A Mysterious Disease
by Karen Lee Ensley
Hippocrates, the famous ancient Greek physician known as the “father of medicine,” once said: “Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.” For Jose, it was a matter of a long time. Nine years. For nine years, the 32-year-old suffered from an agonizing disease causing painful, oozing wounds on his leg. The young man suffered year...after year…after year…each year filled with agony as the mysterious disease progressed. With limited medical care available in his native Honduras, Jose’s disease went undiagnosed. Then an American medical team came to Honduras—it was his opportunity.
When the medical team examined Jose, they were surprised. The team of experts included a wound specialist and an emergency room doctor; but, no one knew what is causing the sores. The clinic doctor and the visiting medical team had never seen anything like the strange wounds on Jose’s leg. Some of the sores were deep holes and others were bulging masses, all of them surrounded by blackened skin. What was causing these strange, painful, and growing wounds? More importantly, what could be done to help him?
Nurse practitioner and wound care specialist, Afaf Khoury, applied Lidocaine on Jose’s wounds to numb the pain. She began to closely examine the unusual wounds. Afaf touched his leg and suddenly Jose writhed in pain! Startled, Afaf added more Lidocaine. Still, he was in agony. Again, she liberally poured on the Lidocaine convinced it should numb all pain. Yet, he was still in misery.
Nurse practitioner, Jessica Barber, administered a shot of pain medicine to ease Jose’s suffering. Unbelievably, he was STILL in pain. Afaf, along with Dr. Rick MacKenzie and his son, Steve, began searching for answers using the Honduran clinic’s spotty cell service. Convinced that Jose’s wounds were the result of an infectious disease, Afaf wanted to do a culture test, but there were no culture tubes at the clinic.
Suddenly a surprise. Afaf discovered two culture tubes she inadvertently tucked in her lab coat pocket at home. (Signs of Providence, God’s foreseeing care, were inspirationally evident throughout the mission). Afaf began to take the culture, digging as gently as possible into the inflamed wounds. Jose tried to be strong and not complain, but the torturous pain showed on his face.
Steve MacKenzie grasped Jose’s hand and with the help of a student translator, he told Jose to squeeze his hand when there was pain. There was genuine compassion in Steve’s eyes as he started asking Jose a multitude of questions. Steve looked at the translator and implored her to ask questions, too. Steve was doing everything he could to divert Jose’s attention away from the pain.
The next day, Jose returned to the clinic. To his surprise, Afaf told him that she wouldn’t need to cause him any more pain. A wondrous smile lit up his face showing his joyous relief. After conversing with an infectious disease specialist at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the doctors had solved the case of the mysterious disease. Jose’s disease is known as actinomycetoma—and the medical team knew how to treat the disease.
Since the visiting team was leaving soon, they shared the information with the clinic doctor and explained the treatment of antibiotics and Aquacel Ag. A tremendous advantage of a medical mission through Serving at the Crossroads, is the continuity of care through the Manos Amigas clinic.
Yet, as the medical team left Honduras, it was like reading an exciting story and stopping at the cliffhanger… what would happen to the patients?
Afaf was able to stay in touch with the clinic doctor and followed the progress of Jose. After suffering for nine years, it took just 6 months and Jose was healed.
Only scars remain to remind Jose of the years of agony and the medical team who changed his life.