Suzanne

My heart is breaking for Suzanne.

Suzanne was admitted to our hospital approximately one year ago with a mysterious skin disease. The medications in our limited arsenal did nothing as the lesions ravaged her body. Within a period of months, her arms and legs were covered with stubborn open ulcers that refused to heal and her face erupted with thickened patches of blackened crusts.

She has been forced to use a wheelchair because the ulcers cause her so much pain that she can no longer walk. Wrapping herself in a scrap of mosquito netting to keep the flies from her face, she can occasionally escape her hospital room and go outside.

She has been away from her young children for this entire time. They visit her at the hospital but howl when the time comes to return home and leave their mama.

We have conducted two separate biopsies which have stumped the pathologists in the U.S., the results are always returned inconclusive. Finally, were put in contact with a talented dermatologist Dr. Dan Wikland who has worked in Cameroon. After contemplating Suzanne's symptoms and looking at her photos, she was diagnosed with chromoblastomycosis, a fungal infection.

We attempted treatment with the only antifungal medication available to us. It failed, so we searched for another more potent alternative. It was not to be found in Cameroon.

Finally the Dr. Dan found and purchased the medication online and shipped it to our hospital. Suzanne is one month into her treatment. Progress is slow, it can take 3-6 months to see any change, and there is a high likelihood of relapse after the treatment is finished.

And just today, I found that her husband is divorcing her, his marriage to another woman already in the works.

So while my body is in Togo on a ship overlooking the ocean, my heart is in sub-Saharan Cameroon, in box 6 of pavilion 3 with Suzanne as she fights. She wavers between stunning optimism and overwhelming despair and I am praying for her today.

Please pray with me.