My first look at DiTee told me she was dying. She lay there on a pile of dirty blankets in the bamboo hut, just skin and bones, eyes sunk in, clammy, cool, pale skin, and even exuding the smell of death. She had a high fever, and intense pain all over her body especially in the abdomen. When she moved even one arm up in the air it took great pain and effort to put it where she wanted it. She is 28 years old and has 2 small children.
Her diagnosis: SLE (Systemic Lupus Eryth)
This disease does not have to be fatal if treated with steroids, but can be quite severe or life threatening because it knocks the immune system out, therefore secondary infections come easily.
Oh, poor suffering humanity, how I long before Jesus can come and end this long reign of sickness, suffering, sorrow and sin.
We will have a very hard time taking her to the hospital because it is rainy season and she is way to fragile to struggle up that mountain on the back of a motorbike. They hire a truck to take them the long way to the big pagoda. It is late coming because they had a very hard time. BletJhaw and I take the motorbike to the main highway and return with our truck on the concrete part to meet them.
After a long drive and much pain on her part we get the silent sufferer to MaeSot hospital. Fortunately I meet a kind doctor in the Emergency who looks past her filthy dirty, smelly clothes and carefully examines, diagnoses and treats her. She is admitted to the hospital for over 3 weeks.
When she is dismissed, she is still very weak and sick. We never took pictures of her before her treatment. It somehow seemed so unkind to photograph such wretchedness.
We offered to take them to their relatives’ house, which they indicated was not too far away! WRONG! It took over an hour on the worst roads imaginable. If it had rained during that time we never would have made it. But God wanted that sick girl to get there!
Husband has a difficult time
With deep gratitude I sense more of the love of God for my people, when I see Him miraculously hold the storms back, stop the rain, push us up the treacherous places, hold us back from falling off the cliffs, so the sick can be taken care of. Surely He came to this world “That they may have life, and that they might have it more abundantly!” John 10:10