Well, it's been an interesting week here on M/V Africa Mercy. Last weekend a group made a trip to Ghana for the weekend. When they returned 3 people from the group got sick with malaria and ended up being hospitalized here on the ship. Thankfully they have all returned to good health. Interestingly, malaria is so common here that we don't ask patients if they have had malaria - we ask them when they last had it. Then last week one of our security guards was on an early morning run with a group and was hit by a motorbike. Included in the group were 4 nurses, a surgeon, and an anesthesiologist. So they got him out of the road, tried to stop the bleeding from his head, and called an ambulance and someone from the ship. He never lost consciousness. The Mercy Ships vehicle showed up first, then a minute later the ambulance arrived (which was just a car with a red flashing light on top and a stretcher they put over the seats). The ambulance driver got in an argument with the Mercy Ships people because he wanted to take the injured man to the local hospital. Luckily there was a random European running by who spoke French, so she explained to them that the ship is a hospital, and he needed to be taken there. So the ambulance drove him to the ship. They did an abdominal x-ray and a CT scan, and there were luckily no internal injuries. He lost about a liter of blood, and has some pretty bad facial bruising, so he's still hospitalized, but it looks like he'll be alright.
I had some very grateful patients this week. One 9 year old boy I took care of had a release of his ankylosis - basically, your mouth is frozen shut. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankylosis. I'm not sure the cause of his, but it can be caused by untreated trauma or infection. To fix this the surgeon needs to break the jaw and reset it. The patient then has a bite block in their mouth for 24 hours. After the bite block comes out they need to begin jaw exercises - here we have them stick more and more popsicle sticks in their mouth hourly. If they do not do the exercises the jaw will become locked again. Obviously this whole process is very painful. This first day I had this boy he still had his bite block in, and when he wasn't sleeping he was crying and asking for the block to be taken out. The next day I came back, the block was out, and he was a new boy. He was so happy because he could stick his tongue out for the first time in his life! Another man I took care of had a mass removed from his cheek. His wife came in to see him, and gave me a bag of eggs! There were about 20 eggs in it. One of the translators told me that eggs are a blessing. I was very touched by this.
I went to the fabric market on Friday. There are so many beautiful fabrics, I could go crazy there! I bought 4 types of fabric - one is a rooster print that I've seen a few people wearing. I'm excited to make skirts or pillows or curtains when I get home!
Well, I am off from work today and tomorrow, so I think I will do some exploring with a friend, and I'm planning to make a quiche!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Night Shifts and Weekend Fun
This week started off with 3 night shifts. They went much better this time around, I got through them pretty painlessly. Friday night I went out to dinner for my friend Jamie's birthday. This is us at the restaurant: 
Saturday morning I went with a group of girls to a town called Possotome. It's 2 hours northwest of Cotonou, on a lake. We learned how to fish the local way! It was neat, except for the fact that we did not catch ONE fish. Apparently because the lake is connected to the ocean salt water filters in. So when the lake is saltier there are more fish. The lake was very unsalty on Saturday. Here I am learning to cast the net: 
After fishing we walked around the town. The kids were so friendly - much friendlier than they are in Cotonou, and they rarely asked us for money which was a nice change. We scared one baby who had probably never seen a white person in her life. She started SCREAMING when she saw us. Some just latched themselves on to us, holding our hands as we walked through town. We noticed that many of the children had umbilical hernias (the belly button sticks out, much more than just an "outie"). Later we learned that it is because they are strapped to their mothers' backs for so long, and they skip the crawling phase. This causes them to underuse their stomach muscles, making them weak and at risk for developing hernias. After walking around town we had dinner at one of the hotels. For dinner they had one option: a mexican salad (lettuce, red onions, corn, TUNA, and some sort of dressing) grilled chicken (a whole leg), rice and peas, and chocolate mousse for dessert. It was pretty good, but I wasn't a big fan of the chicken - a little too rubbery for my taste. After dinner we went to our hotel rooms (which were $12 each). In my room was a double bed with a foam pillow and a fitted sheet, a mosquito net over the bed, a table and a couple chairs, and a bathroom - which was a toilette, a shower, and a large bucket (no idea what it was for). There was no air-conditioning so we didn't need any more sheets or blankets on the bed. Luckily there was a fan. Here are some more pics from the trip to Possotome:
After fishing we walked around the town. The kids were so friendly - much friendlier than they are in Cotonou, and they rarely asked us for money which was a nice change. We scared one baby who had probably never seen a white person in her life. She started SCREAMING when she saw us. Some just latched themselves on to us, holding our hands as we walked through town. We noticed that many of the children had umbilical hernias (the belly button sticks out, much more than just an "outie"). Later we learned that it is because they are strapped to their mothers' backs for so long, and they skip the crawling phase. This causes them to underuse their stomach muscles, making them weak and at risk for developing hernias. After walking around town we had dinner at one of the hotels. For dinner they had one option: a mexican salad (lettuce, red onions, corn, TUNA, and some sort of dressing) grilled chicken (a whole leg), rice and peas, and chocolate mousse for dessert. It was pretty good, but I wasn't a big fan of the chicken - a little too rubbery for my taste. After dinner we went to our hotel rooms (which were $12 each). In my room was a double bed with a foam pillow and a fitted sheet, a mosquito net over the bed, a table and a couple chairs, and a bathroom - which was a toilette, a shower, and a large bucket (no idea what it was for). There was no air-conditioning so we didn't need any more sheets or blankets on the bed. Luckily there was a fan. Here are some more pics from the trip to Possotome:
My friend Katelyn, in our hotel room
Oranges. They peel the outer peel, cut a hole in the top, then suck out the juice. I bought 8 for $.20
Today, Sunday, I went to the Benin vs. Ghana soccer match here in Cotonou. I went with a group of about 25 people. There were hardly any women there, let alone white people. We had to get there 2 hours early to make sure we had seats, so we ended up sitting in the hot African sun for about 4 1/2 hours. Thankfully I had lots of water and sunscreen with me. The game was tied 0-0 until the last minute when Benin scored, winning the game. It was a very neat thing to experience, but not necessarily something I need to experience again.
That's all for now!
That's all for now!Sunday, October 4, 2009
My Job
I realized I've written about what I've been doing outside of the hospital, but many of you are probably wondering what I actually came to Africa for! So let me give you an example of a day at work.
Yesterday I took care of 5 patients. One was a 24 year old pregnant woman who had a tumour removed from the back of her tongue. She had a naso-gastric tube, so required NG feedings. Another little 5 year old girl had a pharyngoplasty - a repair of a cleft palate that is VERY painful because there's a lot of stretching and repositioning of the roof of the mouth. She also required NG feedings. Then there was a little boy who had a cleft lip repair. This is a pretty easy recovery compared to a cleft palate repair. Another woman had a thyroidectomy. My last patient had a big old tumour removed from her eye socket - I think it had just taken over her eye, which had to be removed. It's a lot of wound care and teaching with these patients.
The plastic surgeons are gone now, but we still have quite a few of their patients here that we're praying will heal quickly so they can go home. Some have been here over a month. Most of these patients have had burns on their hands or feet that have caused contractures. So the surgeon releases the contracture, and uses a skin graft from the thigh to cover the wound. The extremity never looks "normal" again, but we warn the patient about this and explain that the goal is function.
Now that the plastic surgeons are gone we have general surgeons who will be doing lots of hernia repairs and thyroidectomies. We are also getting ready for the VVF ladies who come on October 10. They come for a repair of their vesicovaginal fistula, which is usually caused by prolonged labor. Basically, the baby presses on the bladder through the uterus for so long that it produces a hole, or fistula. These women then constantly leak urine, and become outcasts in their communities. Thankfully if and when this is fixed they are usually welcomed back into the community.
So that's what I'm doing!
Yesterday I took care of 5 patients. One was a 24 year old pregnant woman who had a tumour removed from the back of her tongue. She had a naso-gastric tube, so required NG feedings. Another little 5 year old girl had a pharyngoplasty - a repair of a cleft palate that is VERY painful because there's a lot of stretching and repositioning of the roof of the mouth. She also required NG feedings. Then there was a little boy who had a cleft lip repair. This is a pretty easy recovery compared to a cleft palate repair. Another woman had a thyroidectomy. My last patient had a big old tumour removed from her eye socket - I think it had just taken over her eye, which had to be removed. It's a lot of wound care and teaching with these patients.
The plastic surgeons are gone now, but we still have quite a few of their patients here that we're praying will heal quickly so they can go home. Some have been here over a month. Most of these patients have had burns on their hands or feet that have caused contractures. So the surgeon releases the contracture, and uses a skin graft from the thigh to cover the wound. The extremity never looks "normal" again, but we warn the patient about this and explain that the goal is function.
Now that the plastic surgeons are gone we have general surgeons who will be doing lots of hernia repairs and thyroidectomies. We are also getting ready for the VVF ladies who come on October 10. They come for a repair of their vesicovaginal fistula, which is usually caused by prolonged labor. Basically, the baby presses on the bladder through the uterus for so long that it produces a hole, or fistula. These women then constantly leak urine, and become outcasts in their communities. Thankfully if and when this is fixed they are usually welcomed back into the community.
So that's what I'm doing!
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