Spunk at 91

My little old patient waves at me yesterday from his bed, "Come here! come in here, real close!"
He peers intently at my hair and states, "Nope, no red. I need a redhead!"
Me: "Gosh what do you need a redhead for?"
Him: "I have a coldsore! If you kiss a redhead your coldsore goes away!" Dismisses me with a wave of a hand, as his daughter shakes her head and I have to hold onto the bedrails shaking with laughter.

Bleaching the wards

The field service is at days from it's end in Sierra Leone for the Africa Mercy. Our final patients have now left and are being seen by the Sierra Leonians that were trained for that purpose while onboard.

So what have we been spending our time doing? Why bleaching. Bleaching everything. Twice. The walls, the ceilings, the cupboards, everything in them, the beds, the mattresses, pillows, risers, toys, games, you name it. It's been bleached once, left to dry and bleached again. The smell of it is pretty pervasive at this point and I smell like a bleach bottle.

Once bleached down, everything that moves is getting strapped down for the sail... so it won't pitch and roll into someone or something. Huge amounts of work going on right now, and we're all pretty tired at the end of the day.

But of course we had have some fun with it all.

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.

Water Wars

To say I've worked with the loveliest group of ladies in Africa is the understatement of the century. Tears, tons of laughter, hugs, good talks, cups of tea, back rubs, movie nights, frustrations, cross-cultural moments of angst and "huh!"... what's to say. Full and bounteous life has been ours while aboard. From arguments and disappointments to the wide range of experiences and patient stories, we've shared moments that could fill books.

So Merry Pineu and a band of other wicked gals got us all together on the dock, sat chairs in circles and we had a lovely moment of chatting, and then the water balloons started to fly. I believe the funniest comment I heard during the shrieking was "where is it coming from???!!!"

Evil. Just evil. Merry, Alyssa, Heather, Noel & Christina

Photos by Justin Grant - and maybe some waterballoon filling?

Sierra Leonian Signage

Here are a few odd or funny signs I've seen written on billboards, boats, canoes, trucks, mudguards, stores, etc. since arriving in Sierra Leone.

Bon Bons "filled with pleasure and emotions"

Slave of Allah (on a truck passing by)

Give Islam a Try (on another truck)

Retry Islam (the third truck. really....)

Sierra Leon-Iranian Consul (don't see that one at home...)

Female Condom - It is safe! It is nice!

Unity Welding Shop :-)

The truth will set you free! (front of another truck)

Hard Time/No Friends (on mudguards on a truck)

Nor pis ya!! Fine 50,000 SLL (translation, don't pee here!! Seen on a wall)

Looking Good is Beautiful Salon

Haj Account (local bank will set up a savings account exclusively to get you to Mecca)

Ingenering Sohp (yup, spelled just like that)

Baptist Dread Locks!!!!! (I wonder what makes them Baptist?!)

No Money, No Friend (on a boat)

God is good all the time (Front of another truck)

a photo of me and the Princess!

So a photo has emerged of myself and Princess Anne from her visit to the Africa Mercy! Go figure!

Ha! I'm one of the little ant-sized people hanging over the balcony on the far, faaaar top left :-)  

Here she is visiting with the patients, in this case with Fatmata and the adorable baby Ali, everybody's favorite "Snuffleupagus" as we've nicknamed him. Nurse Frances shown with her, Mary from Patient Life in purple, and a Day Volunteer as translator.