Close to our house there is a property that has 3 "houses" on it - one for a husband and wife with a young son, one for their daughter and family, and one for the elderly father. Chris had been there a couple of times to visit the daughter, Miriam, and talk about her house, we even went one time and took a friend visiting from the States. Chris went again recently to see if she was in need of a new stove and got to talking about her family and her brother, Melvin. All this time and several visits and we never knew he was there, in the other house with her mom. 
Melvin is a 7-year-old but he is the size of a 2-3 year-old. We are not sure what his disability is. His mom said he was born normal but later got sick and was never the same. There isn't much that can be done for him but he is precious. After meeting Melvin and his mom, Chris remembered her coming to our house several months ago asking for help for her disabled son. It must have been a crazy moment or day because he completely forgot about it but God didn't. He has a purpose for us to know about Melvin and now we do. A few days after meeting him, a group of people, who help and pray for disabled people in our pueblo, came to our door asking if we would join their group. They visit the families and pray for them and try to get whatever help they need although there aren't many resources. We learned that there are 71 disabled people in our community and Melvin is one of them.
It's funny how sometimes we can miss things that are right infront of us but God can bring them back again. We are glad he brought Melvin back even though he was right there all along.
Holly, I don't know what benefit might come from researching Hogares Luz y Vida in Bogota Colombia, but here is a link to get started. A former church was very involved with Sister Valeriana García-Martín and her work. I realize it's a different country and situation, but seems there would be a lot of wisdom to gain through some sort of networking.
ReplyDeletewww.opusprize.org/winners/09_Garcia-Martin.cfm
Spoke to my motherinlaw a pediatric pa about melvin after seeing him while there in november and she had some suggestions. I will forward the link to your blog so she can respond. I hope and pray it helps.
ReplyDeleteSuspect Rickets:
ReplyDeleteRickets is a softening of bones in children due to deficiency or impaired metabolism of vitamin D, magnesium [1], phosphorus or calcium,[2] potentially leading to fractures and deformity. Rickets is among the most frequent childhood diseases in many developing countries. The predominant cause is a vitamin D deficiency, but lack of adequate calcium in the diet may also lead to rickets (cases of severe diarrhea and vomiting may be the cause of the deficiency). Although it can occur in adults, the majority of cases occur in children suffering from severe malnutrition, usually resulting from famine or starvation during the early stages of childhood. Osteomalacia is the term used to describe a similar condition occurring in adults, generally due to a deficiency of vitamin D.[3] The origin of the word "rickets" is probably from the Old English dialect word 'wrickken', to twist. The Greek derived word "rachitis" (ραχίτις, meaning "inflammation of the spine") was later adopted as the scientific term for rickets, due chiefly to the words' similarity in sound. Signs and symptoms Signs and symptoms of rickets include:
Bone pain or tenderness
dental problems
muscle weakness (rickety myopathy or "floppy baby syndrome" or "slinky baby" (such that the baby is floppy or slinky-like)
increased tendency for fractures (easily broken bones), especially greenstick fractures
Skeletal deformity
Toddlers: Bowed legs (genu varum)
Older children: Knock-knees (genu valgum) or "windswept knees"
Cranial, pelvic, and spinal deformities (such as lumbar lordosis)
Growth disturbance
Wrist X ray Showing Changes in Rickets, mainly cupping is seen here.
Chest X ray showing changes consistent with rickets, this changed is usually referred to as Rosary beads of rickets
Hypocalcemia (low level of calcium in the blood)
Tetany (uncontrolled muscle spasms all over the body)
Craniotabes (soft skull)
Costochondral swelling (aka "rickety rosary" or "rachitic rosary")
Harrison's groove
Double malleoli sign due to metaphyseal hyperplasia
Widening of wrist raises early suspicion, it is due to metaphysial cartilage hyperplasia.