Waiting on her miracle

Not all the small ones who come to the Africa Mercy have time for their miracle to happen. I use miracle very freely in these terms because it is all of that. In West Africa without this ship there is zero chance of having tumors removed, legs straightened, etc. A benign facial tumor is a worse death sentence than a malignant one, as the malignant tumor will kill you rapidly, whereas a benign tumor will close off your windpipe slowly. Slowly asphixiating to death has got to be one of the worst ways to go, until you pass out from lack of oxygen. Quite a number of patients with large facial tumors are coming to mind, who otherwise would be "checking out". Their worried, anxious faces coming onboard, their sweet smiles and laughter postoperatively.

Sometimes however, the timing is not right. This is baby Fatmata Jalloh. Inappropriately named, there is not an extra ounce on this tiny treasure. She has a large cystic hygroma growing on the side of her neck.  A month or so ago her mother brought her to the ship having travelled all the way from Guinea, two countries over, with the hopes of having this alarming mass removed from her precious girl's neck.

However we learned from previous children that this is going to be a complicated recovery, and the quandry that comes to the ship at the end of every outreach commenced with Fatmata. What do you do with the patients who desperately need help, but the ship is not going to be here to undertake the necessary postoperative care? The ship is nearing the end of the Sierra Leonian outreach for 2011. And Fatmata's recovery is going to take months. In the western world it wouldn't be such a fix, of course, on several different counts. 1. Early detection would have significantly reduced risks. 2. Even postoperatively there is home health and physician followup, so whereas at home you'd send somebody home, here it's not a viable option as infection could easily set in in the squallor of the filthy cities.

God has his eye on this little one and will not forget her. And these are the moments that make me so happy that we serve an awesome God.  Did you know that the Africa Mercy is headed to Connakry, Guinea? heeheehe. I love it. The upcoming outreach is in Togo for the first half of the year, the second half is Guinea, where she is from. The ship is coming to her! Tiny Fatmata has her chance and it is going to work out so well for her, as her tiny can't even stand up on it's own yet. The hygroma has been so large it's affected her swallowing. The Africa Mercy dietician has placed her on a feeding program of swallowable, high calorie foods that she will actually eat. She is two years old and weighs as much as a 6 month old baby.

So God-willing, little Fatmata, who already has her appointment letter for the ship in Guinea will show up, fatter, and ready for the surgery that will save her life.