Edoh

Don Stephens wrote the following from his book Mercy Ships of Mercy (2005):

“She’s tall and slender, sixteen going on seventeen, a French-speaking African young women  with the blood of three nations in her veins, or so it was eight years ago, when a younger Edoh underwent several surgical procedures and blood transfusions from crew members onboard a Mercy Ship.  She was nine at the time, a tiny child with spindly arms and legs and a massive tumor on the side of her face.  The renegade mass had shifted her left eye two inches off centre and stretched her mouth to an unimaginable eight-inch diameter.  Teeth stuck out at odd angles, and worse, a new backward growth of the tumor threatened a slow and horrible death by suffocation.  In shock and horror, her parents, having exhausted every possible avenue of hope, finally gave up.  They, along with their village, prepared for her death.  And then her parents heard that a Mercy Ship was coming.  Edoh remembers only the blood she would cough up, the difficulty breathing, the fear in her parents’ eyes.  She remembers too, the day they traveled a long way to stand in line, how she suddenly began fighting for breath, how she was snatched up from the press of a huge crowd and tossed screaming over a steel gate.  She remembers landing in the arms of a giant white man and screaming more until she finally saw her parents again, inside the big ship on the other side of the fence.  Years have now passed, and the Mercy Ship has docked once again in Togo.  Edoh has returned for a follow-up small reconstructive surgery, and everything comes flooding back to her, especially the care and the kindness of the nurses and the surgeons.   She understood nothing of their speech, then, or now.  But there is no forgetting the language of their touch.  And when she does find someone to translate her words, she tells them all she wants to become is a nurse.” (Ch. 8)

 Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Dovi Edoh is now 24 years old and the spunkiest African women I’ve met thus far from Togo during this field service.  She’s able to converse quite a few words in English and seems to understand everything when spoken to in English.  One thing I’ve realized is African people are brilliant at learning language.  I’m not surprised anymore now when I hear that someone knows seven languages.  Last week  she arrived back on our unit feeling very nauseous after undergoing an ICBG (iliac crest bone graft) and was quite withdrawn and appeared quite depressed.  She’s finally back to her usual self trying to make all the nurses and other patients laugh and calls everyone “her sister”. She’s constantly knitting booties for all the babies on the ward and seems to always have a smile on her face, quite a contrast from last week.  It was quite shocking hearing her story, knowing that she was at one time destined for her life on earth to end at only nine years old from slow suffocation or so her parents thought.  It also made me realize how loving and unselfish a group of random strangers can be.  Dovi was unable to breathe and the people of Togo who were also waiting in line that screening day knew that and let her cut in line so she might live.  They didn’t just let her cut in line, they crowd surfed her in order to save her life so she might live.  After being thrown over the gate and landing in the arms of a Mercyshipper she was trached immediately so she wouldn’t suffocate from her massive tumor.

Her mother was also on Mercy Ships these past couple of weeks receiving a hernia repair.  They’re from KPalimet, the prettiest place in all of Togo. Its always fun for those who have been here long-term to have reunions with these patients.  Mercy ships rotates around the same countries so patients often come back for more surgeries every couple of years.  They are happily welcomed back and have an instant bond with those who remember them.  Don Stephens, founder of Mercy Ships, and his wife remember her from many years ago and as soon as they saw each other again an instant connection was rekindled.

These past few weeks have been pretty interesting.  The surgeries are coming close to the end with the last surgery being on June 1 because we want to give the last surgical patients several weeks to recover and heal before the ship takes off to its next destination.  Time is flying by and I'm trying to really appreciate and soak up everything here, but at the same time its hard not to anticipate coming home a little over a month from now and seeing friends and family whom I haven't seen in nearly four months.  I really am going to miss the Togolese especially all the kids and babies so it will be bitter sweet.

60 minutes has been here all week because they're going to show a short segment on Mercy Ships in October.  Its kinda funny how they do hours and hours of footage and have been here for several weeks, while they only plan on showing less than 20 minutes on Mercy Ships during the episode.  There's definitely a ton of work that goes into their show.  The host of 60 minutes came today to interview my charge nurse Ali who has been volunteering with Mercy Ships for several years, Dr. Gary, and Don Stevens the founder of Mercy Ships who also flew in for the interview.  They've been following several patient's stories so it will be interesting seeing which patient they choose to aire.  They're extremely intrigued by the whole blood donation process because when we give blood it usually goes directly to the patient within five minutes instead of waiting in a fridge so they were really hoping to catch some footage.  One of the filmmakers was shocked when he saw Esther's before picture and couldn't believe she was the same person. 

