R& R continued... @ Grand Popo

Matilda the Sea Turtle

Little R & R- Camping in Grand Popo

This weekend 19 of us headed for a little rest & relaxation NE about 2 hours to a village called Grand Popo. We spent the weekend swimming in the ocean, sing and eating around a bonfire, sleeping on the beach under the stars, watching fishing canoes battle going out into the rip tide and hanging out camping at a little African Resort. A good time was had by all, 1 day was wayyyy too short. I seriously considered tying myself to a palm tree to stay behind in paradise for just a little while longer. I was feeling refreshed until I got sick again at the end of my time there...a bad sore throat/cold/cough that probably was never really recovered from my past two episodes this month. So I used my sick day off from work to update my blog :) I'm not sure where my immune system decided to take a vacation but I'm determined to regain it so I can make the most of the time I have left.

A Day with the Blind

A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light. Early in the development of age-related cataract the power of the lens may be increased, causing near-sightedness (myopia), and the gradual yellowing and opacification of the lens may reduce the perception of blue colours. Cataracts typically progress slowly to cause vision loss and are potentially blinding if untreated.

Wikipedia

For the past month my room happened to be right next door to the temporary Eye clinic. Seeing my shipmates leading the blind hand in hand, around the halls by my room, to and from surgery peeked my interest a little more each day. Finally, this past week I asked if I could help during my time off and they gladly agreed.

I started the day off washing the humble faces of a line of patients waiting for cataract surgery. As I placed the warm toilette on their faces, I felt my heart slowly soften more and more with each stroke around their tender closed eyes, nose, and mouth. They truly have the most beautiful faces; broad contours and many weathered wrinkles from years of hard work under the hot sun. All the things that were on my mind, slipped away as I got to share in this really special and intimate moment with them, today is the day they will regain their sight :)

Next I started 1 out of 5 rounds of eye drops to dilate and prepare the cataract for surgery, waiting 5 minutes between each set. Then it was time to lead them side by side down the long hospital corridor, pray with them, and hand them off to the OR. I loved leading them to and fro, many of these tiny African mamas- I must say it feels good to be around so many women that are actually MY height! There is something really tender and humbling in them trusting & leaning on you to direct them where they need to go.

It is a fast procedure, only taking about 10 minutes. The patients are awake, given a local numbing injection straight into the eye!! The doctor makes a tiny incision into the cornea, loosens the cataract enough to slide it out, and then places their new synthetic lens inside. No stitches required. (My roommate came on my bed the othernight all excited to show me what was in her napkin...yes..a cataract, looking exactly like a hard, brown, tiny scap. ha.this is what happens when you live with 5 nurses ;)

After surgery they get a patch placed over their eye until the following morning. I felt like I had gotten to know these patients a bit over the day I spent with them before and during surgery, that I'd really like to be their when their patches came of the next morning. The patients are discharged the same day and return the next morning to our Hospitality center off ship in town.

I woke up early to head to the Hositality center and see my baby Odilion before the eye patients came (yes, he and mom are doing well and just by holding him I can tell he is gaining weight and growing in length!) As the eye patients came we lead them into the tent where we started to remove their patches. I could feel their anticipation grow as I started to remove tape piece by tape piece. As I lifted the cotton patch underneath I waited with eagerness to see what they would do as they try to open their eyelids and test out the new eye! One women got out of her chairand started singing and dancing, another stood up and thanked God, others sat in silence almost seeming out of awe with a gentle smirk. I then cleaned their eyes with some saline to remove the gunk that had collected around the eye the previous night and send them off to the next station to a series of vision tests. Many improved several rows on the eye chart. They will all under go one more outpatient procedure in a few weeks called YAG, that pierces another hole through the new lens to prevent any possible second cataracts from returning.

One last little story for you.. a few weeks ago I was headed to the craft market when I ran into 4 blind people in a row on the sidewalk. I carry slips of paper in my purse that say in French where our eye clinics are for a free surgical screening. I handed them to the children of the blind parents they were leading (Many children can't go to school because it is their job to lead their parents around all day) Onlookers thought I was handing out money and started to come near. My friends told me it was time to go, ha. but I saw one more lady by herself closely touching the wall as she walked along. She had bilateral cataracts and a very distant look in her eyes. I couldn't really speak a word to her, I just placed the information paper in her hand and curled her fingers around it and said a quick prayer someone would be able to read it to her....

fast forward about 3 weeks when I walked in that day to wash the faces of the line of patients waiting for cataract surgery...and she was sitting their with her distictive face and distant gaze. A rush of emotion came over me and I almost started crying. It felt like the exact little piece of encouragment I needed from God, saying "Steph, those little actions everyday matter".

