Wednesday, December 28, 2011

#86 Milk

It’s Saturday night. We’re having a good time hanging out with Olen’s parents who are visiting.

Knock on the door. As a good husband would do, Olen answers it. But it’s for me.

I decide to go in to see a pregnant patient who isn’t breathing well.

I didn’t bring my headlamp because the moon is bright tonight. I should have. I get to maternity and the light is not working. I don’t know why. It’s probably burned out.

The nurse points her light on her phone towards the patient so I can see her. She is young and on her first pregnancy at 8 months. She is sitting straight up in bed. I have her lay down. I put my hand on her belly as I try to get a little more history.

She came in this morning. Her hemoglobin was 3. She got a bag of donated blood and got started on IV quinine for malaria.

I can feel contractions while I listen. She needs more blood. We don’t have any in our bank. I tried to get a blood drive going a month ago. I explained it all to the lab and left it in their hands. But sometimes you have to micro-manage everything here. Or it doesn’t get done. So, we have very little blood in the bank right now, and none of her type.

I check her cervix. She’s dilated a little and the cervix is quite thinned out. I wish we could stop her labor.

I asked for more family members to come to give blood. In the meantime I ordered IV fluids, steroids, and antibiotics in addition to the quinine being given. We are all out of nifedipine (a BP med that I give to stop contractions). I ordered salbutomol to try to stop her contractions.

In the meantime I go over to Urgence to tell Baikau what’s going on. She tells me about a woman who just died. They just came in this afternoon. It sounded like malaria. They have a 2 1/2 month old son.

I walk into the dimly lit room of the medicine ward. All 8 beds are full on the women’s side with patients. The family is gathered around one bed that has a brightly-colored African cloth over the body of the woman who died. A female family member sits on the bed with the baby boy. He is a healthy looking boy, but is sleeping right now.

He will need milk. He is sleeping, but he will wake up soon and will need to eat. It is the custom here to take the body as soon as somebody dies to start the funeral services. I told them I was very sorry, but they needed to wait for some milk for the baby. There was no one in the family who was breastfeeding and could share milk.

Thankfully we have a mother Teresa here on our compound. Tammy (who watches my boys) is like a modern day Dorcas here. She has a program for people who need milk formula. They come to her and she has them do a little bit of work to pay for the formula. She has 8-10 in the program right now and gets money from donations to help pay for the milk. It’s about 6 dollars for a little canister. That doesn’t sound like much, but when you are a family that only makes 1 dollar a day (if that), that is way too expensive.

Now when I say NEED milk, that’s exactly what it is. It’s not a choice here to breast or bottle feed. If the mother dies or she has HIV, then the baby NEEDS milk formula.

I walk home quite sad that this cute little boy has just lost his mommy. But we can do something to help here. I knocked on Tammy’s door and explained to Cory (Tammy's teen-age son) that I needed some milk. He brought me out a canister.

Cory was the reason Tammy started this whole program. A year ago he told his mom about a baby in a village who had lost his mom. She decided to help and it has grown from there.

I boiled some water and poured it into 2 glass jars to give to the family. They don’t have means to store clean water otherwise. I grabbed a bottle that I had bought from the states and headed back over to the hospital.

Cute little boy was still sleeping. I explained everything to the dad and 2 female family members. They tell me they can’t stay the night because they have to take the body back to the village.

You will notice on our blog, missionarydoctors.blogspot.com, that we have a link for donations. This is through Adventist Health International’s website. We believe strongly in the mission of AHI. We feel that AHI is an organization worth supporting. By donating through AHI, you can be reassured that there is a strong measure of accountability following your donation. Just mark the donation for ‘Bere.’ And remember that your gift is 100% tax-deductible.

missionarydoctors.blogspot.com
danae.netteburg@gmail.com.
Olen Zain: +235 62 16 04 93
Danae Zain: +235 62 17 04 80
Olen et Danae Netteburg
Hopital Adventiste de Bere
52 Boite Postale
Kelo, Tchad
Volunteers Welcome!!!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

#85 Witchcraft

There is witchcraft here, so I don’t want you to take this too lightly. But witchcraft wasn’t the case here. At least I don’t think.

Last Thursday night was a very busy one for me. I had been inducing a severely preeclamptic woman who was 37 weeks pregnant. The nurse who was covering maternity and surgery was less than ideal, so I stayed in the hospital to watch the oxytocin drip and make sure the BP was getting taken. I’ve been burned before by eclampsia here. I was in all evening, then went home at 11:30pm and came back in around 1am.

