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Last Updated: May 13, 1997
![[Betsy Burgdorff]](../images/betsy.jpg)
SUBJECT: Betsy's Letter #15
AUTHOR: Betsy Burgdorf, her husband Ted, and three girls - Heidi, Kristen, and Kara, work with her sister Becky Gates and family in Guyana.
DATE: May 21, 1997
Dear Family and Friends,
We've been through a very stressful week, the most stressful since we've been here, But the Lord has been with us.
Becky and David were supposed to leave last Wednesday the 16th to Georgetown so they could catch their flight to the U.S. early Thursday morning. Because of rain however, the flight to Kaikan was canceled, so they missed their flight. That meant paying an extra $30. each to reschedule their flight to the States.
That afternoon all the termites started flying, millions of them, dropping wings everywhere. It was a mess! They only flew for that one afternoon and evening, then they were gone, but it reminded me of one of the plagues of Egypt. They got in our hair, inside our clothes in our beds, in our food, EVERYWHERE! I made soup for supper and everytime I opened the lid to add something, termites fell in. Everyone had to pick them out of their soup as they ate. As I was cooking it, I grabbed the Lawry's seasoned salt (I thought) and dumped some in. Suddenly a strong odor of cinnamon came wafting up to my nostrils. Oh me! Let me say that our "Termite Cinnamon Soup" was, well, very "interesting'. But since there was nothing else to eat, everyone scarfed it down.
A little after 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning a messenger came to the house and said that Romo's mother. Joy Rudy (59 years old) had been bitten by a snake while on her way to their farm 2 hours away. Ted and David grabbed the little bit of charcoal we had and ran all the way up to their house by the airstrip. They arrived at the house about 5 minutes after the patient did. Joy and her husband had walked about half an hour towards their farm when the snake, a 4- foot Fer-de-Lance, struck her on the left leg, just below the knee. Her husband applied a tourniquet and carried her all the way back home.
Ted and David gave her all the charcoal capsules we had left, about 10 of them, by mouth and started applying charcoal to the bite. They got the family to start making more charcoal, pounding it fine. Mama and I went up after we cleaned up the kitchen. We were all very glad that Mama is here, since she has treated many snakebites, both with and without antivenom, and the patients all lived. She has much more experience in this area than we do. Unlike our other 2 snakebite cases, which were quite mild, this was a full-blown case. Mama stayed with her all day and packed her entire leg with charcoal, pouring water on every 10 minutes or so. From the knee down, her leg was swollen tight and she was in a lot of pain, which is to be expected with a snakebite. She has had a history of stomach problems, so we were afarid to give her Ibuprofen, which is hard on the stomach. We gave some Tylenol, and also some children's liquid Ibuprofen, which we thought might not be as hard on the stomach as the pills. Many prayers went up for her.
Joy had a fitful night and Ramo was back early Friday morning to get us. The swelling had gone all the way up the thigh by now. Mama and I removed the charcoal pack from her leg, which we had left on all night, and she seemed more comfortable with it off. Her vital signs were good, and we went back several times to check on her. We were encouraged that things were stable and she would gradually get better. Some of Ramo's sisters, who don't live in Kaikan, wanted the patient sent to Georgetown. However, she didn't want to go, and the family didn't want to force her against her will. Mama told them she would support them in whatever dicision they made, but let them know that everything seemed O.K. at the present. Mama's (page 2) experience with hospitals in Third World countries is that many times the patient is worse off going to the hospital. The people here seem to have the same idea as many of them seem very reluctant to go. The Thursday flight was also cancelled due to bad weather, but Friday the plane came in and Becky and David flew out.
At around 3:30 a.m. Sabbath morning, we were awakened by a knock. Ramo was back saying his mother was very restless, weak, and having fainting spells. We knew she hadn't eaten much since she'd been bit, and her stomach had been bothering her a lot. Mama and I dressed, grabbed some stuff to start an I.V. and hurried up there. One look and we could tell things had taken a turn for the worse. Her blood pressure was very low and pulse was rapid, and her veins didn't look too good, but Mama manaaged to start and I.V. with a little butterfly needle. We had 1 bag of I.V. fluid of 1000cc, and 2 bags of 500cc, and that was it. We let the I.V. run as fast as it would, and got it in in about 3 hours. We knew she needed to get out to Georgetown at this point, as things were beyound what we could control. Once our 2 liters were gone, we han no more I.V. fluid. And she needed something injectable for pain, which we didn't have.
