I thankfully received the results of my MRI early this morning. Even though the pain is not in the usual place, the MRI points to Plantar Fasciitis. My doctor gave me a list of things I can do to help the pain with the good news - he thinks it'll go away in ten months, more or less, if I behave!
I called Twin Cities Ortho this morning because I had accidentally erased a voice message and I wanted to make sure it wasn't them calling me (by the way, if it was you, please call back!). I spoke with Deb from Dr. Ebeling's office and she said they had been waiting for the results of my MRI because they hadn't seen them yet - and they would e-mail me the results once the doctor had looked at the MRI.
My next stop was to check e-mails and worker's comp (RTW) had sent me an e-mail - what were the results of my MRI? I told them that TCO hadn't received the MRI yet, but when they did, I would let RTW know what's up.
I came home later this afternoon and checked e-mails again. There was another one from RTW. They had faxed my MRI results to TCO. Why did they have my MRI results and where did they get them from and why were they asking me what the doctor had said when he had never seen them? Truly, what's zup?
After the fall - mine! Not Adam and Eve's - I am glad to report that I mentally feel great! I had my left heel MRI on Friday and am (not so patiently) waiting for the results. I was hoping TODAY would be the day, but alas, it's not, so stay tuned. I hope to have the results some time this week.
Those were my exact words to my supervisor who was lifeguarding this morning as we watched a two-year old boy let go of the pool wall and step off the tot dock into water over his head. Said child is in his second session of lessons and his listening skills have yet to be employed. Mother has never noticed. She is always too busy chatting with her friends. So he stepped off in to water over his head . . . and I rescued him shortly there after and he held on to the wall for the rest of the day.
This post has been reblogged from my friend, Nurse Deb Loudin's blog, "Deb's Heart in Africa." Deb will be leaving the ship at the end of this outreach, having spent six years on board, to return to Australia. I was actually running with her sister in Benin before I met her. We will miss you, friend.
Today I went to the HOPE Centre (Hospital OutPatient
Extension Centre) to join in with their church service. The covered outdoor area was
packed with chairs, filled with patients and their relatives and a scattering
of Africa Mercy crew members. Outside of the covered area were more crew members,
many with patients or little kids sitting on their laps or by their sides. The
weather was cloudy and I had just ridden my bike through the rain to get to
the site. My hair, the front of my skirt and shirt were wet with rain. There
were droplets of water still sitting on my skin as I walked in with a friend to
find a chair.
As instructed we all stood to sing songs in Malagasy
praising God, the words and tunes familiar to me after these past 14 months in
Madagascar. Looking around the area I saw so many familiar faces, almost all
patients I could name, came from my maxillofacial ward and a bunch from other
specialities on board. The patients and caregivers were dressed up beautifully
for church despite the off and on rain. There were shiny shoes and matching
tracksuits on babies, ruffled flower girl dresses on little girls and best
dresses for the mamas and papas. Hearing the singing voices of these people,
already so dear to my heart, raised in praise to my God, just about reduced me
to tears. A wave of emotion washed over me reminding me to treasure this moment,
these voices, this place, these people.
Last week while I was writing the morning ward rounds orders
in the patient charts, I came across the pre-operative photos of a male patient
in his early 20’s who had a massive facial tumour on his jaw. During the first
surgery, the tumour is removed and a metal plate is put in place of the missing
jaw. The tumours on the mandible that we remove are mostly ameloblastoma, a
slow growing benign tumour that eventually cause death by slow suffocation. The
tumour is overgrown tooth enamel that, if found in the western medical world,
would often be able to be removed quickly without major surgery. This man’s
tumour however was massive, I mean, American football sized, coming down off
the right side of his mandible. He’d had a successful first surgery and had
returned three months later for bone to be put inside the jaw to strengthen it.
The bone graft was taken from his hip (iliac crest) and after this healed, he
would not need any further surgery and could hopefully go on and have a happy
and long life.
