Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Church in Togo
Bike ride to Koko Beach
Jesus Film
Its almost March
Time is starting to go by very quickly. Its hard to believe I only have about three and a half months left here, but at the same time a 100 days is a long time. A lot can happen in a 100 days back at home and here also. I've really started enjoying taking care of the kids as I've picked up quite a few tips on how to calm a screaming child who thinks we're torturing them.
Yesterday we went to the beach and took a taxi to get there. As we were looking out the window we saw one of our patients who I had just taken care of the previous day on the back of a motorcycle waving and smiling at us. He recognized us and knew who we were and we knew his name. It was the coolest feeling ever knowing that this man just left the ship renewed and was going to go back to his life here in West Africa. He had gotten a tumor removed from his face. We watched him weave in and out of the traffic of cars and motorcycles through the dusty streets and back to his home.
We have weekly meetings with all the nurses called Breathe sessions to discuss how we're feeling about everything and cool stories that people have. One of our older patients has not had a nose for many years due to noma which is a bacteria that eats away at the face. Due to the stigma of deformities here he has lived in social isolation and rejection for many years and became an alcoholic. We were told by one of the African day workers that he does not know how to live in community and be part of a group. He also speaks Ewe which is a very rare language that no one on our wards ever speaks. However, miraculously when he was here there were four other patients who just so happened to speak Ewe. The patient across from him had an uncle who speaks Ewe and took on the role as caregiver and translator for this patient just because he's a nice guy. You would have thought they were family. He even offered to meet up with him after he went home to help debrief. Everyone agrees that God definitely provided a translator for this patient and friends on the ward that spoke his language, otherwise we would have been at a loss on how to communicate with him. It is extremely rare that we have people who speak Ewe.
This evening I went with a few people to get Fufu. It basically is doughy play dough like texture that you dip in meat sauce. The meat I chose was goat, which was the least adventurous of all the options. Our friend Lewis drove us in his van that he's used to truck all the way across Africa in and has used as a place to sleep. As we drive through town I still feel like I'm watching a scene from a movie outside the van window. It still doesn't seem real. Luckily hes a very good driver.
Yesterday we went to the beach and took a taxi to get there. As we were looking out the window we saw one of our patients who I had just taken care of the previous day on the back of a motorcycle waving and smiling at us. He recognized us and knew who we were and we knew his name. It was the coolest feeling ever knowing that this man just left the ship renewed and was going to go back to his life here in West Africa. He had gotten a tumor removed from his face. We watched him weave in and out of the traffic of cars and motorcycles through the dusty streets and back to his home.
We have weekly meetings with all the nurses called Breathe sessions to discuss how we're feeling about everything and cool stories that people have. One of our older patients has not had a nose for many years due to noma which is a bacteria that eats away at the face. Due to the stigma of deformities here he has lived in social isolation and rejection for many years and became an alcoholic. We were told by one of the African day workers that he does not know how to live in community and be part of a group. He also speaks Ewe which is a very rare language that no one on our wards ever speaks. However, miraculously when he was here there were four other patients who just so happened to speak Ewe. The patient across from him had an uncle who speaks Ewe and took on the role as caregiver and translator for this patient just because he's a nice guy. You would have thought they were family. He even offered to meet up with him after he went home to help debrief. Everyone agrees that God definitely provided a translator for this patient and friends on the ward that spoke his language, otherwise we would have been at a loss on how to communicate with him. It is extremely rare that we have people who speak Ewe.
This evening I went with a few people to get Fufu. It basically is doughy play dough like texture that you dip in meat sauce. The meat I chose was goat, which was the least adventurous of all the options. Our friend Lewis drove us in his van that he's used to truck all the way across Africa in and has used as a place to sleep. As we drive through town I still feel like I'm watching a scene from a movie outside the van window. It still doesn't seem real. Luckily hes a very good driver.
Monday, February 20, 2012
We are weak but we have a great God
The surgeon here who has been volunteering on Mercy Ships for the last 25 years with his family always says he is very weak, but he has a great God. Dr. Gary Parker has devoted his whole life to serving the people of Togo. He keeps telling us that God likes to use broken and weak people to do His work. I find this to be true in many cases with the volunteer nurses who seemed to be really struggling to speak English have improved dramatically and its been a little easier giving and getting report on the patients. The testimonies some of these patients have given really shows how much God loves us and can work miracles in peoples lives.