Her BP’s were getting too high, so I was considering throwing in the towel and doing a c-section when another patient came in around 2:30am. Her name is Isabelle and she was on her first pregnancy at 9 months. Her sister brought her in when she found her in labor at home. Apparently Isabelle had seized. BP written down by the nurse was 110/70. Sometimes women fake seizures here when they are tired, so I took note. Plus there is no pain killer here for labor, so they really suffer.

There was no fetal heart by the doppler and I could already see the head. Who knows how long she had been pushing. She could push a little, but didn’t have enough force. The sister kept holding the patient’s mouth shut and pushing on her chest to try and help. The patient’s lips were swollen.

Then she seized. It lasted about a minute.

Okay, that was a real seizure! BP 190/130. Great, no IV antihypertensives! (I have ordered some from Kenya by the way. They should be here by March).

There were a couple of used Kiwi vacuums in a drawer that had been washed. (I didn’t have any new ones). The forceps were all in the OR. One of the vacuums still had some suction left in it. I cut an episiotomy, put the vacuum on, and pulled out the baby. The student nurse had a stethoscope, and I had her listen to the baby to make sure it wasn’t alive. I rechecked, no heartbeat.

I sewed up the patient, cleaned her up, and several of us carried her into the maternity ward at 3 in the morning. There are 5 beds in the biggest room with many family members sleeping on the floor. A few little kids woke up to get out of our way, so lots of crying accompanied.

After we got her situated, I asked the husband how many times she had seized at home. Four was his response. Six was the response another family member at the exact same time. So in reality it was probably like 10 or 15 seizures at home.

I knew it was eclampsia (seizures that goes with high BP in pregnancy), but I have seen malaria with eclampsia too. So...I also started her on IV quinine.

There were seven or so family members by now in the room. I explained a little of what happened, then headed off to the OR to do my induction’s c-section. I finally headed home at 7 am just in time to breast feed Zane from his long night of sleep (He’s sleeping all night 7 pm to 6 am, Yay!)

After about an hour I headed back in to check on my 2 ladies with high BP. C-section lady was doing well.

Seizure lady. Well, she was unconscious. I walk into the room to find her seizing. No nurse present. They were all in their fancy schmancy nursing meeting. Seizing patient that I had spent half the night with was unaccompanied!!! So irritating.

I gave her some more diazepam. I had not given her magnesium because her lungs sounded wet. There’s no half way with magnesium (it’s 2 big injections in the butt here).

I went off to look for a nurse to get them to stay with her. The big group of family members started to get uneasy about her being in a coma. I explained the sickness and that we were also going to get a malaria test, but that she was on quinine just in case. All of this we were doing for free too.

They were upset that she wasn’t getting better. They said they wanted to take her to a witch doctor.

Normally I tell patients here that this is not a prison and that they can take people if they sign a release. But I absolutely refused for this poor girl. I told them if they asked again, that I would make them all leave. I told them only 2 family members. If they didn’t respect my rules, then I would not respect them and would not let them come in.

She had six or so seizures that first day. More Diazepam.

She remained in a coma. Her breathing sounded like the death rattle. I gave her IV lasix and some steroids. I gave her IV antibiotics. Her malaria test was positive. We paid for her IV quinine.

We prayed for her. I told the nurses to keep a close eye on her so the family didn’t steal her. Three days she stayed in a deep coma. Here in our hospital WITHOUT an intensive care unit. No oxygen. No x-ray. No electrolyte tests. No platelet exam. No liver function test. No creatinine.

She started arousing a little yesterday. Olen did rounds and texted me that she had started to wake up. It was the best Christmas present for me! She had been so close to death.

Today at rounds I found her sitting up. Praise God! I was so happy to see the whites of her eyes. Isabelle is still very tired. Please keep her in your prayers. And the family. And the people here in Tchad where witchcraft is so prevalent.

love
olen and danae

missionarydoctors.blogspot.com

danae.netteburg@gmail.com.

Olen phone: +235 62 16 04 93
Danae phone: +235 62 17 04 80

Olen et Danae Netteburg
Hopital Adventiste de Bere
52 Boite Postale
Kelo, Tchad
Afrique

Volunteers Welcome!!!

Friday, December 23, 2011

#84 Projecting

Ok, so we’ve had lots of people ask what projects we have going on and how they can help...

First, let me reiterate... The greatest help you can offer us is your prayers. I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s true.

