Category: Kijabe

Dear Colleagues and friends of Kijabe Pathology,

I am pleased to be writing to you at this time as much has happened since my last correspondence of September, 2017. Foremost in my mind are the wonderful volunteers who have served from September 25 to the present.

Dear colleagues and friends of Kijabe Pathology,

I can’t believe that is has been eight months since I last communicated with you! I have been shirking my pledge to write quarterly. Please forgive me. It must be my age. As one gets older, that is always a good excuse for bad behavior. However, much is happening at Kijabe and with our service. So let me begin by recognizing our wonderful volunteers who have already served this year.

Dear colleagues and friends,

As we approach the closing of 2015 we have so much for which to be thankful. At Kijabe the medical and surgical services continue to grow as well as the physical campus. The picture to the right illustrates this quite dramatically. The large aqua colored roof is that of the new Bethany Kids Hospital. It should opening this coming January. Kijabe is blessed with pediatricians, pediatric surgeons, neurosurgeons, general surgeons, internists and family physicians along with an excellent supporting staff and administration.

Dear Colleagues,

What a blessing it is to write to you again our 6th newsletter! On May 6, 2014 I had the take down of my ileostomy and have, I believe, fully recovered. With great pleasure Mari and I are looking forward to serving again at Kijabe this November and December. So let’s get into the “news”.

Dear Colleagues,

This news letter will be brief as I have been out of commission for the past few months.  As some of you may know, I was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma which was discovered on my routine colonoscopy, Dec. 3, 2013. I had a laparoscopic right colectomy Dec. 20 and on Dec. 30 heard the good news that the tumor was completely removed and 37 lymph nodes were negative for metastasis. I would not need chemotherapy and would seem to be cured.  Little did I know that two days later I would be suffering from peritonitis and septicemia? I suffered the complication of a breakdown of the anastomosis and the resulting infections, was transferred by ambulance to Spectrum Health, Blodgett campus, in Grand Rapids, MI, and underwent another emergency surgery to clean me out. After a further complication of aspiration pneumonitis, I ended up in ICU. But from there with Mari’s help and constant attention I have made steady but slow progress in my recovery, and on the 17^th of February our surgeon has given her approval for our return to warm Florida. Our plans are to depart tomorrow by non-stop flight to Fort Myers. We think the recovery road is smoother and with less obstacles than our frozen Holland. God is good!

Dear colleagues,

How time flies by!  Another year of service to Kijabe Hospital is almost completed, and we are accessing the needs of pathology coverage for 2014. But before we address those needs, I would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Warren Bannister and his wife Linda for their service in September, and Dr. William (Bill) Diedrich and his wife Mary for their service in this month of  November. Bill and Mary are serving for the first time and we all remember our first experiences on the field, the anxiety of the unknown, trying to adjust to the environs of Kijabe, learning the routines of the laboratory, working with personnel new to us, and praying for guidance through some of the many challenging cases and issues that we encounter in our work. All of us, I believe, leave Kijabe changed and enriched by the experience recognizing that we have been blessed by God in so many unexpected ways. Many look forward to returning as Mari and I do each year. It is the best working vacation in the world!