I had collected the chart from the end of the patient’s bed
as he had just walked into the bathroom, bandage on his face, covering his neat
incision line under his jaw, his face perfectly round and symmetrical. When the
page fell open with his very first pre-op photos on it, I could barely believe
it was the same man. I stared at the photo a while, wondering what he was
thinking when the photo was taken. When he came out of the bathroom I showed
him the photo. He stood there gazing at it. I grabbed a translator and asked
him, “Do you remember how you felt when you had this tumour?” He paused a
moment and replied, “If Mercy Ships had not come, I would have died.” I asked
him if he remembered how he’d felt when the pre-operative photo was taken. He
said, “I was thinking I would probably only have one or two months left to
live.” Yet here he stood before me, three months later, with a beautiful, new, symmetrical,
tumour-free face. He asked me then if he could give his testimony in church
that morning about what God had done. “Yes, yes you can!”
Another patient came over, this one a female, also in her 20’s.
She had had the same procedure to remove a tumour on her jaw and had returned
also for her bone graft. She also had her pre-op photos in her chart which I showed
to her. I asked them both if before they came from their village to the ship if
they thought they were the only one in the world with a tumour growing in
their jaw. They both said yes. I explained that they’d both had the same type
of tumour and the same operations to have them removed and bone grafted. They
were not alone.
Several weeks ago we were able to operate on an 8 year old
girl who had a bifid nose (see the photo below) and hypertelorism (eyes too far apart). The night before
her surgery, I rebraided her hair so that when the surgeons cut her head from
ear to ear (across the top), they would not have to shave off all her beautiful
hair. As I undid her braids she stayed bent over her brand-new colouring book,
enjoying her gift from the Hospital Chaplain team. We talked about her
family, her friends and school.
The following day the operation went really well and her new
face looked beautiful but as per usual the swelling from surgery forced her
eyes closed. The first day post-op, she kept crying, “I can’t see, I can’t see.”
She cried whenever someone touched her without first speaking to her and she
refused to eat.
As the days passed, the swelling began to go down but her
eyes did not yet open. She did begin to eat and we looked for toys that she
could play with by touch and not sight. I put new batteries in the toy
keyboard, much to the annoyance of some nurses, but I knew if I was that
precious girl, I would want something like that.
Eventually the swelling went down enough for one eye to open
and we rejoiced! After approval from the surgeon, I took her into the ICU and
washed and brushed her hair, removing the clumps of shaved off and matted hair
and one of the female day crew redid her braids. She looked so fresh and sweet
afterwards.
Waiting in line to be screened, October 2014
The surgeons making their rounds
Post-op with her sweet grandpa
It’s each of these stories and moments that I treasure. As we
count down the weeks left in Madagascar I want to be counting up the treasures
to be found.
Today's amazing story was reblogged from "Through my Porthole." Enjoy!
Maybe René’s life journey impacted me so deeply because he is so
close to our eldest son’s age. This sweet young man displayed not a
shadow of bitterness over the circumstances of his life. My heartfelt
prayer is that his ‘tomorrows’ look a whole lot different to his
‘yesterdays’.
Rene had never been this far from home before. Pic Katie Keegan
He does not know why his mother left him. René was just five years
old when suddenly he had a ‘new family’, and so many chores he was never
able to attended school – ever. He worked for his keep from that day
forward.
René remembers the moment a friend mentioned his right eye looked
bigger than his left. As he felt no pain and his sight was unaffected,
René just ignored it.
When René was 18 he began to notice pressure behind his eye when he
exerted himself. He told the family, “But they didn’t care,” he explains
softly. He had no money pay a doctor, and no one to help him.
One day followed another until five years passed, and the increasing
pressure behind his eye made working in the fields impossible. “I had no
idea what it was,” explains René. “I was worried something was growing.
I felt like something was pushing, [that] my eye would pop out. When I
rested, the pressure would stop but when I started again, the pressure
would return.”
So René returned to kitchen work, but his eye continued to distort.
Life turned around the day René’s friend shared about a TV program
about Mercy Ships. “This organisation is doing free surgery. They can
help you – there is a free screening.” So together they went, and René
was finally offered the help that had been so far out of his reach.
Rene was blown away by his new look & his xrays
René had a very complex surgery. The slow-growing tumour filled
René’s sinuses, pushed down his throat and into his cranium. This hungry
yet benign growth had relentlessly pushed his eye forward, and would
have continued to expand.
The six-hour operation was performed by Dr Gary Parker, and Dr Mark
Shrime. Dr Gary explains, “This kind of tumour usually starts in the
nose and is corrected with a small operation. But because René didn’t
have access to safe, effective and affordable surgery, it grew into
something very complicated.”