Second, come visit us!

Ok, now I know when people ask, they’re actually talking about money stuff. And the question seems to come up more in December for whatever reason. Must be that giving spirit.

So here it is... a nice little list of ways we can put your money to use. I need to give a couple disclaimers, however. You will never catch me saying that we are a more worthy cause than some other cause. How can I be the judge of that? All I know is that if you choose to donate money to Bere, I can assure you that AHI (as well as myself personally) will assure that your money goes to what you want it to go to. I know what your money goes to, and I know that they are all important and worthwhile goals. However, if you donate to another organization, odds are good that your money will be appreciated and used appropriately and responsibly and will be meeting a need as well. Whether you give a gift to us or to somebody else, I just encourage you to make a sacrifice and give. Don’t make me break out Malachi on you. And give the good sheep, not the blemished one!

Also, it’s tax-deduction season! Friends don’t let friends finish December 31 without maximizing their charitable contributions tax-deduction! Happy Tax Loophole Celebration Month!!! Only five more Tax Loophole Days left before January 1!!! Remind everybody on FaceSpace or MyBook or whatever the kids are using these days. And don’t forget, everybody’s connected by six degrees of separation at the most, so somebody out there must know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who... anyway... I want this blog on Bill Gates desk by Monday, people.

Current projects:
1. Public health outreach. Visiting the 21 neighborhoods of Bere and doing one week of health lectures, teeth pulling, etc in each neighborhood. Budget is almost $11,000, but I'm pretty sure we can trim the fat back to $7,000. As far as I know, it's completely unfunded, but we're moving forward in faith. This outreach is crucial.
2. Fencing in the new buildings of the hospital and the new doctor's (my in-laws') house. Close to $20,000. Can't imagine it would be more than that.
3. New private ward. Funded almost entirely already! Three cheers for A Better World Canada!!!
4. Building a room to house our new generator and the old generator together and new wiring. $5,000. Completely unfunded.
5. New OR. At least partially funded by our home church already. Possibly even fully funded. Go Springfield First SDA Church!!!
6. New doctor's house (for my in-laws). I would guess about $40,000, maybe a bit more. Completely unfunded. My in-laws arrive in February and will be living with us until we get their house built. I love my in-laws, but...
7. Truck to find and transport supplies for building projects. To help us find quality supplies and save on transport costs. $50,000 for a new vehicle, but we could definitely make do with a used one. In reality, we can survive without this. This is just one of those ‘If I had a million dollars’ kind of things.
8. New maternity ward. I would guess about $25,000, maybe a bit less. Completely unfunded.
9. Toilets for pediatrics. Completely unfunded.

Way in the future projects and completely unfunded:
New lab.
New ER.
New medicine ward.
New surgical ward.
Nursing school. This is an interesting one. Tchad desperately needs more good nurses and a nursing school is the way to do this. I think we can create the best nursing school in the country, but this one will cost a lot. This should probably be a higher priority, but I really want to have my financial ducks in a row before I tackle this one.

Way, way in the future projects and completely unfunded:
New pediatric ward.
New chapel.
New administrative building.
Computer school.

# 83 End of the Year Wrap

End of the Year Wrap (high protein, low carbs)

One year ago today (written December 15th), we arrived in Bere. As we look back, we’re just so excited about the many ways in which God has blessed us that we feel the need to praise Him publicly. We’ve had many struggles (which we’re very good about chronicling), but overall, it’s just been such overwhelming blessings (which we don’t chronicle quite as well).

We started off the year well in over our heads (and to be honest, we’re finishing it still well in over our heads). It was all new medicine we hadn’t been trained in, medications we had never prescribed, languages we hadn’t sufficiently learned, cultures we were unfamiliar with, climates we weren’t comfortable with, etc.

My third day on the job, I had a newborn die in my arms. It was a first for me. My thoughts of creating the perfect mission hospital where everybody knew all the patients would survive... well, that came crashing down pretty quickly. If I had known then just how often I would hold newborns, toddlers, kids, adults and the elderly in my arms as they took their last breaths, I honestly don’t know if I would have stayed. Fortunately for me, I had no clue.

Then, ten days after arriving, I fell ill with malaria on Christmas Eve. Then Lyol got malaria three times in his first six months. Then we took a new member into our family and held him while he died less than three weeks later. We lost a young patient who had suffered with us for weeks from his burns. We lost... well, we’ve been surrounded by more death and suffering than we ever could have imagined possible. It certainly took a heavy emotional (and at times, spiritual) toll on us. The roller coaster has been unbelievable.

