This young man is about 40 inches tall and weighs 36 pounds. A typical 4 year old except he is eight. He began with stomach problems 4 years ago and a scope showed varicose veins in the esophagus. This is typically seen with end-stage liver disease, so that was evaluated. He does have a bad liver but has only had one type of hepatitis test. I recommended other tests and to check his blood count. It was quite low so we gave him a transfusion before he went.
He needs testing beyond what he can get here, including a liver biopsy. I believe he will benefit from a liver transplant, but that is not available either. God bless this brave boy.
2 comments:
hey uncle bruce its nick, how are things over there? i think its great that your out there helping these kids
hope everything is going well....nick.
Yo, Nick. Thanks for the "hello". We see mostly soldiers since the hospital is on an Afghan army base. Their families live about 10 miles to the north in Herat. We are seeing more family members lately since word is out that American doctors are at the hospital. Yesterday (Thursday) I saw the mother of one of the interpreters and gave some advice. She recently had a heart attack and needed some of her pills sorted out. I am really enjoying this. The Afghans desperately need better health care. The average life span is 45; in the US it's 78.
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