Pray for Iri

There's an SM here in Tchad from Porto Rico, and she just got here about
6 weeks ago. While in Ndjamena she got a stomach bug and was having
problems from the first day here. After that she got a nasty cold, and
three weeks after being here she got malaria. She took quinine and it
actually wasn't too bad for her at all. She was walking 15 minutes to
the hospital everyday, eating food, she was doing pretty good. After
the first malaria round she had a bit of a cold again, but was pretty
normal. Eight days later she was in the hut throwing up and having some
crazy diarrhea and was finally put on IV quinine. Now I would just like
to point something out about quinine...it's bad. Symptoms of this drug
are loss of hearing, ringing in the ears, lowered blood sugar, loss of
appetite, diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness, confusion, nausea, and I think
some people have hallucinations. So anyways, with that said, she was
put on IV quinine. Throughout the first nigh, the vomiting and diarrhea
wouldn't stop, so they put her on parasite medications as well. She
finally made it through one of the worst weeks of her life and was done
with quinine. Well, I am sad to say that as I write this blog, she is
laying on a hospital bed beside me on IV quinine once more. 8 days
after her last quinine, she got malaria again. The Dr. actually thinks
that her body's not working well with the quinine, and that she keeps
having a relapse of the sickness. Either way, she's lost 20lbs, and has
had her faith tested through this trial. This isn't just a small bug,
some vomiting and diarrhea, this has been weeks of sickness and no
relief from the pain, nausea, and malaria. Through all of this though,
she keeps telling me that God will be glorified through this, and that
no matter what happens, she wants to praise God before the storm ends.
She's been reading the book "God In Pain", and she'll tell me the
different things she reads, and that going through this right now has
made her see a little more of what God went through, and what people go
through when they follow God's call sometimes. She's told me that she's
been struggling a lot with God and why He would bring her here to only
be sick the entire time so far, but God is good, and He has helped her
through all and will continue to help her through all. She wants to
give God glory before she's better, and before things are back to
normal. She wants to praise Him for what He will do in the future, even
if that means struggling through this. She will most likely be leaving
this next week, right now her body is too weak. But please continue
praying for her while she finishes another week of quinine, and pray for
her strength, both in body and in Christ.