It’s hard being away from the kids, but I am blessed to have such a great team in Kenya keeping me updated and working hard to make sure that they are all having their needs met. Since many of the children have disabilities that require regular checkups Trina, Dinah and Allan were taken to a clinic that comes to town every few months to assess people that have walking difficulties, spina bifida, hydrocephalus and other disabilities that require surgical attention. After being assessed the patients travel to a mission hospital outside Nairobi where the surgeries are performed.
Allan has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk on his own. He currently has a wheelchair that he uses at school and other outings, but he is a determined little guy who is always working hard with his walker at home. He doesn’t have the balance to walk on his own and his ankles are stiff so he can’t put his feet flat on the ground and can only stand on his tiptoes. At the clinic they said that they can do an operation to lengthen his Achilles tendons on both legs making it possible for him to put his feet flat on the ground and hopefully giving him the ability to walk on his own.
Trina has hemiplegic cerebral palsy, which only affects her right side. Her right hand has less function than her right, but she is a feisty and dependent little girl who doesn’t let anything hold her back. She is able to walk on her own, but has some difficulty because her right leg is a stiff at the ankle. The doctors also think that it will benefit her to do the same surgery as Allan to lengthen her Achilles tendon to enable her to move more freely and avoid further complications as she gets older.
Dinah’s surgery will be the most complicated of the three. She was born with myelomeningocele spina bifida, which is a spinal deformity that caused her legs to be paralyzed. The doctors are still running more tests, but it may be possible to do a surgery to remove the lump on her back allowing her to be able to sit up straighter and allow her to have the best quality of life possible even though the paralysis of her legs is permanent.
Since their cases are not emergency situations the surgeries are being booked for the beginning of next year to allow time for all of the proper tests to be done. Please keep them in your prayers in these next few months leading up to the surgery.
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