... so when I took of her eye patch the next morning, I was especially full of anticipation, as she sat their muttering to herself like the day before something I still have no idea of what she was saying. I tracked along with her eyes and pulled the doctor and a translator over to take a look at her. Before she was only able to see light and darkness. Now ,although she can't see the exact details of my face, she can tell how many finger we were holding up and make out forms and shapes in front of her. It was one of those moments I can only cherish and try to explain. Its why I'm here.

This field of medicine has always in particular really fascinated me and I felt like I really learned a lot more about it this week. Giving sight to the blind is something words can't describe, its more like a beautiful picture that speaks a thousand words at once. Another reason why working here is not work at all, it is a PRIVILEDGE that i really feel lucky to be a part of. I'm hoping to volunteer with them about 4 hours a week now until I leave.

Death- Circles of 3

They say people die in threes.... it always seems to be true. We had a special guest come onboard a couple of weeks ago to vist. She was a returning patient, one of the first cleft lip/palate babies Mercy Ships ever did surgery on. The founder of Mercy Ships had kept up with her year and year and invited her back to say hello from a nearby West African country and to look into getting her to Europe for a future heart/lung transplant she desperatly needed as she was becoming weaker and weaker from these underlying medical conditions.

A few days after being here, she collapsed in the town outside the port and was emergently admitted into our ICU downstairs. She became weaker and weaker until her heart finally gave out on her. The crew that knew her was deeply saddened by her death but grateful she was among good friends, family and medical care during her last few days on earth.

The second death was a little baby with his mother in the back part of our ship, waiting to be seen for the first time by our physician. Unfortunatly by the time she came it was a little too late, and as some our staff passed by and looked at the crowd waiting to be seen, noticed the babies poor color. By the time the physician got there, the baby was already gone and pronounced dead. The mother wailed on her knees in the middle our cargo hold. A scene no one ever forgets. Another vivid wake up call to us here, of the misfortunate health care system in a third world nation.

The third happened last week on our ward. My roommate had just recieved her thyroidectomy patient back from having her huge goiter removed. The women asked to go to the bathroom shortly after settling into bed and by the time she got back to bed she was becoming short of breath. A rare, but extremely dangerous post-op complication was unfolding before my roommates eyes...the patient was bleeding internally in her airway and it was rapidly closing around her trachea. Just as was taught in our in-service the other week by the surgeon, the staff began ripping open the incision to release the bloodclot that was tightening her airway. The Code team arrived fast and took her back to the OR. She survived a second surgeryto repair the artery but was still in critical condition and needed to be ventilated with a trach in the ICU. She lived several more days but after a CT scan we saw that she had massive swelling in her brain and even if she DID wake up, she went to long without recieving oxygen to the brain and would have permanent damage. She had a wonderful, supportive christian family that came to see her daily. She passed one morning a few days after and went on to a much better place.

Starting the outreach off like this is never what one hopes for, but for them we know now they are in God's hands and experiencing a much better life than could be offered down here.
The rest of the ward is flourishing, with mininal infection rates and post-op complications. Please continue to keep them all in your prayers. Thank you.

Benin Half Marathon

Last weekend the capital of Benin hosted a 1/2 Marathon race, that a few of our Mercy shipper crew decided to join last minute....no...no training was done ;) just the pure thrill and curiosity of it pushed these crazy "Kovos" (white man) to come out for the long, HOT run. Just like most things in Africa...things tend to be a little backwards..., here is some of the footgear my friend Ginger, who raced, saw during the race! It will blow your mind! ha. Take a CLOSE look...

(black socks/blue sandals)

old tennis shoes with NO back, shoelaces used to tie around the ankle!

barefoot,

and thats just a few...many ran in jelly sandals I used to wear on the 80's!

