Gercia came to us for an encephalocele repair. She was staying with her grandmother in Pointe Noire this summer and she was brought to selection day.

Her operation went smoothly, but her recovery was less than. The second night I had her, we made a little trip to CT scan for pupil changes and constant vomiting. The next few days she continued to complain of great pain in her head, refuse to eat, vomit, and keep her head arched backward at an extreme angle. She slept on her stomach, with her head arched back, rarely moving from this position. She was started on antibiotics in case of meningitis, but 5 days after surgery she was just not getting any better.

Saturday after morning rounds with Dr. Levy, it was decided to take her to the OR that afternoon to sedate her for a CT scan and lumbar puncture to see if there was anything we were missing. At home, this would be easier. PICC line, gent/vanc, PICU monitoring. Here, not as easy. No gent/vanc levels can be measured, no PICC lines inserted.

I left my shift worried that we could not do enough for her. That night, the ship had a night of worship, just a time of singing and sitting before God, bringing to him my worries and fears.

Sunday morning, she was lying in bed with her head in a neutral position. A good change. Dr. Levy stopped in and prayed over her before morning rounds. She was still refusing to eat the food we offered her, but her grandmother had said she only ate cookies and candy at home. So I went and got some cookies.

When I offered her a cookie, her eyes lit up for the first time in a week. I can easily be bribed with cookies, maybe she could be too... I asked the translator to tell her it was time to get up to the bathroom. She refused. When promised a cookie for her efforts, and with a little coaxing/commanding from her grandmother, she was up out of bed for the first time in a week. Successful bathroom trip earned 2 cookies.

Now we knew she could sit, hold her head up, stand, walk, and eat cookies without pain or vomiting. It was Sunday, so all the patients would be going to ward church. I told Gercia that this is what we were going to do. Though she wasn't to excited about this, when her grandmother and all the other patients in the ward got up and ready to go, she went along. For an hour, she sat and clapped and listened to the service. I left the whole sleeve of cookies by her bed.

At lunch, she slowly began to eat. Not much, but it was better than nothing! That afternoon, we went to Deck 7. This time she was coaxed with bubbles. We blew bubbles for almost an hour up on the deck; occasionally catching her smile when they would land on her head. She walked over to the railing, looking down at the deep sea and out at the ships coming in.

We went back inside and I told her I was proud of her for all the things she had done that day, and that now she could take a nice long nap. Which she did.

The rest of the week the improvement continued, though we saw a little more of her stubborn personality shine through. Thursday, we played with balloons, bubbles, and play-doh; then she and her grandmother slipped off the ship, without any commotion, back to their life. All of us amazed at her healing. There is a Healer, who loves us more than we can explain and works in ways we cannot explain. And who has created cookies to be a love language :)

Here are some more pictures of the continued healing we are seeing in our patients as they leave and return for their follow up visits.