Busy playing “mom”

July 26th, 2009 by Elizabeth

An eventful week! Sorry about the delay in posting…

Baby Dung was much more ill last Wednesday, and I was very concerned about him. I spoke about my concern to the mothers and out translator, and then recruited Jen to get involved. Dung needed to see a doctor immediately and I wasn’t willing to wait. Fortunately, Dr. Ross is an Australian family practice physician who has a practice established here in DaNang. Many of his clients are western and he has provided frequent services for many of the GVN babies. Of course, being a Western physician his prices are NOT cheap and there is NO health insurance. But it is better that Dung be seen and receive proper treatment, than be admitted to the “free” hospital and stay there a week, only to be discharged with minimal improvement (and possibly other ailments as well).

So, Jen and I, along with a mother from AOV2, brought Dung to the doctor. The physician was very thorough and she used the terms “stridor and rhonchi” so I have confidence she knew her stuff. Viral and bacterial bronchitis was the diagnosis. He was started on bronchodilators in the form of Nebulizer treatments every 6 hr and antibiotics. Because of the risk of infecting the other children at the orphanage, and because the mothers could not understand Nebulizer treatments nor administer them correctly, Dung is living at Jen’s house this week. I volunteered to play “mom.” Jen and I are sharing parenting responsibilities. However, the first night at 10:30pm I was vowing never to be a single parent…taking care of a sick infant is tough work! Night times are the worst…

“It takes a village…” With ample help from a mother at Malnourished and one of our cooks, we were able to provide one-on-one 24/7 care for little Dung. His treatments and medication seem to be working, as he is improving every day. He still coughs quite a bit, but nebulizers are an expectorant, so I guess this is expected. His wheezes are gone and he sleeps better at night (thank God!) Waking up every 2 hours to a whimpering baby is not my idea of a good night’s sleep. I have learned that even in Vietnam, babies are expensive! Baby formula, disposable diapers and doctor visits are still costly over here!

Today we hope to deliver little Dung back to AOV2, where he will share a room with Mai, the little girl that was very sick and hospitalized a month ago. Since they are both immuno-suppressed, its best they remain out of the main bedroom as to not contract another virus/infection!

I’ve loved spending time with little Dung…its so great to wake up to a smiling baby in the morning!