As soon as they thought they could get someone on the radio, at about 6:45 a.m., Ted, Mama and Ramo went to try and arrange a mercy flight. This is very difficult to do on weekends and holidays, which seem to be when we get all the critical cases. Ted couldn't get any Georgetown stations, but managed to find someone in Barbados on the Antilles Emergency and Weather net. Then they put out a call to everyone to try and pick up a Georgetown station. They managed to get ahold of Peter in Georgetown, who had just been ready to turn off his radio and go feed his dog when he heard the call. He called the secretary to the Minister of Health, who authorized a merch flight to Kaikan to take Joy to Georgetown.
In the meantime, I had stayed at the house with the patient. She was very restless and wanted to sit up, so the family helped raise her up. Then she started to throw up, and passed out. This had happened several times since we had come up early that morning. But now she had a very bad spell and passed out. I looked at her and couldn't see her breathing at all. Joy's 3 daughters who were with her, Patricia, Wendy, and Normela, all started crying, and the dad started crying. I was struggling not to cry myself and trying not to panic. I was sure she had just died. I was praying, " God, please don't let her die!" I grabbed the stethescope and tried listening for a heartbeat, but couldn' t decide whether I was hearing my own heart thundering in my ears, or her heartbeat. Just then she moved her hand and I knew she was still alive. Thank you, Jesus. She was cold and clammy, so I told them to lay her down, and we raised the one good leg up.
After what seemed like an eternity, Mama returned. I was so relieved to see her! She said a plane was coming at 2:00 p.m. Praise the Lord for that. But 2:00 seemed so far away. If we could just keep her alive till then. The Fer-de-Lance is hemotoxic, which means it affects the blood. Mama had given her a shot of Phenergan to help keep her from throwing up, and the spot where the needle stuck oozed blood all day. She was also getting black and blue spots all over her body. We were afraid that the poison had caused her gastric ulcer to start bleeding. (We didn't know for sure but suspected she had an ulcer because of all her stomach problems.) Her blood pressure went up for a while after we gave her the 1000cc of I.V. fluid, but then started going down again, to 76 over something, pulse very rapid, 148. She kept having these spells of vomiting and fainting, then started having mini-seizures. I was so stressed out, I felt like I was getting an ulcer myself. My stomach was in knots. We all kept praying that God would work a miracle and spare her life.
After church, several of the elders and members came by for special prayer. Shortly after that we got word that the flight had been canceled. What a blow! I couldn't believe it. Ramo and Ted ran down to the radio to find out what was going on, and found out that the plane had already left and would be here by 1:45 p.m. Somehow the message had gotten mixed up. Thank you, Jesus! Now if we could just keep her alive for another hour and a half. A little after 2:00 p.m. the plane finally arrived. They had sent an emergency nurse along. They brought the stretcher to transport the patient from the house to the plane. It was a little tricky getting her down the rickety steps of the house, but they made it O.K. The plane taxied down the airstrip close to the house so they wouldn't have so far to carry her. Once they got her in and were ready to go, they discovered the plane was stuck in the sand. With a little work they got it going and took off at about 2:30 p.m. We all breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God for getting her on the plane. After her mother was gone, Wendy broke down and sobbed. She told Mama, "If you hadn't been here, my mother would have died!" It had been a very stressful day for all of us. I finally went home, almost 12 hours after going up there, took some Mylanta and went to bed. We heard by radio that she had arrived safely in Georgetown and was in the public hospital.
The next morning, Sunday, Rano was at our house early in the morning again to try and make radio contact. We found out that she needed 4 units of blood. They said the hospital had given her one and were trying to locate 3 more units. They said she wasn't doing well, was in a coma since 2:00 a.m., and wasn't expected to live. Pastor Kwashi in Georgetown had found someone willing to donate blood, but couldn't seem to locate the patient. He called the hospital and no one seemed to know where she was. Incredible, that a hospital wouldn't know where a patient was! He finally was able to get ahold of a family member who knew where she was, and let him know he had someone willing to donate blood.
