jen lemen - Home

It is with so much happiness and joy this morning that I’m writing to let you know that Odette’s daughter Grace is officially TB free. For those of you who have been following along from the beginning, you’ll recall that Grace almost died twice last year–once from undiagnosed malaria and once from undiagnosed tuberculosis.

I went to Rwanda last spring in part, to collect Grace’s medical records and to see for myself how she was doing. What I found was a very dear girl who was doing her best to deal–even when it was clear to me that she didn’t have the right place to stay and was clearly not getting the kind of care she needed to recover. Solving that problem was complicated, but Odette and I were able to do it with the help of some very kind and caring people. Here’s a short list:

Innocent, Odette’s brother. My intuition told me immediately upon meeting Odette’s brother that he was the best person to take care of Odette’s girls, who spent most of their time floating between boarding school (where Grace contracted TB in the first place) and various relative’s homes. It was obvious to me that the girls loved him and trusted him, and that if we could coordinate the right living arrangement for all of them, Grace could get the proper supervision under his kind care.

Erin Wilson, long time blog reader and amazing kindred spirit. Sometime early summer, Erin contacted me, wanting to do something specific to make a difference in Odette’s family. With Erin’s perfectly timed contributions, Odette and I were able to move the girls and Innocent from the village (no small feat!) to a small house in Kigali with easy access to the hospital where Grace could enter a TB program designed especially for kids.

Michel, brother to Odette’s sister-in-law, Goreth. With Grace too sick and far behind to attend traditional school, Erin’s contributions (again!) enabled us to hire Michel to homeschool Grace when she had the energy to study. An incredibly bright and caring guy, Michel was happy to use his expert knowledge of English and Kinyarwanda to help Grace gain ground lost from a year of being in and out of school. It was Michel’s everyday exposure to Grace that helped him realize Grace might be suffering from nutritional deficits that were impacting her recovery.

Doreen Cronin. When Grace was first diagnosed with TB, it was Doreen Cronin who came out of the woodwork with the practical suggestion that Odette have a cellphone and ample phonecards to stay connected to Grace throughout her illness. Odette worked her famous pink cellphone to talk to Grace regularly and encourage her to cooperate with Innocent and Michel as together the family looked for solutions to bolster her nutrition and make sure she stayed on track with her recovery. Odette’s ability to keep in constant contact with the family was critical in moving things forward.

Doctors, doctors everywhere + the Internet. Oh God bless those random medical professionals who post endless reams of meaningful medical information on the internet. With your help, we were able to uncover the TB diet–a special diet made up of raw milk and endless eggs (two things that are easy to get in Rwanda) to help get Grace the 800 mg of cholesterol her body needed to be able to really fight the TB with the help of antibiotics.

Readers like you. Last month I asked for your help to support the girls while Odette was in the hospital recovering from breast reconstruction surgery to repair damage she suffered in the genocide. Your contributions paid for the last and final round of TB medication, along with a host of other necessary things Grace and Lillian needed to live while their mom was unable to work. On her last doctor visit, the doctor said even though Grace had entered the program, malnourished and dealing with some serious nutritional deficits in addition to having TB, that she finished healthier than any other child in her group. When Odette heard that news yesterday, she laid in that hospital bed and cried.

All because of you! Woohoo!

In Africa they like to say, it takes a village to raise a child. Truly, you have been that village for Grace over the last six months especially. Some of you have shared that you were giving your last five bucks out of your grocery money and others have sent checks when I was too scared to ask. All of this, I have to tell you, is making an incredible difference in the life of this family and in my life as well. Without you, things could have been so very, very different.

The girls continue to need care since Odette’s third hospitalization since her surgery on September 1 due to unforseeable complications with scar tissue from the genocide, but the expenses will be considerably less now with the big TB marked off our list. Please know above all things that what you as a blog community have done for Grace especially is something for which Odette, me and the whole family will be eternally and deeply grateful.

It’s not too late to support the girls while Odette continues to recover. Feel free to contribute even one heartfelt dollar by clicking the button below.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.