Day of Miracles

WOW - a lot has happened since my last post and it's only been a few days.

Elliott and I have traveled back to Yaounde because he was having tonic seizures every few minutes. Many times he was not breathing or breathing very shallow during them. This is very dangerous as his brain isn't getting oxygen during seizures...

Dr. Mbassi asked us to come back and he once again saw us on a day that he doesn't see patients.  This is such a gift. He took the time to go through Elliott's MRI CD very carefully because we had concerns about Hydrocephalus. After reviewing for more than 30 minutes, he then took me through 20 or so slides that he thought were important for me to see. His conclusion - No Hydrocephalus. He doesn't have excess fluid in his brain and the circumference of his head has not increased. (he measured)  What looks like excess fluid in his brain is because of the shrinking of his brain...There is more space there than should be... I don't understand it all but I do trust him.

He also showed me a series of "black dots" that are all over his brain. These are dead spots in his brain that the seizures have caused to die. It's imperative that we get the seizures to stop so that he has a better chance of developing normally. He is 5 months old but his body thinks he's a month as far as his developmental capabilities go. He is growing normally and has even started teething but he behaves very much like a newborn.

Dr. Mbassi was ready to admit us to the hospital. He had orders written out and everything... As he explained to me (AGAIN) the dangerous side effects of the drug ACTH and why we needed to be hospitalized, I asked him about the drug Vigabatrin? There are only 2 drugs to fight Infantile Spasms and this one had much less side effects. He told me the Vigabatrin was a good drug but it's not available in Cameroon and has the side effect of causing blindness or peripheral vision loss in some patients. Elliott is already blind. (we are not sure if it's permanent or temporary because of the seizures) I asked him if we could get the drug flown in from the U.S. did we have time to wait for it?? He told me the drug is very expensive and then told me that there is ONE pharmacy that occasionally has it. He gave me 45 minutes (11:00 a.m.) to see if they had it and get the first dose into our baby or we had to check into the hospital later that night.  He did tell me that if we were sure that we could have it by Wed. morning then he would hold off on making us take the ACTH.

I immediately called the driver and had him speak to the Doctor in French to get the directions to the pharmacy. I called my friends and asked them to pray. We made it to the Pharmacy and they miraculously had the drug! It was flown in from France a few days before. They had a 2 month supply! I practically flew backwards in the chair when they told me. I just kept thanking God over and over... Tears came and I had to gather myself... It was 10:45 a.m.!!!!! The pharmacist promised to order more for me in the hopes that it makes it here in time for Elliott's next doses...

We will take it twice a day for a month and I will come back to Yaounde for EEG's and lab tests... If all is well, he will continue until the seizures have completely stopped. If things are not changing with his brain activity then we will be admitted to the hospital and have to take ACTH... Praying for Vigabatrin to work!

My next goal was to find us a place to stay. When Dr. Mbassi asked us to come back, I called the guest house. They had space for us until Tuesday morning when a large group was arriving for a conference. No problem, I told them. We will be admitted to the hospital before then... (Dr. Mbassi had already told me so when I called to tell him about the tonic seizures) Now we had a problem. No hospitalization but we still had to stay in Yaounde for monitoring... Our budget is small and hotels are out of our price range!

There is another Missionary Training Center with housing nearby but the guard refused to let us come in to talk to anyone. He gave me a number to call which I called for several hours with no one answering the phone. Tuesday morning came and all of our bags were packed but we literally had nowhere to go. The people for the conference showed up at the Guest House 4 hours before they were supposed to and I was occupying their room.  We prayed. The driver finally showed up and I asked him to take me back to the other Missionary compound. Do you have reservations he asked, No I said but God knows what we need.

We came back and the same guard was there and he began shouting at me and the driver. He tried to call the number that HE gave ME the day before. Nothing... He called someone else, the number had changed... I finally just asked him to direct me to the office and he reluctantly agreed.

The Receptionist questioned me for 30 minutes about why I was in Yaounde with a baby with no place to stay... (only in Cameroon) She finally gave me the key to what I thought was a room and told me the price (almost double of what we were paying before but what could I do) She told me to go look at the room to see if it was satisfactory... It turned out to be a 3 bedroom apartment with everything! Oh yes, it was satisfactory indeed!

When I went back her next question was where was my husband? I don't have one? You don't have a husband but you are a Missionary and you have a baby??? Jesus is not pleased with you, she says... I then explained about Elliott and she said... So you are actually on Mission NOW? well, yeah! God Bless you, you will not pay for the baby! and with that she cut our room rate in half!!!! We were now paying $1.25 more per night for a 3 bedroom apartment! GOD IS AWESOME!!!!! We have a stove and fridge so I don't have to buy food and we have Missionaries from all over the world to fellowship with for the next week!

other Miracles:
We found Zucchini!!! seems like a small thing but we haven't been able to find for months and the last time we bought it, it was like $4 a pound! we found them for $.50 each! Yippee for green vegetables!!!!! (this wasn't the biggest miracle but it was a blessing indeed)

Imlay City United Methodist Church sent me a message that they had a small amount of money to pay for a Dr. bill or something... The amount they had was exactly enough for his 2 month supply of Vigabatrin!

we found 6 bottles here for the price we paid for 1 in Buea!

Elliott slept through the night without screaming and without being attached to me!!

Elliott took the Vigabatrin with no problems and smacking his lips for more.


For the most part he seems to be doing well with it. His myoclonic jerking has come back but I hope this will change with time on the meds. He is a bit more irritable but the seizures are so much less. He has gone from having them every few minutes to 5 or 6 in a day!!! Our God is good.

Thanks for all the prayers, financial support and encouraging emails. We wouldn't be here without you.