Recovery from the intricate procedure was swift and complete. 25
year-old René can now see clearly, breathe easily, and his headaches are
gone. “The surgery went really well,” he announced. “The tumor won’t
grow back anymore! I am really, really, really happy that the disease
that was bothering my life is gone forever and I am able to work. ”
René has plans for the future. “I’m going back to say thank you, then
go and find work. I’m going to try farming beans, corn and rice for
myself.”
Rene is ready to head into a new future. Pic K.Keegan(For you medical types, the surgery was a medial mallectomy with frontal craniotermy.)
Can you see the smile on my face? Did you see me doing the dance of joy? Have you heard the shouts of acclamation? My MRI has been approved! The story goes like this . . .
If you remember, I fell at Sand Creek on April 26, 2015. Towards the end of December, when my light sensitivity and headaches were going away because of a change in my contact lenses, I began to notice how much my left heel still hurt. I had seen my foot doctor for it shortly after I fell and we both agreed I had a bruised heel and in five to six months, I should be fine. But now it was eight months and I was not fine.
So I began hoop jumping. I called worker's comp who approved my seeing my foot doctor who of course did not have any openings before February 3. On February 3, he requested an MRI on my left heel. Worker's comp denied the request and I was given eight weeks of physical therapy.
During week five of therapy, when my heel was definitely not getting any better, worker's comp dismissed me from PT and asked me to see my foot doctor again. I was able to get in the following week on April 13. You know he ordered an MRI on my heel - was there any doubt? - and proclaimed it "Playing basketball with worker's comp - we're just jumping through their hoops."
Today I got word - my MRI was approved! Once the paperwork is in at Twin Cities Ortho, I can schedule it and then we'll hopefully discover what the problem is. If I should be so fortunate as to have it all happen tomorrow, why that would just make it TOTALLY THANKFUL THURSDAY! Until then . . .
Thursday after school, Matt got a tatt. We weren't thrilled with the idea, but his desire was to have something that reminded him of his times on the good ship Mercy and we really do like his choice! In fact, I got to help design it!
I managed to finish another hundred miles on Friday, bringing my grand total since I've been keeping track of miles swum to 14,000! It was fun because my doctor may be limiting my swimming for some time IF Worker's Comp will ever approve an MRI! Details on that once it happens . . .
This month we were able to have not just one, but two 3Ft's (Forced Family Fun Times)!
The first one occurred last Sunday when one member of our family FORCED all of us to join her in watching "The Snoopy Movie". There were moments that were cute, but when Matt asked to leave early, we all agreed he could! It may have helped that I was multi-tasking and reading the paper at the same time while Sam was correcting papers!
Our second one occurred yesterday (actually Friday through Saturday) when we drove three long hours down to Iowa to celebrate my dad's 84th birthday! My sister, her husband and youngest daughter (also Lexie's birthday) joined us yesterday and we had the best time! Dad suggested paper plates. Since he has no dishwasher except us, we all agreed! We decided to clean up his odds and ends collection - it made for a fun table, especially the Thanksgiving plates. And since we're all thankful for Dad - it was fitting! His good news? He had a colonoscopy on Tuesday and there was no sign of the cancer that he had had removed for his birthday last year. Glory!
This post is reblogged from "Through My Porthole" and it's lovely . . .
Yesterday Lucael was utterly miserable. Maybe my few minutes of
baby-rocking and off-key singing comforted him a little after his
surgery; I know my prayers touched his spirit. But this wee mite was
very unhappy that he could no longer suck on his fingers through his
bilateral clefts, and his mouth just hurt. His stoic GreatGrandMother
was in tears over his discomfort, and overwhelmed that her wee man’s
congenital deformity is gone forever. Their story is mind-bending.
Lucael a month into the Infant Feeding Programme. Pic by Catrice Wulf
It was a shock to Lucael’s 14 year-old mother when her baby boy was
born with such a frightening looking mouth. But Lucael’s appearance was
only the tip of the iceberg; the large cleft in the roof of his mouth
was a threat to his very life as it prevented him from successfully
breastfeeding. She had given birth in a hospital and the doctor assured
the young teenager the baby’s condition could be fixed. The
devastating news was they would have to go elsewhere and pay a huge
amount of money for the operations. The impossibility of the situation
was crushing.
