Month: March 2021

On Thursday, 11 March, the day after we returned home to Bamako from Abidjan, John took a COVID test. We learned that the Mission President and his wife had just tested positive, and we’d just spent the day before we left helping them.

John’s symptoms included headache, fatigue, fever and body aching. For the next week, we stayed in the apartment, taking things easy, but John’s symptoms got worse, especially the fatigue. Gratefully he had no respiratory problems. By the next Friday, it was getting so bad, he could hardly do anything but rest. He collapsed 3 times during the week, passing out and falling to the floor without warning. He was weak and dizzy when he got up and so shaky and he looked like he’d aged 20 years.

By Friday evening, the 19th, he was not improving–he was sinking. I worried about his oxygen levels. We had no way to check them. We also had no thermometer and his fever continued. I’d been in contact with a couple of my book club friends at home, who alerted all of the others. They were also in contact with our kids. All were ready to intervene to get John to a hospital. Private panicky messages that night flew between my phone and theirs while John slept. I prayed through the night to know what to do. We live 9 flights up. We have no car. And John did NOT want to go to a hospital. “Tomorrow will be better,” was his standard response.

Here is the report I emailed to my friends Sunday, after that frightening Friday evening:

Hello Dear Book Club Friends!!

Several of you have asked today how John is doing and I thought I’d send Virginia an update she can forward to all of you. I’m not sure I’ve got a current email listing for everyone since I’ve been rather out of the loop.

We have good news here—it was just yesterday our dear Bamako Branch President, Sekou helped me find a COVID doctor who does house calls. I contacted Sekou yesterday morning after Virginia told me some of you were ready to book flights over to rescue us!!

Here’s what’s happened this week—in a medium-sized nutshell.

We were in Abidjan last week, finishing up there, working closely with the MP and his wife. They were feeling a little sick—sore throats, fatigue—but weren’t too worried about it. We’d taken negative Covid tests on a Saturday to fly back to Bamako on Tuesday. We spent Monday with the sick MP and wife at the office and they invited us to a send off dinner that evening at the mission home. We flew out the next morning for Bamako.

Tuesday John started feeling really fatigued. Weds we learned that the Bendixsens (MP) were feeling quite sick so they took a rapid response Covid test. Both Positive. Thursday John took a rapid test (we got them from a German Dr in Bamako) and he was also positive. I wasn’t too worried about getting Covid—I had it last month and had a very mild case, testing negative again after 2 weeks (which allowed us to fly from Bamako to Abidjan to Accra to take missionaries to the temple to be endowed). I’ve had 4 negative tests since then—one for each flight we’ve had.

So we sort of expected John’s case to be as simple as mine, but instead, every day got a little worse. I went to church without him last Sunday (Branch Conference with a visiting Authority) and came home to find John had blacked out and collapsed, here by himself. He was shaky and dizzy when he stood up the rest of the day. He just seemed to get more and more fatigued and he was sleeping a lot. I thought he’d turn the corner at any minute and start gaining strength. He passed out 2 more times this last week, crashing to the floor, sometimes hurting himself.

I guess I mentioned that to a couple of you—Virginia and Shelley, and of course to our kids, and by Friday, Adam, our medical student son, was privately messaging me to GET DAD TO A HOSPITAL NOW. We were most worried about his oxygen levels, thinking they were low and he really needed some urgent care. By Friday his mind was also starting to get a little fuzzy. He was really slow to respond, and his reasoning was off. For example, he didn’t want to eat his own leftovers from the day before because he was scared he might re-infect himself.

Well, getting him to a hospital here is easier said than done here. The main concern was that our German Dr in Bamako told that if you go to a hospital in Mali you won’t come out alive. I won’t go into a description of 3rd world hospitals here. The truth is you really don’t want to go there and be exposed to more than you came in with. So John was refusing any suggestion of medical help. We also live 9 flights up at the top of an apartment building and I could see no way of getting him down those stairs and into a dilapidated taxi to get him to a hospital. I also thought he’d turn the corner “any day now” and be fine again.

So by Friday night, I had Virginia planning how to life flight John out of here (well, almost) and our kids privately messaging me to get Dad to a hospital immediately. He was asleep in bed and I was praying to know what to do next. I decided to see how he was in the morning and then get him to a hospital somehow if I didn’t feel otherwise. I slept with an eye on him, making sure he was breathing through the night.

