#13 Dropping The Ball

So one little boy has really bad mal-nutrition. I learned that there are two kinds of mal-nutrition…one where the stomach is distended and the other the whole body swells with fluid (edema). This one little boy has the second kind of mal-nutrition and because of this his testicles were not descended. Since he has been here for six weeks (he got here the same day I did) his swelling has gone down a little due to the improved nutrition. Three nights ago I was getting him ready for bed (he wears a diaper at night because he wets the bed) and I noticed that his testicles had dropped and that his scrotum had ripped a little. The next morning I checked and it had ripped more during the night…now it was bleeding and oozing clear liquid. He doesn’t show emotions but I could tell he was in pain. I cleaned it and called Dereje and asked if I could take him to the doctor. He said no because we don’t have the extra money to go to the doctor unless it is an emergency. So I yelled at him and tried to explain what was going on and that it wasn’t an emergency but that he needed to be seen by a doctor. He said he would call the nurse and give me a call back. He called Tesfanesh 2 minutes later and had her explain to him in Amharic. He then called me back 15 minutes later and said that Simegne was coming and if she thinks it is necessary to go to the doctor than I could take him. She came and had a look and squeezed his scrotum to get liquid out. I felt so bad for him…he actually started whimpering and twitching his foot. She brought him antibiotics incase of an infection and left. I was so mad at this point. This is just something that requires a physician’s assessment. I talked with Philipa that night and told her what was going on…she was in disbelief that I wasn’t allowed to go to the doctors and wants Dereje to explain to his adoptive dad why his son’s testicles could be damaged permanently because he wanted to save 100 birr ($10 USD). I had to take two other kids today to a specific clinic to have a medical report done for the U.S. Embassy…I told the doctor about it and she said that he needs to be seen by a physician. So I have decided to take him…I might make Dereje mad but the little boy won’t be in so much pain hopefully.