Elliott had his MRI!!!

Elliott, Bessie and I are back from Douala having his MRI. Things look a bit better than we hoped from the Ultrasound but they also found a new "something" at the base of his skull. Not sure what it is. We will meet with the Neurologist on Monday now instead of tomorrow. He was called away for something... We are praying that he calls us and tells us to come in tomorrow. Please pray for a miracle.

Thank you all who prayed and who gave. Please keep the prayers and the finances coming. We have a long road ahead with discovery and treatment. I will be in Yaounde until next Friday at minimum. Elliott is on a medication for 7 days. At the end of the 7 days we will repeat his EEG to see if anything has improved. If it has not, we will be hospitalized here in Yaounde. We are praying this doesn't happen!

In spite of everything he went through today, moments after we arrived home he giggled (the first time I have heard that) and he smiled a few times...

On the way home, he got his fingers in his mouth and was sucking. He wasn't able to do either of these things before because his muscles were so stiff!

God is a Healer! He is bigger than any illness we face. We trust in HIM to fix our precious boy!

Thank you again to all who gave and the many, many people who are praying for our boy. Please don't stop. we are in this together!

Blessings!

Elliott Update

Elliott Update:

Based on what the Dr. can see from the EEG and UltraSound Images, His best guess at this point is a disease called WEST Syndrome... Don't get me to lying about what it is... Google it. That's what I will do.

We can't be sure until we have an MRI. The entire country only has one working MRI machine. It is in Douala which is 3-4 hours away depending on traffic. We are working to get an appointment for tomorrow. If we are successful we will leave Yaounde early tomorrow morning so that we can travel back tomorrow and visit with the Neurologist on Friday. He is pushing us to try to get the MRI before the end of the week.

Elliott has 2 ventricles that are severely enlarged and a third that is almost closed. This is making his brain to shrink. The MRI will also help us to see if there is anything else going on that we can't see from the previous tests.

He is on anti-seizure medication for the next 7 days. He has too many seizures throughout the day to count. At the end of the week, we will repeat the EEG to see if there is better brain activity. If this medication works, the Dr. will give us a long term treatment plan. If it does not work, then we will be hospitalized for several weeks in Yaounde while Dr. Mbassi treats him as an in patient.

Despite all that he has been through, our boy is a trooper. He smiles in his sleep and loves on us during the day. He loves to give Elliott kisses. It's the sweetest thing... Now if I could just get him to sleep at night instead of all day. Life would be fabulous!

Please keep praying. With any diagnosis, we need God to work a serious miracle in this baby's life. I'm so glad that we were able to catch this before we lost him. Thank you all for your prayers, your financial giving and your emails of encouragement. It is all greatly appreciated.

This is by far the hardest thing I have ever encountered. I was a Foster Parent in the U.S. and I only worked with Special Needs and Medical Needy Children and nothing I saw then compares to this. My heart has been overwhelmed. I'm grateful for my friends both here and abroad who have allowed me to "cry on their shoulders," allowed me to vent, and prayed for me and my sanity!

I am so-so grateful to my Cameronian family that has watched him so I could sleep, helped me get laundry done and found someone to clean the house while I attended to so many other things. Special thanks to Bessie, who has given up her real job for a few days to help with the kids and act as a translator because we are in the French Speaking side of the country. And a very big thanks to my partner in crime, Sherri who has been "sharing" Elliott through this entire journey.

Thank you to all of the Dr.'s around the country and in Ghana and the North Eastern part of the country who have and are still consulting to be sure that we don't miss anything and that our boy is getting the best care possible. Big, Big thanks to Dr. Jeff... WOW - your input has been invaluable. Elliot sends you big hugs and kisses. There aren't words to thank you.

Thank you to my church family that is always there for me and the many people that I encounter that need help.

I love you all.

This renews my passion to see the Medical System in Cameroon changed and drives me to work towards building our Medical Clinic here. Dr. G and I have been brainstorming for several months about a plan to recruit Doctors and Nurses to see the children at the Orphanage monthly to ensure that they are getting the help that they need. We will be meeting again whenever I go home to start this work as soon as possible.