While the people in Lucael’s village had heard about babies being
born like this, but no one had ever witnessed it. Their suspicion grew
into unkindness towards the struggling family.
Lucael’s young mother simply couldn’t cope, so GrandMother stepped in
to care for the tiny infant. Lucael’s Mum worked to help pay for milk
for the baby. With baby formula costing at least 4 days wages for the
average Malagasy, this impoverished family did what most resort to. They
spent almost 1 day’s pay on a can on sweetened condensed milk, and
diluted it to feed the newborn over the week ahead. The substitute
didn’t nourish his tiny body. Lucael simply failed to thrive.
A visit by the mid-wife gave them a glimmer of hope; she heard some
people who could provide the surgery Lucael needed for free, were coming
on a hospital ship to Madagascar. She finally found a patient screening
location within travelling distance of their remote village in the
rugged north of Madagascar.
By this stage Lucael’s care had passed to his tiny 78-year-old GreatGrandMother, who loves him will all her heart.
At 10 months and weighing just 4 kg (8.5 lbs), Lucael was flown with
his GreatGrandMother to the coast. Together they entered the infant
feeding programme that saved his life.
In 3 months Lucael had reached 6.5 kg (14.3 lbs) – enough weight to
undergo surgery. As they were admitted to the Mercy Ships ward
GreatGrandMother told me, “I feel so positive about it. My heart is
beating fast! First they said they could only do his lip, but yesterday they told me that can fix his palate too!”
Lucale and GGrandMa just before surgery. Pic Justine Forrest
So right now, Lucael is 3 decks below me, receiving the best care that money can’t buy.
Did I mention that GreatGrandMother’s Mum lives with them in the
village too? There is remarkable, multi-generational mothers’ love
waiting to receive this sweet baby home; restored, and gifted with a new
future.
I am thankful today for a medical hospital ship that is in the process of bringing hope and healing to the forgotten poor of Madagascar and I am thankful for my friend Jodi who wrote this so well . . . I am not so thankful for my computer that is not cooperating!
(Photo credit: David Forrest)
"Our hearts are broken over the loss of a young
patient.
The beautiful 5-year-old girl from Northern Madagascar
passed away on board the Africa Mercy on Thursday 10 March, at 5.45pm. She died
two days after a very unusual, rare and severe reaction to the surgical
procedure in combination with general anaesthetic, during treatment to remove a
complex tumour of her lower face and neck. Her mother had been at her bedside
since their arrival to the Mercy Ship on 20 January and her senior uncle joined
them Thursday evening.
Official formalities with the local authorities were
completed and the family and the body were flown back to their
village to prepare for her funeral.
Our prayers and our love leave with them."
(Mercy Ships Media Statement March 2016)
Little
Bean, I did not know you, but as news of your passing filtered through
the decks my heart broke for you and you family. I am a mother too, you
see and while I cannot fathom what you mamma was feeling that day when
she said goodbye, I can imagine her pain. I can hear her wails of
despair.
As
we waited for your condition to improve, all of us as a united crew
stopped what we were doing, wherever we were on board, to pray. The
galley stopped preparing lunch, the housekeepers stopped mopping, the
teachers paused with their classes, meetings came to a standstill,
the hospital staff dropped to their knees, to storm heaven for your
healing.
But God chose to take you and whilst our frail human minds cannot comprehend, we have chosen to trust in Him.
As
Andrew co-ordinated clearing of the freezer to store your broken body,
now just a shell, your soul was flying free in heaven. As one of our
carpenters skilfully crafted a coffin to carry you back to your village
and some ladies on board lovingly created padding to soften your
journey, you were dancing beside Jesus. As your body was dressed in a
beautiful outfit, by hospital crew, you were free of the tumour that had
taken your life.
Little
bean.......your last days on earth were dignified. You were loved,
prayed for and treated like the Princess you were! A daughter of the
king.
Little Bean.......we did our best for you but it was not enough.
Be
uncomfortable with us as we have mourned and we continue to mourn and
pray for all the other beans......all 5,165 people whom our screening
team saw and for whatever reason we could not treat! Yes your eyes did
not deceive you, five thousand, one hundred and sixty five.
