Fall 2000 - Graham continued have small seizures daily. We made an appointment with Dr. Bruce in Lome. He’s a French trained Togolese doctor. He referred us to a local neurologist to have an EEG. Her office was filthy and out-dated and she told us that our entire family had big heads! She hooked Graham up to an EEG machine from the 1950s which was an ordeal in itself because he kept trying to pull off the wires. According to the results, his brain was seizing almost constantly. Dr. Bruce then ordered a CT scan at a local hospital. The cultural differences between Togo medical care and US medical care became painfully obvious. I had not lived in Togo long enough to have sufficiently acquired the language so I was very confused. I had to rely on Bryan to translate everything for me. This put a lot of stress on our family to say the least.
The results of the CT scan showed no abnormalities. Dr. Bruce prescribed Graham an anti-seizure medication that needed to be given twice daily at the same times. Thankfully, the seizures stopped.
We spent our first Christmas away from our families. I remember this first holiday as very depressing and hollow. I just wanted to go home.
2001 - We were still settling into African life. Bryan was busy learning the Kabiye language and I was busy keeping up with two young boys. Bryan and I were still concerned about Graham’s epilepsy and after consulting our stateside pediatrician we decided to take Graham to the states for an evaluation. Bryan stayed back in Togo and I traveled to the US with Isaac (2) and Graham (1). My step-mother set up an appointment with a respected pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital in San Diego. He ordered another EEG, however Graham was still taking his medication. So, the results showed no seizures. After the test we met with the doctor. He said that he didn’t know the cause for the seizures, but that we should move within Togo to be closer to emergency medical care. Well, there was no place in Togo that could offer the care that G would need in an emergency. Plus, that would mean moving away from our team and the work among the Kabiye. I left that appointment feeling sure that our dream of living in Togo as missionaries was essentially over before it had really begun.
More later…
I appreciate you sharing both the struggles and the joys of missionary life. Sometimes when those of us back in the states read the glowing reports of baptisms and new churches, we forget that those working the harvest are facing challenges and disappointments, and that they need to be constantly covered in prayer. Thank you for the reminder!
I love this series of posts!! What a blessing to tell our story.