Lomansontfu - Teresa's blog insight

Here is a blog from Teresa the nurse I'll be working with. She writes on some of the kids we care for so I thought you would be interested in seeing one of the kids I'll be caring for. You can check out her blog stories by clicking on this link: Rehmeyers in Swaziland

By Teresa Rehmeyer:

"This is a little girl named Lomansontfu (name means Sunday), which probably means she was born on a Sunday. She is from our Maphiveni CarePoint. She is about 10 years old, and she is an orphan. She lives with her older brother and sisters. She is not treated very nicely by them, because she is just an extra mouth to feed. She has a large tumor growing on the side of her face. The doctors think that it is a myeloblastoma. She needs a major surgery to remove the tumor and probably plastic surgery because the tumor is eating into her jaw bone. This surgery can’t be done here is Swaziland. She has been in the Mbabane Government Hospital for 3 weeks waiting for the Senior Medical Officer to approve her case and provide the money through a government fund to send her to South Africa to have the surgery done. We are also waiting for her family to get her certificate of birth from the chief so they can get travel documents for her trip to South Africa.

Each time I see her, the tumor is bigger and bigger. Sometimes, she drools because she can’t keep her mouth closed. She is having a lot of pain, especially at night, and her gums are beginning to bleed. In spite of all of this, she manages to still have a beautiful smile that lights up her whole face! I pray that we can get the help that is needed for this little girl. Please pray that the funding, the paperwork and the approval will all come quickly so that she can get the medical care that she needs and deserves!"