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!