I have no doubt that God has big plans for this little guy! 

Our little chipmunk

There is always one little ornery kiddo that finds a very special place in your heart...for me it was Alvin. In the three years I was on the ship, I had never before met an African patient with that name...but it was a very fitting name for him because the tumor in his mouth made his cheek pooch out like a little chipmunk. On the very first day of surgery, my friend Amy and I were taking care of Alvin (I got to orient the new nurses and was thankful that one of my good friends happened to be one of them)! He was a bit cranky the morning of surgery because he couldn't eat and was hungry! So we tried to distract him with toys, which was not hard to do! In fact, I don't know if Alvin had ever seen so many toys in one place! The hospital had just opened, so we had all the toys neatly arranged off to one side of the ward (with little expectation that our efforts to organize would actually last!) and took Alvin over to find some fun toys to play with. But instead of sitting down with the other kids to play, Alvin decided he would collect all the toys he could possibly carry and take them back to his bed. We watched as he piled up the toys in his little arms to the point that he almost toppled over and then slowly made his way back to his Mama and his bed. "Whatever will keep him happy while he waits for surgery," I thought. We could save the lesson on sharing for another day. 

Soon the phone rang and we got a call for Alvin to come to the OR. We walked Alvin and his Mama over to the OR nurses and said a prayer for the surgery. Alvin would be the very first patient in Congo to receive his operation! His Mama smiled as we walked back to the ward, thankful that her precious little guy would soon be tumor-free! 

A few hours later, we saw the new little Alvin as he came back from recovery. There was no longer a tumor in his cheek, just a bandage covering the area where they had done the surgery. Alvin was sleepy and Mama looked very content as she watched her little one. She would be the first of many Mamas in Congo to see their children get the help they had been so desperately praying for. 

Alvin made a quick recovery and would frequently call me over to his bed to look at the little froggy on my stethoscope (It is a mini flashlight for checking pupils and distracting the kids and works like a charm almost every time)! He was quickly back to his usual self, laughing and playing and winning over all of our hearts.  In fact, we even made some progress in teaching him to share!