The race was hosted by a big Water Company...and yes...they ran out of WATER after about 1/2 the people came to the stations...leaving our poor untrained Mercy Ship crew at the mercy of buying baggies of water off the baskets on women's heads and some kind onlookers who handed them theirs! Have no fear though because they kept cool after the people at the stations THREW buckets of water on them soaking their footgear and socks, leaving them to the last half of the race with wet and wrinkely feet!!! At the finish line no one was cheering, so they almost kept running because they weren't sure they had reached the end, ha. Someone just told them to stop! I wasn't there to see this spectacle as I was working, but I thought you might get a kick of out it. I know I did. Another day, another adventure. To each its own I guess.

The gang :) ...inside & outside the ship

Forest Adventure

My little guy needs some prayers

This is my little guy I was talking about in my last blog entry... he still needs a LOT of prayers to grow big and strong enough for surgery... I would really appreciate it... he is sick this week and could use some cheering. I'm a bit worried about him. I grow more and more attached with each shift.

Medical Screening Days

A week ago we held two medical screening days at a big stadium in downtown Cotonou. There was estimated to be around 5,000 people in line, with half being family members, over 2,500 patients were screened for surgery! Its a day of full of amazing hope, but also despair for those whom we cannot help due to problems that are not operable.



Just like screening day in Ghana 2 years ago, it always turns out to be one of the BEST days of my life. My role in this years screening was to be in charge of hydrating all staff and patients. Trying to keep over 5,500 people hydrated during our long, HOT days proved to be busy, but SO fulfilling. I had a great team who worked extremely hard walking up and down the lines offering cold cups of water over and over again.. although Africans don't like to drink a lot, we really needed them too so we could get bloodwork off of them at the lab station and no one fainted on us!


The first time I came to the ship in 2006 there was a verse the hospitality team placed above my bed, " And whoever offers one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, ... you have done it unto me." - Jesus Matthew 10:42 When the screening director asked me to do this it felt like it was meant to be as that verse meant a lot to me years ago when I first stepped foot on this ship. Many of us may not be able to speak much French or their many tribal languages, but handing a glass of water and bread to the hungry with a smile is all the communication you need sometimes to calm nerves, show you care and that they are in a safe place.

We saw a little bit of EVERYTHING, huge tumors, cleft lip/palate, clubfeet, goiters, encephaloceles, cataracts, and other unusual deformities. Many surgical spots were filled but we finished at the end of two days with lots of openings so we are holding screening days throughout the next few months every tuesday and fridays at the ship. We have had many more show up this week including more Vesico-vaginal fistual women whom seemed strangely absent from screening day. We only have the VVF surgeon here for the next few weeks so we are broadcasting throughout the country to help spread the word were they can be healed for free, and hoping they are able to come soon!

Just a few days after our screening the OR opened and our wards are filling up day by day!! Its been a crazy week with all the new staff from around the world learning where everything is and the hospitals protocols & procedures, but we are slowly but surely coming along now. I've already worked 5 shifts on the ward this week and am getting more and more comfortable and excited. I have had mostly kids this week from simple to extremely complex surgical cases. I had a 5 yr old kid who had major facial reconstruction due to severe cleft lip and palate whom tried to pull out his airway tubes, but even in just the past 2 days he is finally up playing and drooling :) (typical part of recovery) but starting to smile. He will finally be able to talk and eat normally like he never been able to before.

One of my favorite patients I have already fallen in love with is a 6 week old baby who has bilateral cleft lip and palate deformities. With a young mother who has never been to school and has no money or breastmilk coming in, she has been feeding her son water for weeks, leaving him dangerously malnourished. He is just around 6 pounds and all wrinkly skin and bones. I took care of him over the weekend and we started him on our feeding program to get him big & strong enough to have surgery hopefully in a few months. I had to feed him tiny syringes full of formula every two hours so he did not get "Refeeding syndrome". He was so lethargic when he first came in we were not sure he would even make it through the night or next few days; so dehyrated he couldn't even close his eyelids! I am happy to report he is slowly gaining weight and energy!! Mom is eagerly learning basic parenting skills and showing good bonding signs. The little guy even got to meet the President of Benin this week when he came to visit the ship and met patients on the ward :) Please keep this little guy in your prayers as he is not in the clear yet!!

Just as there are many hopeful things happening on the ward, there is also a lot of hard things to accept. I had a young boy last week who came in with a facial tumor. After further cell testing they discovered it was inoperable and was referred to our hospice team with less than 6months to live. It took everything I had to hold the tears in when I prayed and discharged him with his mother.

And its only week 1!.... the adventure begins full force.