{"id":1757,"date":"2015-03-26T14:27:05","date_gmt":"2015-03-26T14:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.soddo.org\/?p=1757"},"modified":"2015-03-26T14:27:05","modified_gmt":"2015-03-26T14:27:05","slug":"a-team-effort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.soddo.org\/am\/a-team-effort\/","title":{"rendered":"A Team Effort"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hospital has been buzzing lately about a young woman whose life was saved. \u00a0And with good reason! \u00a0She may be one of only a few patients to be mechanically ventilated and survive in this part of Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

Tseganesh was pregnant and getting near term, when she started feeling bad. \u00a0She went to another health care facility, and after three days in the hospital, was discharged. \u00a0Unfortunately, a few days after that, she started having seizures. \u00a0Those in the medical community will recognize exactly what Tseganesh had. \u00a0It is called eclampsia and it is life-threatening to both mom and baby.<\/p>\n

When she came to Soddo Christian Hospital, she had been seizing for ten\u00a0straight hours<\/strong>. \u00a0She was rushed to the OR for immediate Cesarean delivery. \u00a0It was two beautiful babies. \u00a0 Twins! \u00a0The babies seemed okay, but Tseganesh was getting much worse. \u00a0Though the seizures were controlled with medications, brain damage was suspected. \u00a0At one point in the surgery, she even arrested briefly. \u00a0Fluid had begun to fill her lungs, and it appeared that she aspirated as well during the seizures. \u00a0She was critically ill to the point of near-death.<\/p>\n

After the surgery, it was clear that Tseganesh\u00a0was not going to breathe on her own. \u00a0We made the decision to mechanically ventilate her, but with great trepidation. \u00a0You see, our ventilator is brand new, and our staff are not very experienced with it. \u00a0 Ventilating a patient like this would be common in the West, but here,\u00a0it could be a death sentence. \u00a0Our physician and nursing staff were committed to saving this young woman’s life. \u00a0So, day and night, a staff member was at her bedside. \u00a0Turning her, keeping her breathing tube clear, monitoring the ventilator. \u00a0 And praying. \u00a0 We all took turns, and begged God to save this young woman’s life. \u00a0And after five days on the ventilator, her lungs had cleared to the point where she could breathe on her own.<\/p>\n

At long last, she was finally able to hold and feed her two precious babies!<\/p>\n

We praise God for so many things in this young woman’s story:<\/p>\n