My dear friends
Sometimes things happen very quickly in our lives.
On what had seemed a relatively smooth day on Thursday
afternoon my ventilator suddenly stopped without any prior warning. Lindiwe, who was with
me at that time, was so shocked that she could not get her act together quickly. I was
very relieved when she eventually got hold of the ambu-bag and started ventilating me
manually. After cooling down and with extra help the ventilator got going again.
From Friday morning I experienced the discomfort of not
getting sufficient air supply from the ventilator. A little later, constant beeps kept
coming from the ventilator with the warning that pressure was low. It was obvious that I
was weakening; quick action had to be taken. Dr Albu van Eeden in consultation with our
specialist, Dr Mike van der Linden, decided to arrange for an ambulance to take me to
Entabeni Hospital.
When I realised that I would be heading for the hospital for
an unspecified period I had a strong desire to drop you a few lines. The problem is that
when I am struggling with breath writing becomes almost impossible. So I got my nurse to
ventilate me manually; she pumped and I wrote.
Due to ambulance delay we only got to Entabeni Hospital by
midnight. Dr van der Linden disconnected me from my Breas PV 403 and put onto the
hospital's giant Bear 1000 ventilator. Thankfully, that brought immediate relief and my
lungs gave a 'prolonged applause.'
So, here am I in the same cubicle where I collapsed on 11
May 2004. Over the weekend not much could be done but as from today our options should
become clearer.
For some time now the need for a backup ventilator had
become obvious but unfortunately we hardly get any response or cooperation from the South
African Breas agency. What we dreaded all along has happened; we are stuck with a faulty
machine and without any backup. We hope that the Breas can be fixed soon but we are
definitely looking for another ventilator as well.
Medical equipment is notoriously extremely costly, so it is
my earnest prayer that the Lord who knows how much and for how long I need these machines
will lead and guide in every decision that needs to be taken.
"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in
him and he will do this" (Psalm 37:5)
Have a blessed week.
Pressing on!
In His love
Fano Sibisi
