Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Congo (133) Luebo, Congo 10/12/1925 [DCS]

Luebo Oct. 12, 1925

Dearest homefolks:

I have had a mighty hard time in the last two weeks and more. The baby has been sick and I have been waiting until he was better to write you. There was no use to write you about it at the time as he would either have been worse or better before it reached you. He has had a chronic form of Amoebic Dysentery for over two months. For a long time and until we reached Mutoto, I did not realize that it was anything very serious. We thought at first it was caused (the looseness of his bowels, I mean) from weaning him, as it began about that time. Then we decided it musts be the goat milk so stopped that. Over a space of five or six weeks, we saw blood only twice, with from 5 to 6 stools a day. Miss Fontaine could think there was nothing wrong as he seemed so well and was gaining all the time. He began to get worse near the time for the Committee Meeting and we were expecting two Doctors. Well neither came and you can imagine how uneasy and disappointed I was. The State Doctor could find nothing and said to give him nothing but water for 27 hours--So this was the reason I went on over to Mutoto. When I got there Dr. King was down with tick fever and very weak, but he was kind and made his examinations as soon as possible.

I guess you can imagine how I felt in a strange station with a sick baby and away from B. M. They were all just as kind as could be, but most of the families have children and this disease is contagious so of course I could not take Max anywhere. The treatments were very severe--12 hypos and also another treatment by mouth, a newer one. The medicine made his mouth and throat very sore and as a consequence he lost his voice for over a week. They are to continue the treatment for a while longer--only part of it though, to be sure that he is cured. He is getting along fine now and everyone talks about how well he looks. He has never lost much weight for what he has been through. Still weighs over 20 Ibs. I asked Dr. Stix the other night if he thought there was any danger now and he said no. Max is a regular little job, for everything comes at once. He is cutting teeth along with it and the places on his buttock where the injections were given are still sore. It looks like I have certainly had my share of trouble since Max came. Perhaps a punishment to me for not wanting to come back to Congo. However, I am glad to get to Luebo again and am looking forward to getting my house fixed up.

The mission meeting is in session and many problems are to be settled. I must close now as air mail closes now.

Don't worry about Max as I have been waiting till worry was over to write you.

Lovingly,

Dorothy

No comments:

Post a Comment