Shortly after that, at 10:30 a.m. Pastor Kwashi called and said he had just received word that the patient had died. Ramo immediately burst into tears, and so did I. It just seemed impossible that she could be dead. We can't always understand God'd ways, but I know that God is good and He is still in control. But it was a very very sad day. Losing a patient is always hard, but especially so when she was a church member and the mother of one of your best friends. Ramo spent the entire day at our house, talking on the radio, trying to make contact with his sisters (one in Venezuela, one in Kamarang, 2 in Georgetown) and other relatives. Mama went up to the Rudy house to comfort the family.
Things were rather chaotic there. When Nash, Ramo's only brother (there are 9 children) came to our house and heard the news, he took off running up the hill, crying and screeming. It was heartbreaking to hear him. When Mama got up to the house, he was lying on the bed with his head covered up. He lay there all day, refusing to eat or talk. Patricia, the Captain's wife, was hysterical, screaming and crying. Mama finally gave her some Benadryl to calm her down and she slept for awhile, but apparently cried all night long. Ramo knew things would be chaos at home so he decided to stay ar our house all day, monitoring the radio. I stayed with him to talk and listen and give emotional support. I had to take more Mylanta for my stomach that night.
It is now Wednesday and the stress is not over yet. They are still trying to get the body out here for the funeral. They are supposed to be doing an autopsy today to find out why she died. I guess it is policy if a patient dies less than 24 hours after being admitted to the hospital. They hope this afternoon or tomarrow to fly the body out for the funeral. We are all praying that God will send nice weather so the plane can make it. We will all be glad when this is over with. (page 4)
I feel verry sorry for Ramo, as he has received some flak in all this. I guess yesterday one of his sisters yelled at him over the radio saying that if the family had sent the mother to Georgetown sooner, she wouldn't have died. Yesterday his sister from Venezuela arrived and apparently had the same reaction. He talked to us yesterday about it, saying the family here is being blamed, and also we are being blamed. But he assured us that he has no such feelings himself and knows that we did everything we possibly could have. We have gone over and over this in our minds, trying to think what we could have done differently, and under the circumstances, I don't know what we could have done different. We're not even convinced that things would have been different if she had gone out a day earlier.
I have been dissapointed in the reactions of some of the church members. One lady came up to Ramo, just a couple of hours after his mother died, and told him it was the family's fault she died because they hadn't eaten the right things after she got bit. A church elder who walked up with Mama to see the family told her the same thing, that the family was at fault because they ate fish, pepper and salt after she was bit. That was why she died. He told Mama that his daughter was bit by a snake and didn't die because the family didn't eat those things. I just can't believe the insensitivity of someone to tell a familly member who is in deep grief and shock at losing his mother that it is his fault she died.
We keep finding out more and more superstitions around here. There was a large ring around the moon on Saturday night, and our neighbors told the girls that was sign from God that someone would die the next day. Sure enough, on Sunday Joy died. The neighbor asked the girls, "Now do you believe?" They said, "No." A week before there was a ring arouond the moon and no one died! Ramo told us another superstition is that no one eats with the family of the dead person, or they will get diarrhea. Ramo has eaten with us quite a bit since Sunday, and sure enough, today Lina has diarrhea!
Yesterday was another stressful day. In the morning when Ted got on the radio, they said the secretary of the Minister of Health, who had authorized the mercy flight, wanted to know exactly what the situation was here, what kind of medical facilities we had, etc. They wanted to see if anything could have been done differently to prevent the death. Ted told him there is a small medical post, with very little medications, many outdated, no I.V.'s and that we had a little of our own supplies. Another stress for the family yesterday came when the police showed up and told them it was against the law to bury their mother near their house, where they had planned. I don't know how that one will be resolved, but Ramo had a very tough day yesterday. He looked ready to crack, and he told me his stomach and chest had been burning all day. Hopefully the funeral will take place tomorrow, and we can put this all behind us soon.
Well, I must close this letter now as we expect the plane to be here soon. I hope I get it printed before the plane arrives. I hope next week will have better news. Love, Betsy
P.S. Joy died exactly 1 week after Mother's day. Wendy, her daughter, planned the Mother's Day Program. She said she couldn't bear to think of her mother dying, said that her secret wish was that she would die before her mother, because she wouldn't want to live if her mother was dead. Four days later her mother was bit by the Snake, and 3 days after that she was dead! No one dreamed on Mother's Day that Joy would be dead one week later! Life is so fragile. We must treasure each day we have on this earth with our loved ones.
Love,
Betsy
You may write to Betsy at: gates@andrews.edu
Last Updated: May 13, 1997