An Intense Day: instant messaging with Veronica

My computer clock is off by six-ish hours. It's actually about 10:30pm. I'll probably write up the day's events in more detail in the next few days, but for now I'm going to post a conversation I had on Skype chat with one of my friends, Veronica. I think it

[4:44:42 PM] Veronica Pillar says: yarnface!
[4:46:50 PM] Christopher Yarnell says: hey v!
[4:47:38 PM] Veronica Pillar says: how's africa?
[4:48:06 PM] Christopher Yarnell says: it's okay. we had an intense day. look up cerebral malaria.
[4:48:34 PM] Veronica Pillar says: that sounds bad. did somebody have it?
[4:48:46 PM] Veronica Pillar says: (does)
[4:49:03 PM] Christopher Yarnell says: yeah. i think they'll be okay. i was pretty scared though.
but there's so much uncertainty, nobody diagnosed that. i just spent 40 minutes online and now i'm sure that's what it was.
[4:50:27 PM] Veronica Pillar says: yikes, just looked it up. not fun sounding
[10:03:49 PM] Christopher Yarnell says: yeah. it's a 16 month old.
he had a 104 fever,
then we sent him to go be washed with cold water by the mom,
then he started convulsing,
coughed/vomited a bunch of crap into his lungs,
then the mom freaked out
and tried to take him to another hospital
which wasn't stupid, because we can't transfuse blood and we had no diazepam for sedating his convulsions
but then she came back two hours later
with the kid still breathing > 60 times per minute, his lungs bubbling with stuff, burning up with fever, his eyes unfocused and dazed, unresponsive to pain,
(i pinched him, and katie and i were the only ones interested in his vitals)
[10:05:50 PM] Veronica Pillar says: oh my gosh that's so scary
[10:07:02 PM] Christopher Yarnell says: so katie and i spent three hours beside him on his bed, holding him down in his convulsions, which at that point were just muscles completely clenched, and trying to keep his airway open to help him breathe, while the nurse administered the malaria medication, and some antibiotics, and some diazepam (we went out and found some)
and something for the stuff in the lungs.
one of the symptoms of cerebral malaria is teeth clenching, and he's too young to know how to cough.
so we can't get the crap out of his lungs.
a couple of times he stopped breathing, so we would push on his lungs and massage them hard, really hard, and then he would start breathing again
but eventually he cooled off abit
and his breathing went back down to 60 breaths/minute (still way too fast, but it was up to 84 at one point)
and for the last hour and a half before we left he didn't stop breathing.
we showed his parents how to keep him upright with his airway open, and then we left to get food. i was almost passing out, i hadn't eaten since 8 in the morning. neither had katie, but i think it affected me more
actually katie ate a bunch of peanuts.
[10:09:55 PM] Christopher Yarnell says: i still feel really weird about it. not only do i not really know what to do, but i already know enough to use every option at the clinic - there are no options! i feel weird because i had to leave, i needed to leave, but the kid might have been helped by katie and i, but probably not, but i was sooo hungry and spacy
we talked about going back for the night but we are too spent.
[10:11:21 PM] Veronica Pillar says: ....wow that's so intense
[10:11:23 PM] Christopher Yarnell says: for a while i thought he was going to die. i was really sad inside.
[10:11:39 PM] Veronica Pillar says: (if you don't take care of yourself you can't help others, you know this)
but you think he'll be okay now?
[10:12:25 PM] Christopher Yarnell says: yes, i know this, but there's no food anywhere near the clinic. anyways, yes, i think he has stabilized, and he is getting the right treatment - intravenous quinine. apparently there are many relatives at the clinic with him, so they told us not to come back.
[10:12:54 PM] Veronica Pillar says: my gosh i would be terrified
have you seen any other patients in that bad of a shape?
[10:13:09 PM] Christopher Yarnell says: they are scared. the parents, at least. no, not that bad.
the dad is an imam. i met the dad and the kid (samba) 's older sister (three, kadiatu) last week when she had malaria.
she's fine now. but that's so insane. the poor family.
cerebral malaria has 25-50% mortality rate.
[10:15:11 PM] Veronica Pillar says: yeah i just read that, heh
that's way high, wow
[10:15:27 PM] Christopher Yarnell says: yeah.
i'm going to go tell katie some of this, she doesn't know how all the symptoms fit together with cerebral malaria yet. although she is the one who first thought it could be cerebral malaria.
[10:17:31 PM] Veronica Pillar says: cool
that's kinda cool she thought of that (and i guess was probably right)