Thanksgiving pictures

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends. My Thanksgiving is a bit non-traditional as you would expect as it's not a Kenyan holiday - ie I'm working Thursday and Friday as usual - but there are enough Americans here that we do have some fun celebrations planned. Last night, we roasted s'mores and shared what we were thankful for in prayer and worship - I especially enjoyed hearing from the children - thankful that their families came here to Kenya, for their siblings, friends, etc. Saturday is our big turkey dinner with all the usual Thanksgiving food (and hopefully a football game if the weather is nice). And Sunday evening, the kids are performing a play for everyone that they've been working on for quite a while. Should be good! I'm especially excited to have fun plans for Saturday because it's also my 30th birthday!

I wanted to share with you a few things I am thankful for:

My family, of course - this is a pic from the annual Pfister Pfamily Pfootball

game at a previous Thanksgiving : These three children who I rounded on on Thanksgiving day came very close to death recently(including CPR for two of them) and are all doing well thanks to the Great Physician:

These twins were born by C-section on Thanksgiving and are healthy and doing well. I am also thankful for the interns who provide so much help medically and with my Swahili (Caleb and Purity in above right photo in the NICU) and for Dr. Bemm, the long term pediatrician here (in background of picture above left), who has been a patient teacher as I learn the system and diseases unique to this setting.

Finally, I am thankful for Tenwek Hospital - a place where patients receive quality medical care but also spiritual care and where students (medical, nursing, interns, etc) are trained to care for the whole person well. I truly enjoy working at this amazing place and am grateful for this opportunity God has given me.

First week of work

It’s hard to know where to start when updating you all on my first week of work. In some ways it was quite overwhelming – being an attending (supervising interns) for the first time and practicing pediatrics without specialists (neonatology, intensive care, nephrology, infectious diseases, etc.) in a limited resource setting. But there were also glimpses throughout the week of God’s hand guiding me and giving me wisdom and strength – moments when I stopped and thanked God for bringing me to this place for this purpose. I had two difficult conversations this week with families of critically ill children but, thankfully, both families spoke English which made communication much easier and made it easier for me to encourage and pray with them at this difficult time. Friday was a crazy day with approximately 70 patients to round on including a very sick ICU patient on a ventilator, an outpatient clinic to cover, as well as covering new admissions and deliveries all with only three interns. In the middle of the day, we were called to a delivery of a baby that had been diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound with a serious illness (fetal hydrops for you medical types). As I waited for the delivery, my first time to stand still all day, God reminded me of Isaiah 40:28-31 (one of my favorite passages) – “…He gives strength to the weary…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength…” The baby was delivered shortly thereafter and was completely healthy and active with no evidence of hydrops! I praise the Lord for knowing what I could bear at that moment and for strengthening me as well as for caring for that infant. I also praise Him for a restful weekend – the chance to hang out with happy, healthy children; playing ultimate Frisbee; watching a movie with friends. As I mentioned before, the community here is amazing and such a blessing. These pictures are from a recent walk to the waterfall which provides hydroelectric power to the hospital (sorry, I don't have any hospital pictures yet).

Settling in

I have arrived safely at Tenwek with all my bags. I am so grateful for such a friendly, welcoming community here. Everyone has been very gracious in answering my many questions, helping me shop, and providing my meals for the first few days. We even has a girls night last night at one of the long term missionary's homes complete with pizza, chocolate, and a Jane Austen movie! I have been unpacking and settling in to my beautiful home (for the next 6 months while the missionary surgeon who owns the house is in the States). Above are some pictures of where I'm living (I'll post pics of my apartment when I move in May). The first two pics are of my backyard (house on left in second picture). Below on the left is the front of the house and on the right is my bedroom (complete with blue mosquito net).

I start both work (pediatrics for the month of November) and Swahili tutoring on Tuesday - should be a busy day! I'm excited to get started.

En Route to Kenya

from Cindy:
Alyssa wanted me to let you all know that she has safely completed the first legs of her flight and everything is going beautifully. All 7 bags made it through the airport's weight requirements this morning.











Her last evening in the US yesterday was spent at an SEC football game, complete with Star Spangled Banner and fireworks, and eating a good ole American hot dog. Thanks for all your prayers. We are so blessed to see the Lord accomplish His good, pleasing, and perfect will in this new season of Alyssa's life.