However, we have seen God lead us in so many beautiful and miraculous ways. We must recount just a few of them for you...

We asked for an ultrasound machine... and received one. Donated! For free!

We almost ran out of Cyclophosphamide, which would have meant we’d have no treatment to save the lives of the children with Burkitt’s Tumors we see. In God’s entertainingly dramatic way, we actually ran down to our last vial of Cyclophosphamide. Several donors and a couple church groups donated money for this just in time for us to never need to turn away a patient. Throughout it all, we remained the only hospital in the country with chemotherapy.

Furthermore, a friend led us to AmeriCares. After much paperwork, this organization convinced Baxter, the producer of Cyclophosphamide, to donate us over three years worth of Cyclophosphamide. It arrived once again, when we were down to our last few doses.

We needed a new air conditioner for our operating room before the hot month of April, when our operating room is over 120 degrees inside. We found a couple generous donors for this just in time.

We asked for little things, like Veggie Tales DVDs for Lyol. We received several, and none of them duplicates!

We had dreams of building a new private ward and a new operating theater. A Better World Canada donated money to help build this private ward. Our home church in Springfield, Massachusetts raised the money to build the operating room. We also had some private donors contribute to these causes! Association Medicale Adventiste de Langue Francaise (AMALF) has agreed to outfit completely any structure we build, from the private ward, to the operating room, to whatever else we build, if we just pay for the shipping container from France. We hope to open the new private ward and OR before the end of 2012.

We ran out of misoprostol... and already we’ve found somebody to send us more!

We’ve been blessed with more than just stuff and money... We’ve been blessed with volunteers!

Our first volunteer in January was Jessica. What a great way to start! She showed up and rolled with the punches from the start, needing to come the last 30 miles on the back of a motorcycle with her luggage and then going straight to spend her first night in a mud hut with a family that didn’t speak her language. Then next day was Independence Day here in Tchad, so we went to the middle of town for the parade. Jessica, being a foreigner, was swooped up on the stage and given VIP seating for the whole thing. Now that’s an entrance! Sadly, we weren’t able to do that for all our volunteers.

Danae’s parents, Rollin and Dolores Bland, and well as my aunt and uncle, Bekki and Scott Gardner, came in January/February to help us out. Both Scott and Rollin are doctors with extensive surgical expertise and helped take some of our responsibilities for us as well as teach us during those important first months where we were both getting our feet wet and trying to keep our heads above water. (How’s THAT for mixing metaphors!) Bekki and Dolores are both nurses and helped out both at home and at the hospital. In September, Bekki and Scott became our first repeat-volunteers!

Grace came too. She’s a very experienced nurse and was our first volunteer who already spoke French. Short, skinny and starting to gray, we were a little worried about her when she passed out the first day! But boy did she ever regain her form. She might be a little older than I am (and weigh about half of what I do!), but I couldn’t even keep up with her after that. She adjusted to the heat, got properly hydrated... and then there was no stopping her. She was like an Eritrean/Italian Energizer Bunny! I don’t think we washed a single dish the whole time she was here. Plus she organized our hospital and helped be my nursing spy to inform me what nursing issues we needed to address with some additional education.

Heather was here and brought her fresh nursing degree (and passed her boards right before she came, go Heather!). Tough for your first assignment to be in Tchad! On top of that, she was our only volunteer for a long time. It’s hard to fit in when you’re living in the village with a non-English-speaking host family and the Parkers and the Netteburgs are on the hospital compound! Also has the distinction of being the only person Danae has ever accidentally poisoned with flaxseed.

Marc Kanor and his family came. Not only were Cory and Brichelle happy to have a couple girls here their age, we were happy to have Marc! He represented AMALF, which was highly appreciated, but he also alleviated much of our work in the hospital. As a surgeon from France, he easily filled in and even took some calls at night so Danae and I could sleep! He also taught us some surgeries that would have been much more challenging, probably even impossible, without him. Most importantly, he and his family gave us their friendship and encouragement. They also braved the hot hot month of April to come pay us a visit!

Cara and Drew came. They gave our spirits a lift and loaned us their expertise as physicians. For three weeks, we enjoyed each other’s company and benefitted from each other’s medical skills. When a motorcycle accident drove my thong flip-flop between my toes and split a sweet crevasse, I benefitted from Drew’s anesthesia before Danae put ten sutures in my foot. Cara benefitted from our hospital’s stock of rabies vaccines when a rat latched onto her toe, mistaking it for the world’s tiniest sausage.