Death of one child, Let's help save Baby Elliott!

Auntie Yaya, Baby Wisdom has died... These were the words that greeted me on Sunday when I arrived at the orphanage.

This is certainly not something we were expecting. I had come to pick up Cathy Praise to take her to Yaounde with her brother to have a scan of her head.

Wisdom just turned a year old last week. She was a child that I have held and cradled and comforted. I have taken her to the hospital a few times and have been monitoring her situation. She was improving...

What happened? She had a fever on Saturday night and she had a seizure on Sunday morning and died. They buried her in the field of the orphanage on Sunday morning just before we left for Yaounde. It is unclear to me if she was given medication to bring her fever down or not. At this point it doesn't really matter. She's gone. That's all I can think about. A senseless death of an infant... It's not right.

My anger and frustration levels are high. It will never make sense to me.

I drove down the road with tears in my eyes, trying to be strong and comfort Baby Elliott as we rode. My mind raced as I tried to pray... What is happening Lord? Why? What else can I/We do???

I had to bring my mind back to the present. I started reciting scripture about healing in my head. I recalled Promises from God and I told myself over and over, no matter what, God is still a good God.

Today, I got the news that Baby Elliott has bleeding in his brain, severely enlarged ventricles and we are not sure of what else... Remarkably, his twin sister's head is all clear. PRAISE GOD. We have traveled 6 hours to Yaounde to meet with the Pediatric Neurologist and now we have to travel 3-4 hours back to Douala because there isn't a working MRI machine in Yaounde.

We will meet with the Neurologist again in the morning to find out what the plan for treatment is. We will most likely go to Douala on Thursday very early in the morning so that we can travel back and see the Neurologist again.

We need your help with medical and travel expenses... In the 3 weeks that Elliott has been with me, I've spent about $2,000. We are spending about $85 - $100 a day on our housing, transportation etc. here in Yaounde... Anything you can give will be a help.

We couldn't help baby Wisdom because we didn't know in time. God has given us the opportunity to help baby Elliott.

Please pray, and give what you can so that we can do what we can to help save this babies precious life.

The donate button attached is to my personal support account but you can be assured that everything you give will go for his care. All gifts are 100% tax deductible.

Thanks in advance for your prayers and your help.

Help for Elliott and his twin Kathy Praise

Hello Everyone!

Here's the latest on baby Elliott.

Baby Elliott has been going through ups and downs the past few days. On Friday he had a few seizures and prior to that I noticed a "fluttering" of his arms and legs. He was in terrible pain from muscle spasms that overtook his entire body. I'm not going to lie to you, it has been rough. I sedated him so that his body could relax and made the decision to continue sedating him every 4-6 hours as he needed it.

We had a glimmer of hope when his little arms and legs that had been stuck in the same positions since we got him became completely limp and he was able to move them on his own. We cried, we praised, we hugged everyone over and over. He stayed this way for almost 48 hours and we were so happy. 

This afternoon all of that changed again. He woke up from his nap with his "I'm in pain" cry. when I went to pick him up his arms were once again rigid and upright, his hands in tiny fists that could not be opened. His legs were a little bit mobile but still stiff as a board. We tried unsuccessfully for 30 minutes or so to calm him down but it was evident that he was in too much pain. Back to the sedation we go. You should know that this has been the hardest part of this journey for me. I HATE drugs and I hate them for children even more. The first time we sedated him, I was sitting on the hospital floor with my head on my fellow Missionary's knee crying and praying. (Elliott was in her lap waiting for the drugs to kick in. I was laying hands on him and praying) I kept asking God if there was any other way. Why could he not do a miracle in Elliott's life and heal him? Why does a child so young have to suffer so needlessly? At this point, his body had serious spasms every 3-5 minutes. It doesn't make sense to me. It still doesn't.