Today I got to work day shift and help discharge a couple patients. The mom of a 1 1/2 year old who had her cleft lip fixed looked so happy and proud of her baby that all of the nurses adored. We were all very sad that she had to leave. I have a picture of her that I will post as soon as they download it. My fifteen year old patient who had a massive tumor on her face removed had the hugest smile when she was told she got to go home. They have follow-up appointments, but are responsible for making sure they eat the proper food and clean their wound properly. Since they don't have normal saline to clean their wound they boil clean water and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Many are not allowed to eat rice for several months because it can get caught in their wounds and are only allowed to eat soft or mashed foods. Some people who have more complicated wounds stay at our Hope Center where we can keep a closer eye on them. Tomorrow there will be a group going to show a village the Jesus Film. I've never seen it, but I know it basically shares the message of the gospel in many different languages.
Today I got to work day shift and help discharge a couple patients. The mom of a 1 1/2 year old who had her cleft lip fixed looked so happy and proud of her baby that all of the nurses adored. We were all very sad that she had to leave. I have a picture of her that I will post as soon as they download it. My fifteen year old patient who had a massive tumor on her face removed had the hugest smile when she was told she got to go home. They have follow-up appointments, but are responsible for making sure they eat the proper food and clean their wound properly. Since they don't have normal saline to clean their wound they boil clean water and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Many are not allowed to eat rice for several months because it can get caught in their wounds and are only allowed to eat soft or mashed foods. Some people who have more complicated wounds stay at our Hope Center where we can keep a closer eye on them. Tomorrow there will be a group going to show a village the Jesus Film. I've never seen it, but I know it basically shares the message of the gospel in many different languages.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The last three shifts of work went by really fast. I worked nights which was from 930 pm to 7am. I'm starting to feel more comfortable, but still do not know where everything is quite yet. Working nights included getting vitals, performing assessments, passing meds, tube feedings, trach care and preparing people for surgery in the morning. The difference here is that you have to start getting everything ready way ahead of time compared to the hospital I work at because everything takes much longer without the luxury of computers and other technology. I had six patients the other night which is the most I've ever had in my life, but the patients we do surgery on usually do not have extensive medical history and do not have very many medications. One of the 2 year olds we were preparing for surgery in the morning on Monday was screaming at the top of her lung waking everyone up on the unit since she wasn't allowed to eat for several hours due to the cleft lip surgery she was about to receive. No matter how much her mother and nurse tried to console her she would not stop crying. Finally when one of the male Togo day worker translators arrived in the morning the baby's nurse asked him to hold her. She pretty much instantly stopped crying and just stared at him looking up in awe and fell asleep. We now call him the baby whisperer.
The man who had his giant tumor removed from his throat that I've had since before he got his surgery is doing quite well and took pictures of all his nurses. He got really into the championship soccer game between Zambia and the Ivory Coast. The people here are all really into soccer. There are constantly people playing soccer on the beach and on the streets in the village. The day workers and all the patients had their eyes glued to the TV the last few seconds of the game during overtime. Most of the people were rooting for Ivory Coast, except for a few. They were all heartbroken when one of the players missed several final penalty kicks and the game was over with Zambia being victorious. However, it was a great day for Zambia. They dedicated their victory to their 18 players who all died in a plane crash during the evening of April 27, 1993.
The sense of comraderie amongst the patients and people here is refreshing. I was told they would think we were punishing them if we gave them their own room or isolated them from everyone else. They like to learn together and feed off each other whenever we're doing teachings about their different surgeries. It is very frustrating though that I can't talk to them directly since I don't speak French and have to go through a translator anytime I want to say something. I am getting really good at charades though!
The man who had his giant tumor removed from his throat that I've had since before he got his surgery is doing quite well and took pictures of all his nurses. He got really into the championship soccer game between Zambia and the Ivory Coast. The people here are all really into soccer. There are constantly people playing soccer on the beach and on the streets in the village. The day workers and all the patients had their eyes glued to the TV the last few seconds of the game during overtime. Most of the people were rooting for Ivory Coast, except for a few. They were all heartbroken when one of the players missed several final penalty kicks and the game was over with Zambia being victorious. However, it was a great day for Zambia. They dedicated their victory to their 18 players who all died in a plane crash during the evening of April 27, 1993.
The sense of comraderie amongst the patients and people here is refreshing. I was told they would think we were punishing them if we gave them their own room or isolated them from everyone else. They like to learn together and feed off each other whenever we're doing teachings about their different surgeries. It is very frustrating though that I can't talk to them directly since I don't speak French and have to go through a translator anytime I want to say something. I am getting really good at charades though!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Last day of orientation
Today was my last day of orientation. I tried to suck as much information out of my preceptor as possible due to the fact that my next shift I will not have a preceptor, however they say there is always going to be someone available to answer questions. Many of these people would likely not live if they didn't get medical treatment so I keep trying to keep that in mind in order to stay positive. There is a lot to learn and I wish I could just fast forward to a month from now where I was comfortable knowing where everything is and how to exactly take care of a pediatric patient. They try to give the adult nurses only adult patients, but that will not always be the case. We have to do quite a few calculations w/ our medications. It makes it an extra challenge working with people from many different countries who have many different accents and have different ways of doing things. However, we're all here for the same reason so everyone I've worked w/ so far is very patient and respectful towards each other.
