Outreach and Missions

Pasadena Presbyterian Church Kenya Mission: Update #2

Dr. Dan and I arrived in Nairobi as scheduled, along with our luggage and the donated books and supplies we carried.  We went through customs without a hassle.  We were met by Dr. Mark Newton, the director or the Kenyan Nurse Anesthetist (KRNA) program and transported to a Mennonite guest house where we spent the night.  The next morning, we went shopping for groceries, hopefully enough to last us the month.  We obtained some Kenyan shillings (75 per dollar) at an ATM and headed for Kijabe Hospital about an hour away.

Upon arrival, we settled into one half of a duplex on the hospital grounds.  This is the home of a mission family who were out of the country for three months.  These are fairly comfortable accommodations, but took a little getting used to, especially the solar hot water heater.  We had lunch with the Newtons who live only about 100 yards away.  Later, we toured the hospital, which is about a 3 minute walk from our house.  We went to bed early in response to the travel over 8 time zones and the elevation of about 7200 feet.

Our experience at the hospital began around 7 AM Monday when the entire surgical and anesthesia staff met for a regularly held devotion combined with planning for the week.  We sang a hymn and had a brief sermon from a missionary pastor.  Can you imagine a US hospital beginning it's work week in this fashion?

Soon thereafter, work started in earnest in the operating rooms.  There are five rooms and they are in constant use.  There is a six bed recovery room and some minor procedures are done there.  Their definition of "minor" is a little different from ours. Last night I saw them put in a chest tube for a pneumothorax along with fixation rods for a broken leg all in the same patient (motor vehicle accident victim).  I ended up administering intravenous anesthesia for that procedure, and Dan actually put in the chest tube under the direction of a staff surgeon.  There is no way this would have been done in a US recovery room.

Most of my time is spent in the operating room teaching the KRNA students.  They all seem eager to learn.  They have been mostly taught by the KRNAs, who have had no formal training as teachers.  Dr. Newton does some teaching, but I have learned first hand how thinly he is stretched.  As I write this, he has left the hospital area to attend to duties out of town.  He will not be back until tomorrow morning, so I will serve in his stead.

The hospital itself is pretty basic and definitely overcrowded.  Many things are in very short supply, like surgical face masks.  Yet pretty complicated surgery takes place.  There is a visiting pediatric neurosurgeon here, and they have saved up some very complex cases for him.

I am very grateful that you sent me here.  I believe we will be able to have an impact on the level of teaching of the KRNA students and also be able to render much direct patient care.  Your prayers are very necessary and are definitely having an impact.  The Lord has given me the ability to remember how to give anesthesia with some degree of skill, even after not having done so for 9 years.  Praise God!

I am afraid I have to go now, as I left a KRNA taking care of a patient who is having a tumor removed from his carotid artery.  That is a very big blood vessel and the potential for massive blood loss is great, so I do not want to leave her alone very long.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.  God bless you all.

Mike Nahrwold