Saturday morning I went to the orphanage to see his twin sister, Kathy Praise. We noticed the slight flutters in her hands on a previous visit but didn't think too much about it until Elliott started doing the same thing. I brought her home with me for her to visit her brother. The health differences between were blatantly obvious. She outweighs him by a lot. She kicks her legs, waves her arms and babbles like a normal baby. It was also obvious that she can see. Elliott can not.

Her entire body "flutters" periodically as well as her right arm which flutters every few minutes. This was so strange to me. The most similar thing I have seen is Parkinson's. I have never seen it in an infant. We talked to the orphanage Directors about taking both children to have brain scans to see if we can get an accurate diagnosis and if something can be done.

We need your help in so many ways:

• Prayer - prayers for healing, prayers for wisdom for us as caretakers and for all of the Medical Personnel involved. Prayer for our hearts because this is              one of the most difficult situations I have ever faced.

• Networking - I need to talk with Doctors in the U.S. who may have a better sense of what is going on and can give us some more direction. If you know a Pediatric Neurologist that may be willing to talk with us, I need to get in touch with them right away. Every moment counts.

• Finances - all of this is taking money that we didn't budget for and the costs are about to increase. There is a Pediatric Hospital in Yaounde (6 hours away) that has Neurologists. In addition to the kids medical bills,  food, diapers etc. we will need money for transportation and possibly housing while they are being treated. I have no idea what to tell you we will need. I just don't know at this point. What I do know is that these kids need help immediately and God has placed us here to see that they get what they need. Any amount you can give will be appreciated and when I have actual costs I will be sure to let you know what they are. There is a donate button attached to this email from an account with the National Christian Foundation that I created years ago to help the people of Cameroon. Any gifts made are 100% tax deductible.
  

• Medical Personnel - I am looking for Doctors and Nurses who are interested in coming to Cameroon to help with Medical Clinics as well as long term  Medical Missionaries.
• Contractor's, people with knowledge of digging wells, and people with expertise in Solar and/or Wind Energy
  

Please pray for Elliott and Praise. They are suffering.

If you know of American Missionaries who are serving in Cameroon, who may have connections to other American Doctor's please forward this information on.

Feel free to send this email to all of your friends who may know other's that can help.

All of this renews my passion to build a Medical Clinic here in this Community. There is a church in Iowa that is planning to come in March 2013 to help erect our first temporary Medical Clinic. We already have land here in Cameroon. I was going to wait until I come home in July to begin fundraising but stay tuned... You will hear more.

If you are interested in donating you can always mail a check to:

National Christian Foundation

11625 Rainwater Drive, Suite 500
Alpharetta, GA 30009

be sure to write McLean Missions Fund  and what the money is for on the Memo line.

Thanks for your prayers and your support on this journey God has called me to!

Elliott Update

Third Post sent Wednesday April 11, 2012

Just came home from several hours at the hospital and pharmacy with Elliott. His little body was full of spasms from the Tetanus. He has been sedated to help reduce the amount of pain he is in. He has eaten a bit better today. about 6 oz. 1.5-2 oz. at a time. We were unable to get a clear chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia but he is breathing better. Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming!

S.O.S. for Elliott 2

second post sent on Tuesday April 10, 2012

please send up some prayers for Elliott. He isn't breathing well and hasn't eaten most of the afternoon/evening.  He seems to be in tremendous pain, and we can't figure out why. It's after midnight here and I can't take him to a hospital right away...

We need some healing prayers said over him ASAP.

My prayer is that he makes it through the night and I can get help for him early in the morning. It takes a lot for me to be afraid. My trust is in the Lord...

thanks. I will update when I can.

S.O.S. for Elliott

Here begins a series of blogs that I sent out as email but wasn't able to post here... I will continue to update as Elliott's story unfolds...

first blog - Thursday April 5, 2012

I am in one of my least favorite places... An African Hospital...

Don't worry, this isn't going to be the usual rant about how much I hate medical care in Third World Countries....

Elliott is at 4 month old baby boy. He and his twin sister, Praise were born Dec. 3, 2011. They were abandoned by their mother for reason's that are unknown to me. They live at one of the orphanages I do work with here in Cameroon. They have been there since Dec. 16, 2011.