Esther still has a long way to go though.  They've been downsizing her trach all week and were finally able to officially remove it yesterday.  She can now talk although her voice is quiet and it takes quite a bit of energy whenever she says anything although she has been making tremendous progress.  When she went back to the OR last week to get her whiteheads pack(gauze packing with antibiotics) removed, Dr. Gary decided to do another flap on her to make her "prettier".  He also decided to give her more of a nose since he had extra tissue to work with.  She looks absolutely amazing although the finished product won't really being complete until at least 6 months from now.  She has quite a bit of extra skin which isn't taken off initially because over a period of six months the skin contracts back to the way it used to as it does after someone has a baby or loses weight.  If it is removed too soon it would cause major problems and could make her skin way too tight.  It will also take time for the skin to change back to its original color that had been changed from the stretching over many years.  The next time Mercy Ships comes back to Togo or a country close to Togo she will qualify for an ICBG(iliac crest bone graft).  This is when part of the hip bone is taken and placed over the titanium metal plate that replaced her mandible from the mandibulectomy.  Bone miraculously fuses to titanium which then adheres to the tissue on her chin.  This is necessary because over time the titanium rubbing on chin tissue causes friction and can actually come through the chin and become visible.  If this procedure is done initially the hip bone transplant would likely fail because the previous tumor would prevent the site from being sterile.  Therefore, she has to wait at least 6 months to get this procedure as well as then get any extra skin also removed.

As far as patients having any real complications I believe we have been really blessed this field service.  However, one patient sadly did pass away last month named Chantal who was only 25.  Towards the end of her life she had been placed on hospice because of a chronic disease that had taken over her body and everything we were doing just wasn't working.  It was quite difficult for some of the nurses who had grown quite close to her.  She came from a family that was really involved in voodoo and had a daughter who was only 4 years old.  I was told though that she had accepted Christ just two weeks before she passed away so even though her physical body wasn't healed perhaps she spent the last few weeks of her life on the ship for a bigger purpose.

A complication did start to develop with a patient named Esther, a different Esther.  This Esther had a cyst drained above her left eye.  She had been a patient of Mercy Ships in 2010 so she was chosen to receive this simple procedure.  I arrived on shift and was quickly told by my one of my roommates that there was a patient in PACU who had been unresponsive for over 5 hours and the doctors didn't know why.  They had completed multiple tests including a head CT and had pretty much ruled everything out.  I looked down on my assignment sheet and then realized that she was going to become my ICU patient.  I started getting a little nervous especially because no one really knew the reason on why she wasn't responding to any stimuli.  During each handover all the nurses and day workers gather around in prayer for our patients or anything else we want to pray about and we also discuss any announcements or things we need to work on with charting ect..  I usually avoid praying out loud in front of large groups of people, but every blue moon I get a really strong feeling to pray for certain things with other people.  This time it was for Esther whom I was about to have as my unresponsive patient.  A couple other nurses also prayed for Esther.  Then literally about five or ten minutes later one of the PACU nurses comes in and reports to us that Esther has just woken up without explanation and is fine now and the doctors can't explain it and are baffled.  We then half seriously and half jokingly told the PACU nurse well we did just pray for her.  One of the doctors then came up with a syndrome that I've never heard of that basically is caused by a reaction to one of the muscle relaxants she received during the procedure called central anti-cholinergic syndrome.  They then brought her over to me about 15 minutes after that and my whole shift I didn't have any issues with her.   I happened to see her joyfully leaving the ship yesterday to go home and we waved to each other as she was leaving the ships entrance.  Perhaps it was just a coincidence that right after we all prayed for her she came out of it, or maybe God really did answer our desperate prayers that she would be healed.  Either way though I'm happy that God healed her and she was able to go home without any complications.

Mother's Day Suprise!

Thank You Lindsey!
Around the world Hugs and Kisses,
Love You,
Mom

VVF Dress ceremony

B ward has been taken over by all the VVF(vesicovaginal fistula) women this last month.  I work on D ward with the maxfax patients so I haven't had the opportunity to work with them.  However, I was able to witness one of their dress ceromonies which they have one to two times a week.  It was incredible.  They all looked gorgeous with beautiful brand new dresses and hats with matching jewlry and earings and even some makeup.  They have dress ceremonies whenever a group of them are deemed "dry" meaning the surgery worked and they are cured.  The women are also given the opportunity to recieve a mirror, soap, and a Bible in their language.  The women all shared their testimonies many of which included years of praying that they would recieve a cure.  Many of these women have been shunned by society, left by their old husbands, and sometimes their own family.  It was quite a site to see all these women smiling and dancing.

Esther

There is a girl from Nigeria, sixteen years old, who we have been expecting and were told was coming last week.  She is one of the few patients who we know will go to the ICU straight from surgery because she would likely need a tracheostomy due to the tumors occluding her airway.  All the nurses were asked to start praying for her last week and we were told her name is Esther.  She is a special case because she will be getting both a mandibulectomy and a maxillectomy because her facial tumors have been growing in both places.  They started when she was 3 months old and now she is sixteen.
Yesterday my roomate and I went outside on the dock and stopped by the admissions tent while we were waiting for one of the jeeps to arrive so we could visit the Hope Center.  We started talking to some of the patients and then my roomate immediately put two and two together and noticed Esther.  She immediately said Esther, your name is Esther right!? She told her we have been waiting for you and praying for your surgery and are so glad you're here.  Esther smiled and gave us both hugs.  Since she's from Nigeria she could speak English which was very very nice.  We talked to her for awhile and found out she has a very large family with six siblings.  She was wearing a very pretty dress and flower flip flops with a colorful scarf around her face.  She said she couldn't wait to go inside the ship and we assured her it shouldn't be too much longer. They just had to clear out the other patients and clean her bed.  Later on in the night my bunkmate and I peaked in the wards to say a quick hello and wish her well for her surgery.
So right now she is still in the OR getting worked on by Dr. Gary who just had his 60th birthday a couple days ago.  I was told that the mandibulectomy went well and now they're working on the maxillectomy which is more complex.  She's been in everyones prayers all day and I can't wait to see her after surgery and talk with her in English.  I work four nightshifts starting this weekend and hopefully will get to have her as my patient.

