Julia and I live and work at the Baptist Medical Centre in Northern, Ghana. When we arrived on the field October 2012, we immediately began looking for a place at the hospital where we could plug in and serve. We choose to work with patients who had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Tuberculosis or TB is a disease which affects the lungs and other organs within the body. TB falls into two categories. According to medical new today; "TB can either be latent or active. Latent: the bacteria is inactive but present in the body or active: bacteria is active and makes the patient ill; active TB is contagious".When a patient arrives at the hospital with active TB he or she is immediately placed in isolation where they are given treatment; if a patient survives isolation they are moved to a small village close to the hospital where they live for six months and receive treatment. Julia and I work with the patients in the village. We worked hard to both share and show the love of Christ. Julia would go once a week and play with the children whose parents were sick and I would go house to house praying with patients and sharing bible stories. Many lives were transformed because of our work among the tuberculosis patients.
Fast forward a year and a half.
After giving birth to Piper, we sat down with our medical coordinator and began to talk with her about our ministries at the BMC. When she heard that we worked with TB patients; she immediately informed us that we should not bring our new baby around the patients and we had to get tested to see if we had been exposed to tuberculosis. Julia and I both received a TB skin test (small shot in the arm) and were told to return in 48-72 hours to determine if we had been exposed. A couple of hours after receiving the TB shot I happened to look down at my arm and noticed I was developing a red circle. I quickly checked Julia's arm and noticed her arm didn't have any distinguishing marks. I became nervous. I began to constantly rub the spot where I had the shot. I began calling out to God, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be positive for TB." I instantly regretted coming to Africa, working at the BMC, and working with TB patients. I wanted to go home. I began to beat myself up for moving my family to Africa. What if I developed a disease which will hurt my daughter? What if I can never hold my daughter again? What if I have to go to isolation? Will I have to live in a bubble? I wanted to leave the field. I fretted over the red spot on my arm for two days. 48 hours passed and we returned to the doctors. The doctors took one look at Julia's arm and said she was negative for TB. They looked at my arm, they felt my arm, they drew a circle around the raised red lump on my arm, they measured the lump, they felt again, looked closer, felt again and delivered the news. I had been exposed to tuberculosis. I was shaken. Here I was a missionary working for God. I naively thought that entitled me to God's protection. I understood the risk of working with TB patients but thought, God will protect me, I'm a missionary. This however, was not God's plan.
I have been exposed to TB. What this means is that the tuberculosis bacteria has entered my body and the infection has been contained, but not cleared. I am not ill, nor infectious to other people. The body has walled-off the bacteria, however, I will need treatment. I will begin INH treatment in the new year. This treatment will involve me taking a pill everyday for the next 9 months.
In conclusion, I have been exposed to TB and have latent tuberculosis in my body. God could have chosen to prevent me from being exposed to TB; rather, He decided to protect me by allowing me to discover I had TB while working with the IMB under their insurance. The IMB will pay for my x-rays and 9 months of INH (drug used to treat TB) treatment. Thank you Lottie Moon Christmas Offering! I am learning a simple lesson: God doesn't remove the hardships; He allows, purposes, ordains, permits, and plans them. Pain, problems, diseases become the lemons which God squeezes to reveal those things in me which I must repent of. While we wish I had never been exposed we are thankful that the TB was discovered early and we are able to treat. We are thankful that God is using/going to use latent TB for His glory and my good.
Please pray for us as we walk through this treatment.
Fast forward a year and a half.
After giving birth to Piper, we sat down with our medical coordinator and began to talk with her about our ministries at the BMC. When she heard that we worked with TB patients; she immediately informed us that we should not bring our new baby around the patients and we had to get tested to see if we had been exposed to tuberculosis. Julia and I both received a TB skin test (small shot in the arm) and were told to return in 48-72 hours to determine if we had been exposed. A couple of hours after receiving the TB shot I happened to look down at my arm and noticed I was developing a red circle. I quickly checked Julia's arm and noticed her arm didn't have any distinguishing marks. I became nervous. I began to constantly rub the spot where I had the shot. I began calling out to God, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be positive for TB." I instantly regretted coming to Africa, working at the BMC, and working with TB patients. I wanted to go home. I began to beat myself up for moving my family to Africa. What if I developed a disease which will hurt my daughter? What if I can never hold my daughter again? What if I have to go to isolation? Will I have to live in a bubble? I wanted to leave the field. I fretted over the red spot on my arm for two days. 48 hours passed and we returned to the doctors. The doctors took one look at Julia's arm and said she was negative for TB. They looked at my arm, they felt my arm, they drew a circle around the raised red lump on my arm, they measured the lump, they felt again, looked closer, felt again and delivered the news. I had been exposed to tuberculosis. I was shaken. Here I was a missionary working for God. I naively thought that entitled me to God's protection. I understood the risk of working with TB patients but thought, God will protect me, I'm a missionary. This however, was not God's plan.
I have been exposed to TB. What this means is that the tuberculosis bacteria has entered my body and the infection has been contained, but not cleared. I am not ill, nor infectious to other people. The body has walled-off the bacteria, however, I will need treatment. I will begin INH treatment in the new year. This treatment will involve me taking a pill everyday for the next 9 months.
In conclusion, I have been exposed to TB and have latent tuberculosis in my body. God could have chosen to prevent me from being exposed to TB; rather, He decided to protect me by allowing me to discover I had TB while working with the IMB under their insurance. The IMB will pay for my x-rays and 9 months of INH (drug used to treat TB) treatment. Thank you Lottie Moon Christmas Offering! I am learning a simple lesson: God doesn't remove the hardships; He allows, purposes, ordains, permits, and plans them. Pain, problems, diseases become the lemons which God squeezes to reveal those things in me which I must repent of. While we wish I had never been exposed we are thankful that the TB was discovered early and we are able to treat. We are thankful that God is using/going to use latent TB for His glory and my good.
Please pray for us as we walk through this treatment.
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