John came. Round about 60 years young and fresh out of nursing school, John wanted to get his missionary feet wet and find a little experience to build on before starting his nursing career. After a few years of nursing experience in the states, he hopes to drag his wife off into the mission field with him somewhere. They both have past careers as engineers. With engineering and nursing skills together, I’m sure they’ll be a huge asset wherever they end up. John also had the fastest weight loss of any volunteer. Thirty pounds in his first two months! Luckily he had a belt.

Minnie came the same time John did. From the Philippines and armed with a resume like no other (including a Bachelor’s in Psychology and certificates in Artisanal Vegan Cuisine and Swedish Massage and Public Health and Underwater Basket Weaving and Cactus Husbandry and Quail Hunting and Renaissance Bodypainting and who knows what all else), Minnie is here for at least a year leading some public health projects. She’s been invaluable in making contacts in each of the 21 neighborhoods of Bere and presenting a positive face for our hospital. Still holds the longest record for first-timer to Bere without getting malaria.

Linden came. Respectful of the Tchadians, brilliant with the kids, and a natural missionary, Linden decided to turn his five-week stint in Tchad into a year-long stint.

Amanda came. Affectionately known as ‘Citadel’ for her alma mater, Amanda’s attitude and spirit has been unparalleled. She eagerly jumped into the role of religion professor at the local Adventist school. Teachers and students alike love her and we’re all amazed at her energy, dedication, preparation, professionalism and joy. She’s also been tutoring the Parker kids and has proven herself to be a natural teacher.

Adam came. Adventurous, creative, artistic, independent. Always willing to strike out on his own. Always willing to shoot more pictures when Danae asks. Adam can often be found hunting out the next surgical case.

Anna came. Seems to be our malaria magnet. French-speaking and eager, Anna might just have the biggest story to tell of all our volunteers. We should know more about that by the end of the year... Stay tuned.

Janna came. A year-long commitment to nursing excellence here in Tchad! Janna is willing to do anything but willing also to voice her preferences. As a boss, that makes my job so much easier! She’s building a foundation to serve her in a career as a traveling nurse or a Medecins Sans Frontiers nurse or... well, who knows where she’ll end up! Just fell ill with her first (and hopefully last) round of malaria. She held out pretty long.

Mayline came. Oh, where to start. Mayline is a jokester. Always quick with a smile and with a laugh. There’s just no reason why somebody wouldn’t want to spend time with Mayline. Well, unless you were tired. I don’t think I’ve seen Mayline tired. So maybe she would be a little disruptive if you were trying to sleep. Even when she got malaria, she vomited with a smile.

Marci came. Also a one-year commitment. Marci has perhaps made the largest sacrifices to come here. Yet, she’s the last person you’d catch moping. She attacks projects with a ridiculous amount of creativity, energy and enthusiasm. She drew up the grant for our public health project and will be spearheading it this year. If she’s not careful, she might inadvertently be given the role of SM-mother. Also holds the distinction of being our first volunteer to be stung by a scorpion.

Dani and Matt came. They take their musical prowess from their airport responsibilities to our vespers every week. Bronwyn is also down at the airport. She’s like the baby-whisperer with Zane.

Kel and Josie are also return volunteers. The first time, they came for about four months. They’re back again for another few. Also extremely musically talented, Josie has been involved with kids ministries and sewing for the maternity ward and Kel has been doing construction. Even while he was in the states, we put Kel to work making computer drafts of all our building projects.

Joanna and Darren came. Interested in both aviation and nutrition, they are the perfect fit to be helping get the nutrition center at the airport off the ground.

Most recent to leave us was Stan. Stan put in his time at the hospital, the airport and also the new surgical center in Moundou. Guy knows everything from electricity to plumbing to well-drilling to building to generators to cars to... well, you name it. What a great resource he was while we was here. We’re sure he’ll continue to be a great resource for us, either from the states or on the ground here in Tchad.

Even my parents came (along with Janna’s mom) in November. Why, I think just about everybody’s been through Bere by now. We’re like the Champs d’Elysees of Tchad. If you stay long enough, you’ll see the whole world walk by.