I woke early yesterday. He slept like he was drugged. Before even seeing how he was, I had a feeling to make a plan. I messaged our dear Malian friend, Anounou, who was in town for the weekend. He’s the field director of the Ouelessebougou Alliance (he is home in Bamako on weekends). He is John’s dear friend here and he has a car. I asked him if he could help me get John to a hospital. He was ready to drop everything and come.

Then I messaged our dear Branch President, Sekou, who is a 3rd year medical student (who’s wife was delivering their first child yesterday morning as we were messaging). I just wanted him to pray for us. As I told him what was happening, he said he knew a Doctor at a hospital here who had someone working for him who did home visits just for COVID patients. Wow, Perfect, I thought! So in a matter of minutes, he was able to make some calls and then he told me a doctor was on his way over to our apartment.

Anounou came over, the doctor came (a young single fellow) and for the next 3 hours, he worked with John, setting things up. We had to send Anounou to a pharmacy down the street to get a whole list of medications and medical stuff (syringes and IV stuff, etc.) The Dr spoke no English. Anounou helped us get what we weren’t understanding. By the end of his visit, we had an IV drip hanging from our light fixture. After 5 pokes and buggered veins, he found a good one and John was hooked up to the drip.

The home visits include 7 days of twice a day visits. The cost is about $450 USD. The pharmacy tab was about $200. John’s getting fluids, antibiotics, vitamins, blood thinner and something for nausea. I didn’t mention that his oxygen level was good. That was the first thing the Dr checked and his first words to us were, “He doesn’t have to go to the hospital!” Vitals were good. We could all see John was very dehydrated. His skin looked like an 80 year old man. (He’s also down to 150 lbs at 6’3” so he was looking really saggy.)

After day 2 now with the IV drip twice/day, he looks fully hydrated—better than BOTOX!!. He’s looking like a 66 yr old again! He’s also steady on his feet now. He’s had a fever for more than a week and that’s been much better too. He’s still really tired and he still takes a LONG nap every day and dozes off a lot in between naps and bed, but he’s already his old self, thinking clearly and I think he’s relieved that things are getting better.

I’ll tell you what came to me Friday night as I prayed after Virginia’s not-so-calm messages from all of you. A memory came to my mind that I’ve not thought of in a long long time. It was of our son, Aaron at 6 months in Dec 1995. It was on another Friday afternoon, on the evening of our ward Christmas party. John was at the church setting up. I was at home with Aaron, after a long day of selling DK books. Aaron was feeling sick, but he slept through the whole day in his car seat at my side. I remember thinking what a good baby he was, not to fuss. By Friday afternoon, I had a feeling to take him to the doctor, just to be sure, because the weekend was coming. I’m not one to run to a doctor for any little thing, but I felt I should go. The doctor attending that early evening was Merino Robins, Adam’s wife’s grandpa. He took one look at Aaron and checked his blood saturation. It was dangerously low. He immediately dug a big needle into little Aaron’s wrist to find a vein to pump something into him because he was not just a mild-mannered baby, he was on the verge of death. Aaron didn’t even flinch when he jabbed into his wrist (again, I’m thinking, what a good baby). When Aaron didn’t even flinch, Dr Robins could see he was barely responsive and he called for the Life Flight helicopter to come NOW and fly him to SLC for emergency care. Aaron had RSV. We almost lost him. He wasn’t getting oxygen and his body was giving out. I raced home to get John and we drove FAST to SLC, to Primary Children’s where Aaron was put in ICU for the next week. He pulled through it, but he wouldn’t have without medical care.

Well, that was the picture in my mind Friday night, and it was still there, strong and vivid yesterday morning when I woke and started making phone calls. My feeling was that without medical help, John might have quietly slipped beyond a point of no return. Every day he was weaker. He’s had no breathing trouble at all, but his body was giving out, quietly and gradually while I was thinking what a good boy he was at resting.

SO, thanks to all of you for speaking up and speaking out and pushing Virginia to urge me to take action. She and our kids were yelling at me from afar to DO SOMETHING NOW. I might not have otherwise because John was so dead set against it.