Its hard to put in words everything that has gone on these last few weeks on the wards.  The longer I've been here the more I've been able to connect with the patients and the easier it is to understand them and know how to act around them.  The language barrier and cultural differences made it difficult to connect in the beginning, but now I find myself becoming attached to many of the patients and really miss many of them when they leave.  More than anything though I'm more than ever starting to understand that many of these people really are going through live changing transformations spiritually, physically, emotionally right before our eyes.. 

There are several people who come to mind right off the bat.  The first one being a young girl at the age of 13.  I remember when she first came to our hospital a couple weeks ago with half her face covered by a cloth.  She looked around realizing that it was now safe to remove her veil.  It was rather shocking at first, but after looking at her straight in the eyes you could see behind the massive tumor on the right side of her face she was just the same as any other 13 year old girl just maybe a little stronger.  I showed her where the shower was and then went over what to expect from the surgery.  She listened to everything the translator said and didn't seem to have any fear at all.  There wasn't anyone with her as her uncle would be coming the next day.  Even on screening day when over 3,500 people came through the lines I don't remember seeing anyone with a facial tumor this large.  Dr. Gary would be performing her surgery the next day who has 25 + years of experience with maxillo facial tumors on Mercy Ships.  He seems to be the most passionate about facial tumors.

The next day we would show her the mirror so she could see herself and that it was real.  The tumor really was gone and a tear streamed down her face.  She told Dr. Gary that she had started to get really really scared from the tumor.  She had every right to be since this tumor likely would have slowly suffocated her.  Dr. Gary then told her that Jesus was taking her on a journey and she smiled.

Another patient that comes to mind goes by Alex.  He was referred to us by another mission hospital in Chico.  Surprisingly we have had several cases just like his affecting the eye.  Basically a tumor starts growing in their eye and completely takes over.  If there is no access to medical care it can be quite horrifying for the person and their family.  They likely just won't attend school and people will think they have been cursed.  In the beginning of him arriving to the ship before his surgery he had quite a blank expression on his face.  He was pretty withdrawn and didn't interact with any of the other kids.  However by the time he left he was playing with all the kids and actually became quite the trouble maker:) We even had make a list of rules for him including putting him in time outs occasionally only because we loved him.

Payakey is another one of those patients who I really really don't want to leave.  He has practically become part of our nursing staff.  He knows Kabaye and French and therefore helps translate from Kabeye to French since its such a rare language.  The other day he was helping me with one of my fresh post ops doing everything he could think of to help me from covering her up with a blanket to helping me move an IV bag onto the hook.  He is a patient who has been here for so long because we made him a nose, which is a very involved process with multiple sterile dressing changes and several surgeries.  His nose had been cut off in a robbery many years ago so its quite a good feeling knowing this wonderful man finally got a new nose.

It is not unusual for miracles to happen on this ship.  Like one of our surgeons said, we don't exactly go looking for them either.  None of us like feeling out of control ESPECIALLY in the medical profession.  However, there are those times that we really really need them and we are reminded that God is the real healer in all of this.

This is Bernice.  She is one of those toddlers who is constantly being held by all the nurses because she is just so adorable.  She's very very quiet and stares intently in peoples eyes.  She came in to get her cleft palate and cleft lip repaired.  She is an orphan who was brought in by a lady who works at her orphanage in Ghana.  When Bernice came in it was found that her leg was hot and swollen.  It was then determined that her femur had been broken as was seen on an x-ray, likely a few weeks prior.  This outreach we weren't treating any orthopedic patients.  Therefore, there was no reason we were to have an orthopedic surgeon on board at all at any point during our time in Togo.  However, God just so happened to have provided us with one at the right time.  The surgeon who had come for a very short time to treat the hernia patients in A Ward just so happened to also be a pediatric orthopedic surgeon.  What are the chances?  It truly seems as though God has been looking over this orphan.  Instead of being crippled for life, God provided her with the exact type of surgeon she needed at just the right time.

Bernice attacking me with a phone:)

Our hostel

The canopy walk

The bridge approximately forty feet high

Cape Coast, Ghana view from the castle

Hanging out on the beach

Cape Coast Beach

The castle from the 1600s

From inside a cell.  100's of people who would be sold as slaves would be forced to live inside a cell which would end up getting extremely dirty

Inside a female dungeon

Bats make a home in a cell in the castle

Crocodile outside our hostel.  The manager of the hotel let us feed them bred crumbs.  There are about 40 crocodiles in their pond.  We almost went paddle boating with them, however the paddle boat wasn't working at that time.