Then
there are the thousands that we could not physically reach due to poor
roads and sheer isolation in this vast nation. There are those we pass
on the street from day to day that we cannot help as our surgery
schedule is full to overflowing. There are five operating theatres
running, an extra ward as been opened and the Hope Centre is
overcapacity, as we race to the finish line, desperate to help as many
beans as we can.
Do
you feel uncomfortable? We do. We rest comfortably in the knowledge
that we can access world class medical care, medication, clean water,
electricity, education and freedom of religion while others are
dying just trying to access these basic human rights.
It
is so hard to consolidate. I don't think we can really. We can only
place our faith in a loving God who sees each little bean. Every.
Single. One.
Can
I ask that you pray for the 5,165 people who we had to turn away, for
the family of the little girl who passed away, for the patients
recovering in the wards right now and for those who are yet to receive
surgery in the next few weeks before the hospital closes it's doors in
Madagascar for this season?
Our CPR training manikins are currently being stored in a closet that is in the Kid's Stuff room at the Y. That simply means that whenever we try to get to our training stuff, we're always surrounded by little helpers. My latest little helper asked me, "Do you have babies in there?" Answer: "Yes, we do." Next question, "Are they sleeping?" Answer: "Yes they are." Last question, "What do you do when they cry?"
When your nineteen year old son says at lunch, "Who wants to bike Lilydale with me today?" and your daughter says, "Not me, I have homework," and your husband says, "Not me, I have correcting to do", you say, "Of course!" even if that's the last thing on your "to do" list for the day! So we pumped up our tires and loaded them in his truck and took off - with absolutely no regrets!
Ponseti team crewmembers Nick (AUS)
and Suzanne Veltjens (USA) collaborated with several Malagasy
physiotherapists led by Dr Razafindravoanjo. He comments, “We have
treated 15 children with perfect results (100% correction). Now we can
treat children up to three years old. Maybe in the future there will be
no older people with clubfeet in Madagascar because now we have three
years in which to treat children with this condition!”
Each week’s therapy began with Serah
and the other babies happily playing in water tubs while their mothers
soaked off the previous week’s plaster casts and chatted.
Bathtime/cast removal for baby Serah and her clubfoot buddy, Francia. We have the cutest patients!
Serah grew used to the physio team
“playing” with her bent feet – gently stretching and manipulating –
focusing one week on one degree and direction of foot flexion and then
focusing the next week on a different direction. After each session,
Serah’s feet were held in the newly attained position by fresh plaster
casts on her wriggling and kicking legs.
Serah had a total of six little casts
consecutively on both legs before her tenotomy procedure. This snip of
her Achilles tendons allowed her feet to fully pop into the final
corrected position. To maintain this ultimate degree of foot flexion,
she wore miniature foot braces for three months.
Serah
sporting her foot abduction braces. After three months of wearing them
all day, she needs to only wear them at night to keep her feet from
relapsing. (Kinda like wearing a retainer after having braces for the
teeth.) She will need to wear braces until about age 4, then the
correction is permanent.
Over months of therapy, the Ponseti
team helped Sandrine understand how vital her commitment to Serah’s
ongoing treatment is. In the final stage (the longest of the treatment),
Sandrine must ensure Serah wears the supplied foot braces every single
night until she is four or five years old. Only then will Serah’s
clubfeet be permanently corrected.
Sandrine says, “I was so sad, but now
I am overjoyed. Now we’re going to show Serah off, saying, ‘Here we
are! Come and see my baby!’ I am very happy now she has 'real' feet.”
When Serah takes her first steps, she
will be just like all her little toddler friends. No one will be able
to tell she was born with a disability.
Serah will never remember living with
the burden of bilateral clubfeet, but Sandrine will never forget the
life-sentence of disability her daughter was saved from. “My mother
cried before. We won’t cry now – we will dance!”
Serah being a little Ponseti method model for the camera and showing off her new feet! :)
Story by Sharon Walls
Edited by Nancy Predaina
Photos by Katie Keegan, Justine Forrest and Ruben Plomp
Today's post has been reblogged from "Through My Porthole". Enjoy!
Noely is a strong, proud Malagasy farmer. He is one of the blessed;
he owns a plot of land and raises coffee, pineapple and bananas to
provide for his wife and only child. Like most, he digs and cultivates
by hand using a few basic tools. At 40, Noely has already devoted a
life-time of back-breaking work to barely make ends meet.
