Explore Opportunities: Serving God Takes Courage! {Part 2}
Note from Poppy: This is Part 2 of the story about a young Indian boy dying from rabies. Read Part 1 of the story here. But even more inspiring is the way God led this Christian doctor to risk his own life to take care of him. As you think about what opportunities God has for you to explore, think outside the box as this couple did who are serving at a mission hospital in India. How can you be His heart and hands to someone in your world today?
...Around 2 AM I got out of bed and spent time praying as to what we should do. In the past, patients diagnosed with rabies have been sent home because of the worry about potential danger to staff and other patients. Unfortunately death from rabies (especially the furious form) is an extremely violent and frightening death. As the delirium sets in, patients become increasingly agitated and violent with copious secretions and most families who are unable to control the patient typically lock the patient up in a room to die alone. As I prayed that morning, I felt the Lord was asking us to take up the challenge for caring for this child so that he could at least have a peaceful death. Was I scared? Of course – there is so much fear and mystery around this disease and what most villagers remember is the terrible psychotic delirium and violent behavior they have seen in people who have had rabies. It is a disease shrouded in mystery as most patients die with no one nearby as others are afraid to be near them.
I started to examine my fears – what was I so worried about? Of course the fear was of death – what if I got bit or exposed? – unless the vaccine was effective it would mean a 100% chance of death. But then the Lord reminded me from Mathew 10:28, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
If my biggest fear was death – it was fear that I need not have. As Christ spoke in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Death was not a terrible thing I needed to fear. "For to be absent in this body is to be present with the Lord.” I was reminded of what Christians have done over the ages – Christians always seemed to be on the front lines in caring for those others have shunned. In the third century, when plague hit, it was Christians who risked their lives to care for plague victims although it meant many lost their own lives in the process. It was Christians like Paul Brand who cared for leprosy patients when everyone else sent them away because they were afraid to touch them. I was of course scared. What if I contracted rabies? I had touched the patient multiple times so far and helped clean up his saliva and blood. The fears continued to bubble up inside me but yet the calm assurance of the Lord was that He would be glorified in this.
The next morning we discussed together as a clinical team what we should do with this child. Thankfully the Lord had also moved in the hearts of the other physicians, and the doctor in charge of the palliative care initiative also felt convinced we should take up this challenge and at least provide a dignified death for this child. As we prayed together, we sensed the need to ensure that the nursing staff who would be caring for this child was fully on board so we planned a quick teaching session about rabies to educate our staff and to make sure we took appropriate precautions. Since we had very little experience caring for a patient dying from rabies we searched online to learn from others who had dealt with this issue. We found a very interesting palliative care study out of the Philippines which described caring for patients with rabies with the use of haloperidol to help sedate the patient to keep their symptoms under control. Most of what we heard about the government hospitals was that patients with rabies were kept in a separate room and tied down to prevent them from hurting others. Our goal was to avoid physical restraints if at all possible so that we could have the family with the child throughout the dying process.
That afternoon we had a meaningful teaching session about rabies where we answered the concerns of the nursing staff and prayed together as a team. It was so encouraging to us to see the nurses who would take the greatest risk in caring for the patient being so willing to help care for this child. In an effort to alleviate any fears, we decided to get all the primary caregivers immunized with rabies vaccine. The family was of course scared and heartbroken with the diagnosis and filled with lots of misunderstanding. This boy had a twin sister at home and his mother was fearful that the other twin would die like him because he had acquired the disease (this idea of twins dying together is a common belief in Bihar). We assured her that as long as the other sister had not been bit she would be fine. We convinced the mother to also get vaccinated since she had been caring for him in close contact for multiple days since he had fallen ill. They kept wondering if it would be better to take him home to die but thankfully they had a distant relative who works with our community project and was able to explain how difficult and frightening it would be for them to care for the child at home.
Patients with rabies typically become more agitated with noise and light and so we put him in the palliative care ward and turned off most of the lights and closed the doors to limit the noise in the room. He still was having trouble sleeping, so we started scheduled haloperidol. He finally rested and, for the first time, his mother finally slept after 4 days. He could not eat or drink anything and so we kept him on IV fluids to help control his thirst. By day 3, he was going in and out of consciousness. By day 4, he was quiet except for copious amounts of saliva that kept drooling out of his mouth since he was unable to swallow.
The unit doctor, the hospital pastor, the nurses, and I spent much time with the family praying with them and comforting them as they watched their son die. A couple of his other brothers came to visit him in the hospital to see him before he died. We prayed the most with his mother who was overwhelmed by grief and sorrow.
On the fifth morning when I checked on him he was just taking gasping breaths but he seemed comfortable and within a few hours he passed away peacefully with his family close by. Not once during the entire dying process did we have to physically restrain him just like we prayed for at the beginning. The entire cost of the care he received in the hospital was about 1800 rupees (about 30 dollars) for which we still had to give the family charity because even to pay that amount was difficult for them.
In remembrance of this first patient in the palliative care ward of our hospital and to thank the family for putting their trust in allowing us to provide care for their dying son, one of the nurses suggested that we name the palliative care wing after him. So the palliative care ward will now be named after Rakesh, the little boy who helped us conquer our fears and allowed us to provide care in such a way that God would be glorified – even if it meant that we took a risk with our lives.
In God’s plans, there are no accidents or coincidences. It was not a coincidence that as we inaugurated the palliative ward this child came into casualty at the same hour. God had a purpose in bringing this child to us. It was an act of courage for our staff as they took on this risk but, in the process, they provided a dignified death for this child with his family there to comfort him in his last moments.
The prayer that the Lord has placed on our hearts and the prayer we pray for our team is this from Romans 14:8, “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
Let's Talk: Now that you've read the whole story from this doctor, how can you be His heart and hands to someone in your world today?
This post is part of my Daring to DREAM series. Click here to view all the posts in this series.
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Poppy SmithInternational speaker, multi-published author, Bible teacher, and spiritual coachInspiring Women to Thrive! Permission to use this article is granted provided the following credit is fully included.Poppy Smith is funny, warm, and passionate about helping women grow spiritually and personally so they experience the love and power of Christ in life’s ups and downs. A former teaching leader with Bible Study Fellowship, Poppy has a Masters in Spiritual Formation and ministers extensively as a retreat and conference speaker both in the US and around the world. For more information about Poppy’s heart, her books and ministry, please visit her website at www.poppysmith.com.