This week we've been in the city as Raegan fought a bacterial infection in her hand. It started out with no physical sign, just pain when her thumb was touched (like when writing or anything like that). Next a little redness appeared but it didn't look like anything specific. We asked some people in our community and got a few local healing suggestions. Now, you will think we're crazy, but we live in a village in the middle of no where in Africa. If we didn't learn to do some things like the locals we wouldn't survive. So, we tried their advice.
First, try "the oil for cars". No one knew the correct name for it, but it's definitely the oil you put in a car. So, we did.
That did not last long! The swelling increased rapidly and the pain become much worse. She washed that off and we knew we'd never try that again!
Next, we were told to try a little "natural" treatment. A plant that nobody knows the name of and the skin of a tomato. That also did not accomplish much. As we sat on the porch with our friend putting this treatment in place, we did have a few laughs. As she rubbed the plant on, she said, "this is poisonous by the way." Ok, great, so don't swallow it. (What???)
This remained on for the night but didn't make any difference. Of course, the pain increased again.
Fortunately, the next morning we were heading to the city for our monthly shopping trip. When Reagan woke up, the hand had more swelling and redness. We decided we'd just go to a clinic. The first clinic was fine the first day. We didn't wait long and the doctor prescribed antibiotic injections. Of course, this is Uganda, so you don't stay at the hospital in most cases. You get treatment, go home, and come back for each treatment; even if it is only a few hours in between. Since we live so far from the city, we had to stay in a hotel.
We got her night time injections at a different clinic because it was right next to the hotel and less expensive. The second day, we arrived to the original clinic at 11am. They did the injection but told us the doctor wouldn't be there until 2 pm. It was just me (Tamra), Raegan and Tyler, so we decided to grab lunch and walk around the shopping center. At 2pm we returned to the clinic. We sat there until finally seeing the doctor at nearly 4:30pm. He said it looked fine and continue treatment. He also told me that later in the day is better to catch him, so come after 3 or 4.
The next day, we arrive at 4:20. The nurse tells us that the doctor had already left, but he left instructions. We were to finish injections through Saturday, go home with oral antibiotic and come back to see him on Monday. Now, this pic was after 48 hours of IV injections of a "strong" antibiotic. There is no improvement and the pain is even worse. We were furious that the doctor wasn't there to see it and definitely weren't waiting to come back in 3 days.
We left and went to another clinic. The new clinic did a sonogram to check for accumulation. They decided that the infection needed to be drained. She got the incision, a new antibiotic, and pain meds. Can you believe the first clinic never even offered any pain meds! I had to ask for Tylenol or Ibuprofen because we didn't have any with us.
Now, it's Tuesday and she's finishing her oral antibiotic tomorrow. She'll get her incision cleaned and packed one more time and we'll finally be going home!!
Here's a few fun pics of recovery for you. If you're really squeamish, don't scroll down. :)
There were 24 hours between these two photos. You can see that the hole is shrinking and she's healing. :)
First, try "the oil for cars". No one knew the correct name for it, but it's definitely the oil you put in a car. So, we did.
That did not last long! The swelling increased rapidly and the pain become much worse. She washed that off and we knew we'd never try that again!
Next, we were told to try a little "natural" treatment. A plant that nobody knows the name of and the skin of a tomato. That also did not accomplish much. As we sat on the porch with our friend putting this treatment in place, we did have a few laughs. As she rubbed the plant on, she said, "this is poisonous by the way." Ok, great, so don't swallow it. (What???)
This remained on for the night but didn't make any difference. Of course, the pain increased again.
Fortunately, the next morning we were heading to the city for our monthly shopping trip. When Reagan woke up, the hand had more swelling and redness. We decided we'd just go to a clinic. The first clinic was fine the first day. We didn't wait long and the doctor prescribed antibiotic injections. Of course, this is Uganda, so you don't stay at the hospital in most cases. You get treatment, go home, and come back for each treatment; even if it is only a few hours in between. Since we live so far from the city, we had to stay in a hotel.
We got her night time injections at a different clinic because it was right next to the hotel and less expensive. The second day, we arrived to the original clinic at 11am. They did the injection but told us the doctor wouldn't be there until 2 pm. It was just me (Tamra), Raegan and Tyler, so we decided to grab lunch and walk around the shopping center. At 2pm we returned to the clinic. We sat there until finally seeing the doctor at nearly 4:30pm. He said it looked fine and continue treatment. He also told me that later in the day is better to catch him, so come after 3 or 4.The next day, we arrive at 4:20. The nurse tells us that the doctor had already left, but he left instructions. We were to finish injections through Saturday, go home with oral antibiotic and come back to see him on Monday. Now, this pic was after 48 hours of IV injections of a "strong" antibiotic. There is no improvement and the pain is even worse. We were furious that the doctor wasn't there to see it and definitely weren't waiting to come back in 3 days.
We left and went to another clinic. The new clinic did a sonogram to check for accumulation. They decided that the infection needed to be drained. She got the incision, a new antibiotic, and pain meds. Can you believe the first clinic never even offered any pain meds! I had to ask for Tylenol or Ibuprofen because we didn't have any with us.
Now, it's Tuesday and she's finishing her oral antibiotic tomorrow. She'll get her incision cleaned and packed one more time and we'll finally be going home!!
Here's a few fun pics of recovery for you. If you're really squeamish, don't scroll down. :)
Ouch. That sure looks painful. So glad to hear Reagan is doing better! Praying for complete healing.
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