One morning when Noely was washing he called out to his wife, “There
is something swelling on my neck!” What began like a small stone lodged
at the base of his throat gradually grew. As it didn’t hurt, Noely did
his best to ignore it (Note to self: men are the same everywhere!)
And still it grew.
The goitre grew for a decade. Pic Katie Keegan
Someone in the village told him the growth looked like a goitre, but
going to see a doctor never crossed Noely’s mind. He had never been to a
doctor in his life, “I would never think of spending money to fix it,”
he told me.
And still the lump below his throat grew.
This dignified man now required his daughter to tie his shoelaces.
Noely could no longer bend his neck to see his feet. The growth was
slowly distorting his ability to speak.
A decade after his disturbing discovery in the mirror, Noely’s
brother called him with amazing news. The Mercy Ship was returning to
Madagascar, and they were treating goitres – for free! “I’m going to do
everything I can to get there!” was Noely’s responce.
At a patient screening in August he was confirmed as a candidate for
goitre surgery later in the year, with no charge for any of care.
Just four days after being admitted to the ship’s ward in
January, Noely was headed home; “Feeling great” and minus the
softball-sized growth from his neck. It was totally amazing to see such a
huge change in such a short time.
Noely on the dock after his surgery. Pic Katie Keegan
When Noely swung by for his check-up 6 weeks later, he sure had some stories to tell me.
“When I first arrived back to my village, people were amazed. Some
people cried they were so happy. We had a really big party. They killed a
pig and ten chickens, and we danced and ate with my family and friends.
They were so happy to see me back happy and healthy!”
Noely really is a character. You can glimpse his dry sense of humour
is this last pic. I found it really interesting when he told me that
everyone in Madagascar born on Christmas day has “Noel” someone in their
name. How fun is that?!
Father, break my heart for what breaks Yours Give me open hands and open doors Put Your light in my eyes and let me see That my own little world is not about me.
Today, my heart was broken, not once, not twice, but three times for what breaks His. The first was Z., one of my swimming lesson mom's. Her eighth grade daughter is back in the hospital being treated for depression. She's a single mom with two girls, her youngest in lessons with me. English is not her first language and she's struggling, so I pray and she knows I pray . . .
The second was one of our staff. Her eight-year old son is starting puberty! His bone growth is that a twelve year old! This staff is also a single mom but with two boys. I am/was no help, but I know Who is, so once again, I pray . . .
The third was the mother of twins. They decided to join life early and their dear mother has had to battle for her little preemies ever since. But they're cute and they're fun and they're so creative - and they're five. And their school says they are behavior issues. When I see K. next week, I'll tell her what my husband says - don't change your girls to fit the school, find a school that fits your girls! Again, I pray . . .
Here in America, we teach flip turns for both the back crawl and freestyle. But you know what they teach in England? Tumble turns! And what would you rather learn? We voted for tumble turns at work this morning!
Seriously, I finish teaching my Ray/Starfish class at the Y this morning and I have two moms in tears. Why? One is moving to Kentucky and won't be able to have me as a teacher anymore (I'm on her third child!) and the other has a five year old! I looked at them both and said, "Ladies, we have one more week of lessons! I'll see you next week!" Gotta love it!
Matt and I were the only two home for dinner once again last night and I wasn't going to get stuck with dishes two nights in a row, so we went out to eat. When we got home, we saw neighbor daughter Mary's vehicle in her parent's driveway and it hit us at the same time!
For Easter, Matt had won a car window marker - and Mary's car window was right there! So we checked - the blinds were down on the windows by our house. We quickly snuck over while laughing hysterically and Matt wrote "Free" on Mary's back window.
About an hour later, Matt saw Mary get into her car, get out and go look at the back window and leave. Today we got the visit from Neighbor Nancy - did we know anything about Mary's car window? Let's just say Matt should never play poker because he can't cover his tracks as well as I can! We were busted! And what made it even funnier? They had just washed the car!
Matt
and I were the only two home for dinner last night, so we played a game
of "Skip-Bo" while eating - loser got to wash the dishes and clean the
kitchen! It became a vicious game - and not to my advantage! I got the
dishes!