I hope we’ve spent enough sentences in past posts to explain what an integral part of this hospital the Parkers are. Jamie, Tammy, Cory and Brichelle. Without them, life would be far harder and far less enjoyable. The same goes for the Roberts. Gary, Wendy and Cherise are indispensable. Also down at the airport are Jonathan and Melody. These are all multi-year folk.

We should interject here that we’re receiving a third physician here in Bere. We’ll give more specific news on this later, but it’s VERY exciting!

We’ve been blessed by amazing answers to prayer too.

We asked for prayers for specific surgical procedures, which then went well.

We asked for prayers for a little girl who needs to go to France for heart surgery. It looks like that will finally happen.

We asked for prayers for... well, for a lot of things.

Even if you’re not sure if your prayers can help from way over there to way over here... just keep praying for us. I can tell you, it helps. It works. It’s necessary.

We’ve been blessed professionally this year too.

Danae passed her written boards in OB/Gyn two days after giving birth to Zane.

I passed my written boards last year and my oral boards in September. Hooray for being officially board-certified until 2021!!!

Oh, and last, but most certainly not least, in fact, perhaps possibly most... We were/are blessed with Zane. Our latest addition to the family arrived June 25, safely in New Jersey. Zane Oliver’s birth story is probably unique in all the universe. It’s somewhere here on the blog if you have time to kill.

Hmm... It’s now almost midnight. This seems to have developed into quite the Christmas letter. I wasn’t intending it to be, but that’ll do. I’ll just post this, and how about that save me the trouble of writing a separate Christmas letter. Nice. I like it. Here you go. Enjoy. Merry Christmas!!! And how are you and yours?

You will notice on our blog, missionarydoctors.blogspot.com, that we have a link for donations. This is through Adventist Health International’s website. We believe strongly in the mission of AHI. We feel that AHI is an organization worth supporting. By donating through AHI, you can be reassured that there is a strong measure of accountability following your donation. Just mark the donation for ‘Bere.’ And remember that your gift is 100% tax-deductible.

missionarydoctors.blogspot.com
HYPERLINK "mailto:danae.netteburg@gmail.com" danae.netteburg@gmail.com.
Olen Zain: +235 62 16 04 93
Danae Zain: +235 62 17 04 80
Olen et Danae Netteburg

Friday, December 16, 2011

#82 Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow



Or more correctly, hair yesterday, gone today.

Mom and Dad just left yesterday for the states. They had spent two and a half weeks with us. Mom got the approval from her doctors after her first dose of chemo and had a blast. We all had a blast. Well, I should just speak for myself. I had a blast. And I perceived (correctly or incorrectly) that others had a blast. That should about cover the political correctness.

Mom got a little bummed that her hair started falling out, but we decided to shave it shorter and shorter until it came time for the razor. Then she just got shaved to skin. Then she got a sweet henna tattoo! That’s my mom, the biker chick with the sweet tatt on her head! She also learned lots of nice ways to use head wraps like Africans. We’ll see if she goes with the head wrap or the bare tatt for church.

Mom forbid me from shaving my head, but she didn’t say anything about a haircut. So I just decided to go with the 1/16th of an inch trim. I did it myself after midnight the day they left. Go solidarity! Can’t let Mom be the only bald one having fun.

This morning, Lyol woke up saying, ‘Go see Gamma, Gampa?’ Well, no boy. Gamma and Gampa went home. For the last two weeks, Lyol has woken up and asked to go see his Gamma and Gampa every morning between 6 and 7 in the morning. He was bummed this morning.

It’s been kinda like January 2 around here today. All the big holidays feel like they’re done already, but work/school hasn’t really gotten into full swing. Just kinda dragging. You know the January 2 feeling, right?

Anyway, love you, Mom (and Dad). Good luck with chemo! We’ll be thinking of you.

(By the way, Mom. I should’ve shaved my head long ago. The freezing cold showers go by much faster now.)

You will notice on our blog, missionarydoctors.blogspot.com, that we have a link for donations. This is through Adventist Health International’s website. We believe strongly in the mission of AHI. We feel that AHI is an organization worth supporting. By donating through AHI, you can be reassured that there is a strong measure of accountability following your donation. Just mark the donation for ‘Bere.’ And remember that your gift is 100% tax-deductible.

missionarydoctors.blogspot.com
danae.netteburg@gmail.com.
Olen Zain: +235 62 16 04 93
Danae Zain: +235 62 17 04 80
Olen et Danae Netteburg
Hopital Adventiste de Bere
52 Boite Postale
Kelo, Tchad
Volunteers Welcome!!!