Today's post is reblogged from "Be More Heart" by Kathy Shearon. Kathy is a medical lab scientist aboard the good ship Mercy and hails from Minnesota!
Surgeries have been going on now for almost two months and we have
had many stories of miracles and restoration and God’s faithfulness to
our patients. Some come from the far corners of Cameroon where the arid
landscape of the northern districts differs from the lush tropical
surroundings in Douala. I can only imagine the sort of bravery it takes
for our patients to leave everything that is familiar and travel many
miles on roads of all conditions to arrive at a white ship for an
unknown fate. They are the brave ones, they are the heroes. Surgery in
any context is no light matter and it takes an unfathomable amount of
faith and hope to come to a far away place that is so different than
your everyday normal.
Come and meet a few of our patients. A thank you to our wonderful communications team who allows us glimpses into their lives.
We had our final orthopedic surgeries last week so all the kids have
started their long road to walking on straight legs. B ward (where they
all stay when admitted) may be slowly emptying but our physical
therapists’ (aka physios in some parts of the world) days are filling up
as they work with the patients to increase their range of motion so the
kids will one day run with the rest of their peers.
This is Justine. She is a 12-year-old with an infectious grin and
sweet demeanor and was our first ortho patient. She suffered from an
extreme case of bowed legs caused from malnutrition. She is up and
walking around with the aid of crutches. The photo on the right shows
her taking her first steps with one of the physios, Ashley, cheering her
on. I have always admired the determination these kids have. Their
drive to master relearning how to walk is truly inspirational.
Eventually Justine will be able to keep up with the rest of the kids her
age. One of my favorite sights at the hope center is the kids in casts
playing a little soccer not letting the casts get in their way. Hope
in action.
This is Ernest. It is hard to tell looking at the left-hand picture
but Ernest is in his late 20s and has had this facial tumor for almost a
decade. Those eyes tell of the hardships and desperation he has faced
in his young life. While his peers have gone off to get jobs, pursue
schooling or to start families, he has been unable to do any of these
things. I always love the stories of when our patients get to see their
reflection post-op for the first time (the photo on the right). Many
times they lift their hands up to touch their face and they stop by
habit to where the tumor once was. Then they slowly close the gap
between their hand and their face finally tumor free. It is a
beautiful!
What I first noticed about Fadimatou was her grinning eyes and
beautiful head scarf. She comes from one of the northern districts and
had to travel many hours to get to Douala. She is 13 and for those who
have spent much time with kids this age know how strong the desire is to
fit in. Since birth Fadimatou has suffered with her cleft lip. She
is a fighter, however, because many babies are not able to get the
nutrients that they need to survive to school age. Her surgery has been
successful and she can travel home with her lip intact!
Last, but most certainly not least, is our fistula patients (aka
VVF). What is this exactly? Our VVF patients suffer obstetric fistulas
which is a hole between the vagina and bladder, rectum, or both. These
injuries are caused by prolonged obstructed labor most often resulting
in the death of the infant and the mother incontinent for life. This is
an unheard of childbirth injury in the western world. We have access
to first class healthcare where birthing mothers can get help if they
need it. Some of these women were in labor for days with no assistance
or relief. The birth of a child is traditionally a joyous occasion no
matter what part of the world you find yourself in. Sadly for most of
the ladies here their lives have been marked with deep sadness. Many of
our ladies that come to have surgery have lived with these injuries for
5, 10, 20 years. Their stories may break my heart but the hope and joy
they have at being here fills my soul. The recovery process for this
type of surgery is quite long so we get to know our VVF patients
(lovingly called the ladies) quite well. Everyday they are encouraged
to walk the halls and sing. It is one of my favorite parts of the day.
When they are finally dry and their fistula surgery has been a
success (some need a second or third) each lady gets to attend a dress
ceremony. Here each one gets to share her testimony and gets a brand
new beautiful dress to show her rebirth into society. She has gone
through tremendous healing: physical, spiritual and emotional. I
attended one last week and it was beautiful to see them walk down the
hall, dressed in new, colorful dresses with their head held high singing
all the way. It is a privilege to get to celebrate with them.
A few weeks ago I finished a remarkable book about a clinic that was
started in Ethiopia by an Australian couple who specialize in fistula
surgeries: The Hospital by the River by: Catherine Hamlin. I would highly recommend it!
These are only a few stories from the hundreds of faces that will
pass through the hospital wards throughout the field-service. Please
continue to pray for each and every one of them. They all do not have
happy endings and for every “yes” for a surgery there are many “nos”.
There is always hope in our creator who is a part of everything we do on
the Africa Mercy and in Cameroon.
“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now;
rather we fix
our gaze on things that cannot be seen.
For the things we see now will
soon be gone,
but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
– 2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT
Alas, it was a most lovely drive through the countryside today with all the brilliant fall colors. Sadly, that was the highlight of the day. My team build was fine. The zippers were fine. Nothing noteworthy or exciting to write about, but the colors - they were most excellent!
