PTgypsy

Hi Friends! We only have a week left of this field service and our last surgery was on Friday. While it is sad that our time here is coming to an end, it has been fun to reflect on the many happy experiences and surgeries that have been performed. In the rehab tent, we mostly work with patients with orthopedic and plastic surgeries to regain motion of stiff and unused joints. Sometimes we get the honor of working with some of the maxillofacial patients to help with scar management and work on jaw mobility.

The patient below is named Charity and she is the sweetest woman with the most precious giggle. I love how even in some of the pre-surgical photos you can tell she's smiling. Charity had a large facial tumor, she needed surgery to save her life because the tumor will grow so large it will push her tongue backwards and obstruct her airway. Charity is from Ghana and an NGO named VARAS fund raised to get her to Mercy Ships for surgery. The man from VARAS who brought Charity was named Sylvester. I was so impressed with him because he was with Charity for months while she received treatment with Mercy Ships. What a selfless act, to fundraise and accompany someone through this journey. Many people have a family member come but Sylvester has only just met Charity.

I treated Charity after surgery, we worked on using her jaw muscles to chew and talk functionally. Her tumor was so large her jaw didn't move much before her surgery and her muscles were very stretched out. After working on jaw exercises we taught her how to massage her scar, and gave her a chin strap to apply pressure to her scar to manage her scar growth. On her last day we did a discharge dance for her, initially she didn't want to dance so I asked if I could dance for her and she obliged. Once the music(WAKA WAKA) started playing she danced and giggled the entire time, it was so sweet(it's not a sound I will soon forget). I love to ask what people are most excited about when they return home. She said she was so excited to see her children and Sylvester was excited to see his mother. I recently saw a photo of Charity on the VARAS Facebook page, she has returned home and was wearing her pressure garment in the photo! Woohoo!

Charity before

Many of the patients that have large tumors hide their faces with fabric.

I love how you can see her big smile in this photo

I love watching the patients look at themselves after surgery.

Leaving the ship

Sylvester and Charity

Beautiful inside and out

I love how much joy Sylvester exudes seeing Charity healed.

On her last day

One of my favorite experiences from Cameroon was the Women's dress ceremony, so I made sure that I came so as many as I could here in Guinea. The ceremony celebrates the women who have had surgery for vaginal fistulas. Many of these women have had fistulas for years, sometimes decades. They leak urine and/or feces constantly and are often shunned from their community. I sobbed during this dress ceremony. One woman would not stop dancing and in her testimony she admitted that she was not completely healed, but she could dance because this was the first time in twenty years she had been loved. She was dancing because she was loved, and had conversation with other women and Mercy Ships staff. She kept mentioning that she hadn't mingled in decades and she was just so happy to have relationships and be loved. I am getting choked up again typing, I can't imagine that type of loneliness. The nursing staff deserves all the credit, they love these women fiercely. You walk by the ward and busy nurses are taking the time to sit with, cuddle, and pray for these women. During the ceremony we get to dance with the women in their new dresses and each woman gives their testimony. After the testimonies each woman is given a going away self care kit. The chaplaincy team calls out someone to give each woman a gift. It is always a surprise who will be called, honestly I think they just look for someone whose name they know :). I got to go up and give the gift, pray with, and hug the woman whose testimony I shared above. What an honor.
My friend Kelly is a nurse on board and writes a great blog and recently wrote a wonderful, raw, truthful account of working with the fistula patients, if you'd like to learn more.

The entrance to the ceremony, all the women looked so beautiful.

Praise!

What a wonderful soul.

The women in their gorgeous dresses.

Our rehab tent came down last week and all of our patients have been discharged so we've been scrounging up work in different departments on board. This week I have poured coffee, counted pills, and put together first aid kits. It has been fun to see the different roles on board and see how each part makes this hospital function. One thing I love about Mercy Ships is that every person tries to relay the importance of every team member. Every one is an important cog in the wheel, and every is needed to make this work. I have been feeling so nostalgic and really thinking about the last three months here. I remember each patient giggle, hug, and cry. I think about the friends I have made and the tears, dance parties, moto rides, conversations, and the many many laughs we've shared. I can't help but feel so lucky, so blessed, and so privileged. I often wonder how I've been so blessed to have the life I do. I don't know what is next but I this experience won't be soon forgotten!

Just wanted to share some of my photos of the friendly faces I get to share this experience with!