While visiting the orphanage yesterday I noticed his little body stiff as a board. His hands were drawn up and twisted in an nu-natural way and his fingers would not extend. His legs were crossed at the ankle and he didn't move unless you moved him.  Another child came to feed him and food just fell out of his mouth. His breathing wasn't clear and he was crying.

If you know me at all, you can imagine what was going on inside of me. I was crazy. I called for the nurse, I called for the care-takers and I called for the Director to find out what happened. God has done a miracle in my life with the fact that I didn't scream and yell... The child didn't look like this the last time I saw him. After getting flimsy explanations for what was going on, I looked for my phone to call my trusted Cameroonian Doctor. He was away at a medical conference and I wasn't able to reach him.

Fortunately for me, my fellow Missionary and next door neighbor is an American Dr. I described what I saw to her and after consulting my favorite Cameroonian nurse, we headed to the orphanage for a consultation and trip to the local hospital. Elliott was basically the same when we got back but now he was also burning up with fever.... We headed up the mountain to the hospital...

Kudos to the staff at the hospital, they treated him immediately without payment up front.... Sadly, 3 American's coming in with a Cameroonian infant makes a big difference. There is no expectation that you will not pay... The same was true today when I took him for his chest X-ray. The technician called us back and asked for a receipt for the X-ray up front. I told him I had already paid a deposit for services and they can deduct their fee from it. He looked at me quizzically and said, "Are you Cameroonian?" NOPE. Are you a Black American? YEP. O.K. I will do it because I am sure that you will pay. I will take your medical card after we do the X-ray and confirm with the cashier."  Thank you very much.... I appreciate the service but the death glares from the 40 or so others in the waiting room, not so much...  It's not right. Prejudice is prejudice, but I needed this child to be seen and treated immediately. 

He was 4 months old as of yesterday. He weighed a whopping 4 kilo's which is around 8 pounds. This is the size of a new-born... I was only slightly mean with the nurse who was trying to take his blood. Gentle, gentle I kept saying.... I could feel my fellow Missionary telling me to shush in her head... don't aggravate them Toya, let them do their job... Yeah sure, taking blood with no gloves, without washing hands and placing the IV needle on a dirty table...sure I won't aggravate them... I will admit, I was much nicer that I usually am with hospital staff. Pray for me. I don't have patience when the lives of innocent children are at stake.

Today has been a bit rough. Elliott has screamed for a good portion of the day. He refused food and water until about 2 this afternoon. I finally got him to drink 2 oz. of milk. He is now sleeping soundly. After being on IV fluids for about 16 hours, the Dr. has taken him off and given him a break. He wants to see how much food he will eat and my goal is to get him to take at least 5 bottles... so far, not so good.

Please send up some prayers for Mr. Elliott... He needs to eat. We need to find out why he doesn't want to eat and what has caused this overall problem. I'm also almost positive that he can't see. Praying that this is a temporary neurological problem with everything else that is going on.

He is a sweetheart. He loves to be sang to and he loves to rock. He has to be on his belly to be comfortable. Being on his back or his side is terrible, the screaming escalates... I have figured out how to feed him while he is facing me. This has been the only way he eats and doesn't throw up.  PROGRESS. His little arms and legs were a bit more flexible today so I'm thanking God for answered prayers already.

I ordered a crib to be made so that I can take him home with me when he's discharged. That's going to be fun. I'm sure my heart and the hearts of my fellow Missionaries will break even more with him in the house.

Pray for my heart as I am extremely angry with this situation. It doesn't make sense to me that a child can be in this much pain and no one does anything about it. My attitude with his former care-takers is not a good one right now. I don't think I will ever get answers but for now, I will do what needs to be done to take care of this sweet little child.

Pray for WISDOM for the Medical Staff, pray for Healing, pray that Elliott will begin to eat and the rigidness of his body will go away. Pray for broken hearts and pray for the children all over the world who are being mistreated and don't have someone to fight on their behalf...