My patient I took care of today was an adult and likely would not have lived another month or two if the surgeon didn't take out the benign massive tumor in the back of his throat. He would have likely slowly suffocated if he wasn't chosen for surgery on screening day. When I received him from PACU he was pretty sedated, but as he woke up we were able to tell him that the tumor was gone and out and the surgery went really well. We could tell he was scared with all the tubes, but I could see a sense of relief on his face. It will be really interesting when they take out his trach and he can talk. That won't be for another couple days. The cleft lip babies I had taken care of the previous day also had their surgeries. They looked amazing even though their faces were still swollen and the steri strips were still intact. The moms looked happy and were extremely attentive feeding their babies and keeping them calm. Getting to know the patients has been fun. The adults seem to have a great sense of humor even though many of them have massive tumors on their face. They all thought it was really funny that we gave them all coloring books. They kept looking at them and laughed. There were coloring books in each admission bag because we didn't know if kids would get the bags. They are are very thankful and do not always admit when they're in pain so we have to really pry to know when to give them pain medicine.
My patient I took care of today was an adult and likely would not have lived another month or two if the surgeon didn't take out the benign massive tumor in the back of his throat. He would have likely slowly suffocated if he wasn't chosen for surgery on screening day. When I received him from PACU he was pretty sedated, but as he woke up we were able to tell him that the tumor was gone and out and the surgery went really well. We could tell he was scared with all the tubes, but I could see a sense of relief on his face. It will be really interesting when they take out his trach and he can talk. That won't be for another couple days. The cleft lip babies I had taken care of the previous day also had their surgeries. They looked amazing even though their faces were still swollen and the steri strips were still intact. The moms looked happy and were extremely attentive feeding their babies and keeping them calm. Getting to know the patients has been fun. The adults seem to have a great sense of humor even though many of them have massive tumors on their face. They all thought it was really funny that we gave them all coloring books. They kept looking at them and laughed. There were coloring books in each admission bag because we didn't know if kids would get the bags. They are are very thankful and do not always admit when they're in pain so we have to really pry to know when to give them pain medicine.
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| The marketplace.. picture taken from taxi window..Its very unsafe to take out a camera in public. Wearing jewelry is also not advised. |
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| The beach from a taxi window. We're advised not to go to the beach near our ship b/c of the danger w/ the drug trafficking. |
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| Hut on the beach |
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| My bunkmate, Summer, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and friend Lewis at a cafe. They had the best icecream. |
Monday, February 6, 2012
First day of Surgeries
Yesterday evening D ward finally opened after much anticipation from everyone on the ship. Seven patients all arrived around 3 pm all at once which was slightly overwhelming at first, but then I realized the caregivers, being the mothers, had everything under control. They know how to calm and take care of their babies much better than me. Two of my assigned patients had cleft lips and were 3 months and 6 months. My lady, 29, had ankylosis which is a condition that results from trauma or disease and the jaw becomes locked. It basically causes severe TMJ. She also has micronation, which is a really small jaw or mandible. Sometimes ankylosis is caused by a noma or cancrum oris, which is a gangrene
condition that results from tissue infection in the oral/nasal cavity.
Noma is very preventable with proper treatment if treatment is
available.
We helped everyone get settled including getting everyone showers and did a lot of preoperative teaching. The mothers were all sooo excited when I explained that their babies' surgeries would be tomorrow. My lady patient kept sneaking in a smile after going over all the details. Her surgery won't be until Tuesday. The day workers translated everything we said to each other the best they could since I don't know French. My lady patient speaks Moba, which the day workers do not know how to speak. Therefore, her family member came with her to help translate from French to Moba and vice versa. You wonder how much was lost during all the translations, but I could tell she got the jist of most everything that was said. So this morning the surgeries began! I just sneaked past the recovery room and peaked in the window. It looked like some of the nurses were hooking up one of the babies to a pain pump. I go back to work in about half an hour and am slightly nervous.