It’s hard to believe that that was just Yesterday. There’s a remarkable difference today and we see nothing but improvement from here on out. THANK YOU for your prayers and for your faith. It’s amazing to be so far away and to feel so close.

The doctor was just here. He’ll be back in the morning, checking on things. We are all feeling very very relieved.

Prayers have been answered.

Thanks to each of you for chipping in with your petitions.

Love from Ann in Bamako

Our young Doctor Souleymane Traore has been here morning and night every day this week. He calls John “Jean veiux” or “Jean, Jean américain” (John the old, or John, John the American). He has taken real good care of John. He’s the same age as our medical student son, Adam. Dr Souleymane is one of only a couple of COVID doctors who make house calls everyday. He works from sun up until after sundown visiting patients.

John is receiving a treatment that includes hydration solution with vitamins C and B, two different antibiotics, a blood thinner (for the IV)a steroid, and acetaminophen for the fever and pain relief. The goal has been to restore his strength and energy. It has worked.

Tomorrow will be Friday again, a week since the panicky messages flew into my phone late at night. This morning the doctor told us John is no longer contagious. He also told us there were 103 new cases of COVID in Bamako yesterday. Like John, those who qualify to receive treatment at home are treated at home. The numbers here are beginning to rise.

This morning we ventured out. On the left is our apartment building. We live on the top floor with the big deck. Things are looking up around here. We hope to be closer to full speed ahead in another week!

We’re grateful for the many who have prayed for John’s recovery. We consider it the greatest of all Gifts!

Today after our church meetings, we prepared for a baptismal service here at our Bamako Branch.  Elder Bah and Elder Koffi have been teaching Josephine, her 2 grown daughters, Coumba and Mariam and the oldest granddaughter, Sitan.

Everyone stayed for this glorious occasion.

What a beautiful family.

These dear sisters are now the newest members of our Bamako Branch.  They live in N’gomi, but hope to be able to attend in Bamako.

After the baptisms, Elder Kacher congratulated them and we all welcomed them to our church family.

Then it was time to start saying good bye to our friends and visitors.

Beautiful youth!

After most had departed for home, Elder Kacher met with the priesthood leaders.  They had organized all the ministering assignments in each of the groups.  They discussed what it means to minister and how to do the interviews. Elder Kacher showed them some videos contained in the stake ministering and assessment training and then he then gave them each a priesthood blessing.

While that was going on, our new members had some lunch!

 

There was one final meeting with Elder Bah and Elder Koffi, President Sekou and me where we talked about all that happened today and made some plans for the missionary work in our areas.

Elder Kacher also gave the Elders and President Sekou  priesthood blessings.  What a grand day it’s been today in Bamako!  I’m so grateful we get to be here participating!  It was hard for John not to be here with us.  We are all praying he and the Bendixsens will recover quickly from their COVID symptoms.

Today we glimpsed more of the future of the Church here in Mali.  What a beautiful sight!

We arrived at the church early this morning to prepare for our Branch Conference with Elder Kacher.  The Elders had prepared the room, setting up every single chair available and they were preparing for the sacrament.

The first families started arriving at about 8:30 for our 9:30 meeting.

This tall cute girl is Sitan.  Today after church she will be baptized with her mother, her aunt and her grandmother.  These are her siblings and cousins.

As I visited with them before church, learning their names, it wasn’t long before they discovered my hair and one by one they snuck up behind me to touch it.  It was a wonder to them.

We had 3 mini-buses come in today from our 3 outlying areas:  the chicken farm, Diatoula and Ngomi/Banconi.

As we waited for more to arrive, our priesthood leaders met with Elder Kacher for a few minutes to discuss their responsibilities and what would happen today.

Here are some of the children reverently waiting for the meeting to begin.

We had a great meeting.  Our speakers were Pres Sekou, Valerie (our RS President) and Chiaka Traore from Banconi, and then Elder Kacher.  Sekou shared his wonderful testimony and encouraged all of us to be strong and faithful.  Valerie gave a talk about respecting the Sabbath day.  Chiaka shared his testimony.  Elder Kacher was our concluding speaker.  He reviewed the 4 things he talked about at the chicken farm yesterday: Pray individually and with your families, Study the scriptures individually and with your families, pay an honest tithing, and do the ministering we’ve been asked to do–look after each other.  His advice and counsel was gentle and kind.  It was nice to have him here.

