Return from Switzerland and Gabriel

Dear friends, dear family,

Thank you for your messages, your calls and your prayers! Thank you for all the attention you have shown to Gabriel's health. We are touched to feel that you carry this concern with us. Here is finally some news from our side.

Stay in Switzerland

The time Melvina, Gabriel and Caleb spent in Switzerland was good but was very intense. The doctors have been really searching what could cause Gabriel's fatigue. We did all kinds of tests. The good news is that they were able to rule out serious diagnoses such as cancer for example. The not so good news is that they were not able to make a clear and safe diagnosis. In the stool tests, only pinworms were detected. These small intestinal worms are common in children (even in Switzerland!). They suspected a tissue form (migration of these worms into the organs) and proposed an antiparasitic treatment. Normally to eliminate these worms a single dose of Albendazole 400mg is sufficient. Because of the risk of recontamination, they proposed a therapeutic of 8 doses at a rate of one dose every 2 weeks. This parasite cannot explain why eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) in Gabriel rose to 2000 in June 2021 (500 being the upper limit). We knew that we were leaving a grey area but, since all other tests were negative, we decided to return to Liberia with these doses of Albendazole in our suitcases hoping that it would be the right treatment anyway.

Return to Liberia

Since our return to Liberia, Gabriel continues to have ups and downs. We are grateful that he is able to go to school in the morning. But we see that the problem is not yet solved (paleness,fatigue still present). A blood test this week shows us that his white blood cells are again at 1200, which is too high considering that he has already taken 4 doses of Albendazole. This confirms the idea that we have not yet treated the problem. Moreover, last week he had very peculiar lesions on his skin for 3 days in a row. Then nothing. We took pictures and we are now widening our circle of doctors by contacting doctors from different tropical institutes in Europe. We are very grateful for the key people we have met on our way during the last weeks.

Please continue to pray with us that we will soon have all the pieces of the puzzle and treat Gabriel with the right treatment.

Thank you for your affection. With our sincere friendship,

Melvina and Nicolas