Lesley is a retired paediatric neurologist from the UK who has spent several short-term spells at the Good News Hospital.
The first time I saw Floriana I noticed two things. The first was that she was breathing very fast, at 4 or 5 times the normal rate for a 20-year-old adult. The second was that on the pillow by her head was an open Bible. Her mother was reading from it and remonstrating.
Floriana was in the surgical ward because for 24 hours she had been unable to empty her bladder of urine, more typically an old man’s problem. Over the past two days she had also lost the use of her legs, and now the weakness was spreading to her arms and her speech was becoming unintelligible. Until five days earlier, when she suffered a nasty but ordinary tummy bug, she had been perfectly fit and well. Now she was terrified.
Being a neurologist by trade, I leapt for the neurological diagnosis, which was acute Guillaine Barre syndrome (GBS) – a relatively rare reaction to infection by a variety of common viruses, which causes the body’s immune system to attack its own nerves. At worst, this can include the nerves that we need for such basic tasks as breathing and swallowing. The good news about GBS is that it gets better by itself, although not always completely. The bad news is that until they turn that corner towards natural recovery, patients are in danger of death because they cannot make the effort to breathe for themselves.
Floriana was still getting worse. In the UK, she would have been rushed to an intensive care unit (ITU) and mechanically ventilated until out of danger. Last year, at the Good News Hospital, that sole survival option simply did not exist: she would have died. But in January 2022 the new surgical recovery unit opened, equipped for very sick patients, and in charge was Dr Joel Chin, missionary anaesthetist with great ITU experience. Two minutes later he was at Floriana’s bedside.
She was transferred to the surgical high dependency unit (HDU) where she was given high flow oxygen at positive pressure, her levels monitored continuously and our only mechanical ventilator was on standby for the moment when her own breathing failed completely. At the lowest point she was unable to move, mute and could not swallow her own saliva. The problems that attend on immobility were skilfully pre-empted by the specially trained nursing team, some newly qualified from the project’s own nursing school, specific preventative drugs were available in just sufficient quantity and finally she did not need invasive ventilation. The HDU nursing care was exemplary.
All this time her mother had been at her bedside, praying on her knees or reading aloud from the Bible. Sometimes her place was taken by an elder from their church. It is a terrifying experience to be paralysed but fully conscious. Floriana thought that she was going to die. She could not turn her head, but in her direct line of vision was the beautiful HDU mural of Psalm 121.
After less than 48 hours she began to improve, starting with a little movement of the left shoulder. Gradual recovery is the normal course for the condition, but Floriana’s progress was startlingly rapid by any medical standards. Now, after 6 weeks, she can stand with a supporting frame for up to 30 minutes and everything else is back to normal. We can expect her to walk independently by 3 months.
Her recovery from GBS is not a miracle, but what is miraculous is that she survived at all, long enough to start recovering. This was the answer to continuous prayers from her mother, her sisters, her church. At just the right time, in the right place, that team of nurses and specialists, that new equipment, that monitoring and those medicines were assembled to bring her round that dangerous corner before natural healing could begin. Last year she would have died. The Lord heals in answer to prayer and uses all that we can provide as His servants.
Editors Note
We are delighted to say that many supporters have responded to the recent story about the need for a new laboratory machine to measure creatinine levels. The amount needed has now been given or promised. Another project - expansion of the maternity department in view of the current pressure on maternity facilities at the hospital - is being planned at present and we will put up details in due course. But in the meantime we are very grateful for gifts to the general fund to support the needs for salaries and supplies to enable the daily work of the project to show the love of God and proclaim the Good News of Jesus to those in the Mandritsara district.