Here are a few pictures taken after the meeting.  We had 46 members and 51 non-members here today.  About 30-35 were adults.

Elder Kacher and Sekou taught a special class for all the youth.  There were about 45 in the class, mostly non-members.  They explained the youth program and gave everyone the youth booklet.  Elder Kacher also gave each one a gold USD coin as a souvenir, encouraging them to save for their futures and missions.

I helped with the 24 children who came to Primary.  Francois helped to translate the lesson about Joseph Smith and prayer into Bambara.  The children had such good answers when we talked about the things they pray for and the answers they’ve received after praying.  These are bright good children.  We are also learning to sing “A Child’s Prayer.”  They especially love the second verse:

Prie, il est là.  (Pray, He is there.)
Parle, il t’écoute.  (Speak, he is listening to you.)
Toi, son enfant, tu sens son amour.  (You are His child, you feel his love.)
Car il t’entend.   (Because He hears you)
Il dit que les enfants sont les plus grands au royaume des cieux.  (He says that the children are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.)

We have finally received the new Friend magazine here!  The children and youth love these magazines.

 

After the meetings we prepared for the baptism.  Here are Rose’s daughters and her brother:

These beautiful triplets are Julien Dossou’s sisters from Banconi.

Desiree is studying his new Youth booklet.

And here is Biggo, cleaning the sacrament trays as we prepared for the baptism.  What a wonderful day so far.  Things only got better!

These are some of the pictures Elder Kacher shared with me from their visits today in our outlying areas.  Their first stop was at the chicken farm where they met with Dramane and our few members there.

Elder Kacher challenged them to do 4 things to progress:  1.) Pray individually and with their families.  2.) Study the scriptures individually and with your families, ideally using the Come Follow Me manual.  3.) Pay an honest tithe.  4.)  Organize the members for ministering to each other and then do it.

Elder Kacher told them that if they did these four things that in 3 months they could be strong enough to become a branch and 3 months after becoming a branch they could be considered for finding a place to meet.

Next they went to Diatoula, where they met in the school. The school director, village chief and director of education all came along with about 150 beautiful children.  Elder Kacher reported that after some introductions and a few words most of the children left and they had a little meeting. The village leaders stayed for it. At the end, the director of education asked for our help with a well and with some needed repairs in the school.

We’ll follow up with their requests and needs and see what we can do to help.

The next stop was across town and beyond in Binabougou, where they met with Frere Chiaka and his little group.  About 200 adults, youth and children from the village greeted them under the mango trees.

The Elders did a nice job teaching them and explained who we are. President Sekou discussed similarities between our religions and Elder Kacher talked about eternal families.  This village is always excited when Americans come.  They are hopeful for any aid we might offer.  We hope there will be some who listen to our message.

Their final stop  was in Banconi at Rose’s compound.  The 3 women who will be baptized tomorrow along with one of their young daughters were also there.   These 3 women are a mother,  her 2 daughters and her oldest  granddaughter.  We are happy for the changes they are making.

They had a full day and traveled many miles on bumpy dirt roads to see these friends.  Elder Kacher estimated they saw and were greeted by 300-400 people!  It’s nice to have him here, helping us to move our missionary work forward.

Elder Larry Kacher arrived in Bamako this afternoon.  Bendixsens had planned to come too, but they stayed home to isolate with their positive COVID results.  John stayed upstairs in our apartment this evening doing the same, but I got to go down to our favorite local restaurant (in our building) to have dinner with Sekou, the Elders and Elder Kacher.

Elder Bah and Elder Koffi loved their fried chicken and pizza and we all loved discussing our plans for the weekend visits and meetings.

Elder Kacher was accompanied by George Quaye from Accra, who works for Church Security.  He helped keep an eye on things to make sure everyone was safe.

After dinner we went into the parking structure of our apartment building where our friend came to administer COVID tests for Elder Kacher and George so they would be cleared to fly back to Accra on Sunday evening.

Tomorrow I’ll stay with John while he battles COVID and these friends will tour all of our mission areas here–the Chicken Farm, Diatoula, Binabougou and Banconi.  It will be a great day and we are sad to miss it.  Sunday we’ll have our Branch Conference here in Bamako with everyone coming in for the meetings.  We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.