Ebola – watercress words by Dr Aletha

Mark 12:32-34 New International Version (NIV)

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.

To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him,

“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Dr. Kent Brantly, missionary physician to Liberia

Dr. Kent Brantly awoke feeling ill- muscle aches, fever, sore throat, headache and nausea. As his condition progressively worsened to include difficulty breathing, he learned the cause of his illness- the Ebola virus.

Having spent the past few weeks caring for patients caught up in the Ebola epidemic that swept Liberia in the spring of 2014, Dr. Brantly had contracted the disease himself, and would likely die, as almost all victims do.

Dr. Brantly, a graduate of Indiana University’s School of Medicine, had volunteered to work at ELWA Hospital in Liberia which was receiving aid from Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization. This hospital served as Monrovia’s Ebola treatment center and Dr. Brantly headed the unit.

As his condition deteriorated, his physicians decided his only hope for recovery was use of an experimental drug, ZMapp, previously untested on humans. Since otherwise he was likely to die, he received the drug by infusion into a vein.

By the next morning he felt well enough to arise from bed and shower. Unknown to him, thousands of people around the world had been praying for him.

During this time his colleague, nurse Nancy Writebol, was battling her own Ebola infection. She also was treated with ZMapp.

Samaritan’s Purse arranged for both of them to be evacuated to the United States. There, they could continue receiving supportive medical care, as well as allow infectious disease specialists to learn from their conditions. It also would relieve the workload on the doctors who continued to care for Ebola patients at ELWA.

Dr. Brantly and his wife Amber, who had just left Liberia to return home for a visit, wrote a book about their experience,

Called for Life: How Loving Our Neighbor Led Us into the Heart of the Ebola Epidemic.

I hope you enjoyed these words of faith, hope, and love; please share and follow watercress words as we explore the HEART of health.

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Dr. Aletha

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This post was updated August 2, 2021

To call the late Dr. Charles Krauthammer an opinion writer is a vast understatement. a Pulitzer Prize winner, he wrote a popular column for the Washington Post . He died from intestinal cancer in 2018.

With wit and wisdom he addressed a wide variety of headlining topics, as well as those more mundane, including politics, economics,education, relationships and lifestyle. His previous background as a practicing psychiatrist qualified him to comment on medical issues with insight and experience.

Ebola (and COVID-19) vs. civil liberties

In this 2014 article about the Ebola virus epidemic and civil liberties, he addressed the conflict created by the introduction of the Ebola virus into the United States. He argues that the need to protect the public’s health and the rights of the individual may not always coincide.

These arguments could apply to situations other than Ebola infection. They include other infectious diseases as well as tobacco use, alcohol and drug use and abuse, motor vehicle safety, mental health, vaccine avoidance, gun ownership, and sexually transmitted diseases.

Things that matter : three decades of passions, pastimes, and politics

As a physician, I find it fascinating and amazing that Dr. Krauthammer completed medical school and residency after and despite sustaining a spinal cord injury which caused quadriplegia (paralysis from the neck down, preventing use of his arms and legs).

He discusses this, and pays tribute to a medical school professor who helped make it possible in his book

Things That Matter by Charles Krauthammer

a both a memoir and a collection of his essays. His success causes one to question how exactly should we define “disability”?

You will find Dr. Krauthammer on The Washington Post . You may not always agree with him, but I think you will appreciate his creative use of words to express his well thought opinions.

Dr. Charles Krauthammer on circus elephants, eating meat, and moral choices

“One measure of human moral progress-amid and despite the savageries we visit upon each other-is how we treat the innocent in our care. ” Charles Krauthammer

May 27, 2015July 20, 2020