The good news is that acute flaccid paralysis gets better, we just never know how long it takes. So until, Freda's muscles work again, she needs to have someone breathe for her every day. This is a lot of work for someone to squeeze the bag 24 hrs a day, so we had to get her on a ventilator, which would breathe for her. Since we don't have a ventilator, the only chance Freda had to survive was to go on the plane to Port Moresby, the capitol of PNG, and be put on a ventilator.
The McCoy's supporters helped to pay for the MAF flight to POM and she was transferred down there with hopes that one day she might return to us. When someone gets the disease, it progresses over a period of days to weeks. It first starts with the legs and then works it way up the body and then in recovery reverses it's course. Recovery from this isn't just having your muscles work again so you can breathe, but also includes rehabilitation as your body hasn't done anything for a few wks or months. It took 7 months, but she came back to Kudjip, not too long ago.
She isn't out of the woods yet, but she is on the right track. Keep praying for her as she recovers and thanks to the many who continue to support the work of the hospital and of the missionaries here who make it possible for Freda and others to get the medical care they need and to hear of the love of Christ in the process.