We helped everyone get settled including getting everyone showers and did a lot of preoperative teaching. The mothers were all sooo excited when I explained that their babies' surgeries would be tomorrow. My lady patient kept sneaking in a smile after going over all the details. Her surgery won't be until Tuesday. The day workers translated everything we said to each other the best they could since I don't know French. My lady patient speaks Moba, which the day workers do not know how to speak. Therefore, her family member came with her to help translate from French to Moba and vice versa. You wonder how much was lost during all the translations, but I could tell she got the jist of most everything that was said. So this morning the surgeries began! I just sneaked past the recovery room and peaked in the window. It looked like some of the nurses were hooking up one of the babies to a pain pump. I go back to work in about half an hour and am slightly nervous.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Pics from Screening day
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| Zephaniah 30: 20 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes[e] before your very eyes,” says the LORD. |
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Pics taken by Mercy Ships on Screening day 2/1/2012
Isaiah 43
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Screening Day 2/1/2012
Screening Day
Yesterday was the day we chose our patients for the next five months, except our eye patients who we will screen at a later date. Some of us arrived at six in the morning, while others arrived much earlier in order to start going through the line and telling people from the beginning that they would not be a candidate for surgery. This way they wouldn't waste their time waiting in line for hours in the hot sun.
As we started getting closer we saw just how long the line was and how many people were waiting hoping they would just maybe be a candidate to get help medically. Some people started waiting in line days ago. The line just kept going and then we finally reached the end and arrived at the building where the screening process took place.
In the beginning I was to help escort patients inside from the general surgery screening room to the data entry area or help bring them out if there wasn't anything we could do for them. One particular younger man kept trying to leave the room b/c I think he was getting tired and was possibly mentally handicapped. His sister appeared to be very nervous that he wouldn't be able to complete the screening process as he was starting to act up and was told several times that he needed to sit down. I did my best to help keep him calm and escorted him to the bathroom several times and gave him water, while his sister saved his spot in the line of chairs. One of our day workers who speaks French and English also helped keep him from acting up and running off while he was in the bathroom. Finally when it reached his turn for him to be seen by the doctor I was very curious if we were going to be able to help him. It turned out we were and I was to escort him to data entry:) His sister had tears in her eyes and kept saying merci. I'm not sure what his condition was, but this would likely be one of the first times he would be helped medically. The average income in Togo is $2 a day and those that receive medical care have to pay for it out of pocket.
I was then assigned to go outside and help escort people to the gate or under the tree to be prayed for. These people would have been waiting in line for hours in the hot sun, but we obviously don't have the capacity to help everyone during the five months being here. After talking w/ many of the alumnis who have been through many screenings they said it was obvious that this screening day had been prayed for heavily. There was a sense of peace throughout the whole day. Most of the Togo people were very gracious and most agreed to be prayed for under the tree even though we said we couldn't help them. However, there were those who said they were tired and just wanted to leave and were not happy w/ us. Some were just angry and kept showing me their physical problem. It was a very strange feeling though watching these people leave through the gate knowing that it would take a miracle to fix their physical problem. Mercy Ships won't be back for a couple more years and many were asking when we would return. There were a group of patients with simple painful hernias that would quickly be fixed in the US, but we only had a certain number of surgery slots for hernias so we took them out of the line so they wouldn't keep waiting.
The hardest people I escorted out however were the children. Every single parent who had a child escorted out wanted their child to be prayed for. One particular man was holding a two year old and asked if I could hold him. The child did not look well at all and did not cry or do anything like a normal kid would do. He was practically limp and I almost felt a sense of guilt that I wasn't able to do anything, but there were just too many people. The man asked me so there is no hope for him? I quickly responded well can I take him under the tree for prayer? I then handed the child to one of our other volunteers w/ Mercy Ships who was in the prayer group. The man who was caring for the child then told me he was a pastor and was just gracious that we were holding his child and praying for him.
James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
This verse makes me realize that all of our lives are very short and we really don't know what will happen tomorrow. Its really sad that we couldn't physically with our hands help many of these people, but we could pray for all of them. I was told we screened 1, 660 people yesterday and all had the option to receive prayer. We really do just have to trust that they are all in Gods hands and he loves all of them more than we ever could and sees the much bigger picture.
On the bright side at the end of the day I was assigned to take some histories on patients who had made it half way through the screening process and were possibly a candidate for surgery. Two of the children I did histories on had a cleft palate and another a cleft lip. The one with with the cleft palate had actually been at a Mercy Ships screening several years prior, but likely didn't make it through because there weren't enough spots. The uncle who brought her kept making me look at the whole in the roof of her mouth to make sure I knew how much she needed surgery. I'm guessing she probably got assigned surgery:)
This morning all the nurses got together and discussed how everything went. They kept saying how smoothly everything went and how God's hands were definitely at work yesterday. One of the alumni nurses who was one of the screeners to determine the yes's and no's at the first gate said she couldn't sleep at all the previous night afraid she would say no to someone she should have said yes to. She remembers originally saying no to someone and then got an overwhelming sense that she should say yes. She felt God's presence guiding her the whole day w/ this extremely emotional and burdensome task.
We start surgeries on Monday. My first shift is Sunday evening to help admit the first patients we receive and prep them for surgery in the morning.
Yesterday was the day we chose our patients for the next five months, except our eye patients who we will screen at a later date. Some of us arrived at six in the morning, while others arrived much earlier in order to start going through the line and telling people from the beginning that they would not be a candidate for surgery. This way they wouldn't waste their time waiting in line for hours in the hot sun.
As we started getting closer we saw just how long the line was and how many people were waiting hoping they would just maybe be a candidate to get help medically. Some people started waiting in line days ago. The line just kept going and then we finally reached the end and arrived at the building where the screening process took place.
In the beginning I was to help escort patients inside from the general surgery screening room to the data entry area or help bring them out if there wasn't anything we could do for them. One particular younger man kept trying to leave the room b/c I think he was getting tired and was possibly mentally handicapped. His sister appeared to be very nervous that he wouldn't be able to complete the screening process as he was starting to act up and was told several times that he needed to sit down. I did my best to help keep him calm and escorted him to the bathroom several times and gave him water, while his sister saved his spot in the line of chairs. One of our day workers who speaks French and English also helped keep him from acting up and running off while he was in the bathroom. Finally when it reached his turn for him to be seen by the doctor I was very curious if we were going to be able to help him. It turned out we were and I was to escort him to data entry:) His sister had tears in her eyes and kept saying merci. I'm not sure what his condition was, but this would likely be one of the first times he would be helped medically. The average income in Togo is $2 a day and those that receive medical care have to pay for it out of pocket.
I was then assigned to go outside and help escort people to the gate or under the tree to be prayed for. These people would have been waiting in line for hours in the hot sun, but we obviously don't have the capacity to help everyone during the five months being here. After talking w/ many of the alumnis who have been through many screenings they said it was obvious that this screening day had been prayed for heavily. There was a sense of peace throughout the whole day. Most of the Togo people were very gracious and most agreed to be prayed for under the tree even though we said we couldn't help them. However, there were those who said they were tired and just wanted to leave and were not happy w/ us. Some were just angry and kept showing me their physical problem. It was a very strange feeling though watching these people leave through the gate knowing that it would take a miracle to fix their physical problem. Mercy Ships won't be back for a couple more years and many were asking when we would return. There were a group of patients with simple painful hernias that would quickly be fixed in the US, but we only had a certain number of surgery slots for hernias so we took them out of the line so they wouldn't keep waiting.
The hardest people I escorted out however were the children. Every single parent who had a child escorted out wanted their child to be prayed for. One particular man was holding a two year old and asked if I could hold him. The child did not look well at all and did not cry or do anything like a normal kid would do. He was practically limp and I almost felt a sense of guilt that I wasn't able to do anything, but there were just too many people. The man asked me so there is no hope for him? I quickly responded well can I take him under the tree for prayer? I then handed the child to one of our other volunteers w/ Mercy Ships who was in the prayer group. The man who was caring for the child then told me he was a pastor and was just gracious that we were holding his child and praying for him.
James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
This verse makes me realize that all of our lives are very short and we really don't know what will happen tomorrow. Its really sad that we couldn't physically with our hands help many of these people, but we could pray for all of them. I was told we screened 1, 660 people yesterday and all had the option to receive prayer. We really do just have to trust that they are all in Gods hands and he loves all of them more than we ever could and sees the much bigger picture.
On the bright side at the end of the day I was assigned to take some histories on patients who had made it half way through the screening process and were possibly a candidate for surgery. Two of the children I did histories on had a cleft palate and another a cleft lip. The one with with the cleft palate had actually been at a Mercy Ships screening several years prior, but likely didn't make it through because there weren't enough spots. The uncle who brought her kept making me look at the whole in the roof of her mouth to make sure I knew how much she needed surgery. I'm guessing she probably got assigned surgery:)
This morning all the nurses got together and discussed how everything went. They kept saying how smoothly everything went and how God's hands were definitely at work yesterday. One of the alumni nurses who was one of the screeners to determine the yes's and no's at the first gate said she couldn't sleep at all the previous night afraid she would say no to someone she should have said yes to. She remembers originally saying no to someone and then got an overwhelming sense that she should say yes. She felt God's presence guiding her the whole day w/ this extremely emotional and burdensome task.
We start surgeries on Monday. My first shift is Sunday evening to help admit the first patients we receive and prep them for surgery in the morning.
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