I Hope My Skin Remembers

We attended a medical lecture about surgery to removed facial tumors.
Large facial tumors are a problem in much of West Africa.  Dr Gary Parker has dedicated his life to serving the people of West Africa, and is a pioneer in developing the procedures that give life to people by removing facial tumors.

Dr Gary (as he is called on board) likes to quote " For Hope to be credible in the future, it must be tangible in the present."  What right do we have to say to people in West Africa, that tomorrow will be a better day?  They have no basis to believe that.   Life has never been better, and they don't have any evidence that it will ever change.  That's why providing this type of surgery is so significant.

Without treatment, these large facial tumors eventually block off the airway and people die the horrible death of suffocation.
Not having any medical training, I heard a lot of medical jargon, learned about how many bones are in the human head, and saw some graphic pictures of the surgeries taking place on the Africa Mercy to remove these tumors.  I also have a new appreciation for titanium - a material that fuses with bone. (yes - chemistry and metallurgy do matter!)

One of the interesting things about these tumors, is that as they grow, the skin stretches.  Often the face distorts because of where the tumor is located.  What Dr Parker has found, is that after the tumor is removed, the skin does shrink back to its original size.  It does have memory.  It takes several months, but time will bring the skin back to what it was like before the tumor started growing.  That's why the skin is not removed.

So people's lives are saved.  They may loose all their teeth and lose some feeling, but they can go back to their villages and live again.  They may only be able to each soft foods like soup or couscous, but they can eat, work and live again. They will experience that life is better.  Their villagers will see that life has changed.  They will have real tangible hope in the present.  That can lead to credible hope for the future.

Every day I see people with massive tumors.  they may be getting an xray, or be waiting for surgery.  they might be in the recovery ward with a heavily bandaged face.  I see fear replaced with hope.  And I see thankfulness and appreciation as they are given a chance to live again.


The human body is a wonderful, complex design.  The psalmist wrote "I praise you because  I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."  (Psalm 139:14).

Chuck

Dr Gary Parker on the Africa Mercy

Click on this link to learn more about Dr Gary Parker

The French Navy is a Good Neighbor

This week we saw the dock behind the Africa Mercy cleaned up and secured with a blockade of shipping containers.  Soon after that a French Navy Ship (a Frigate) docked.
They invited the crew from the Africa Mercy to tour their ship.  We took advantage of the opportunity.
We boarded The Commandant Blaison on a fairly steep gangway since it was high tide.

Notice how the area is secured by using cargo containers.
The French Frigate is 80.5 meters in length and holds a crew of 90 men!  It's tight quarters and very utilitarian.  There is no wasted space on this ship.
The dock was nice and clean in keeping with military standards.

Our tour guide did well with English, since none us spoke French.

A shade cover over the forward deck was welcome relief from the afternoon sun.

The ship was built in 1981 and was one of the first ships to used diesel fuel.  Prior patrol boats, used during the cold war to track submarines, used steam engines.  Steam engines took over 10 hours to start up.  Diesel engines cut that time down to about an hour. They expect the Navy will keep this ship for another 7 years.

The quarters are very tight.  Although we did not see the sleeping quarters, we were shown the stair to a lower level which housed 24 men.  Bunks are stacked three high. We were all thankful that the Africa Mercy has a lot more space.  This visit however, does give another picture of "community."  

It's always good to be reminded of the sacrifice that the military makes.  It's always good to be reminded of our allies serving to promote and protect freedom all around the world.

Chuck

Patient stories and Thanksgiving

It's been a busy week on the Africa Mercy!

If you've been following this blog, you know that our cute orthopedic patients are done with their surgeries.  But I can't resist showing you a couple of before and almost after pictures of twins who had surgery.

Here is the before surgery picture- I think you can see their bowed legs.

And these are the almost after pictures.  Almost, because these cuties will be coming back for physical therapy in the out-patient tent for a while.  And in the hospital, we can hear the whine of the saw when casts are being removed.  So the healing continues.

So what surgeries kept us so busy this week?

Cleft lip/palate surgeries and facial tumor surgeries happen throughout the field service.
I'm posting a photo of a facial tumor at the end of this post, so if disturbing medical pictures bother you, don't look!

There are a lot of facial tumors in West Africa.  In developed countries, these tumors start out as a small lump, and are quickly removed.  They are benign. When the medical team does the screening, they try to assess  where the tumor is growing.  When it invades the trachea, the patient will suffocate.
Sometimes the tumors can get quite large before they cause a breathing crisis.

On Thursday afternoon (American Thanksgiving) we got a call in the lab about a  tumor surgery that had vascular involvement, so there was a lot of bleeding.  The patient had been crossmatched for 2 units of blood, but they were going to need more.  We had two more available.  They also wanted some fresh units, which are better for the clotting factors.  So we started calling our crew donors!
The patient took 6 units of blood, and we had a unit left over to bank in case he needed more.  He came through the surgery, and is healing.

So it was a busy Thanksgiving.  Chuck saved some turkey dinner for me from our dining hall.  I'm thankful to be here and to be a part of the work.  I'm thankful to the crew who stop everything to  give a unit of blood.  I'm thankful for the kitchen staff who cook up Thanksgiving dinner.  And I'm thankful to God who makes it all happen.

Debbie

Facial tumors in West Africa.

Going to "The Island"

Often after dinner, we watch the sun set over the islands off the coast of Conakry.
Since we were given a three day weekend, we took a trip to Broom Island (or Ile Broume in French)

A local boat company on the same dock where the Africa Mercy is stationed provides transportation for Mercy Ship Crew on weekends to the middle island.  The boat holds about 25 people and takes about 40 minutes to get there.
The price was also arranged which makes it very affordable and eliminates the need to negotiate price or find your own transportation there.

Going to the Island is one way to get off the ship and out of the city. There are some hotels there  (African hotels) as well as beaches on both sides of the island.  One side had waves, the other was very calm.

We had two boats today.  Some people planned to stay overnight on the Island.
The ride was very smooth in these very solid wooden boats. 

Once we got to the island, we were let off close to the shore.  It was during high tide and 

we only had a couple feet of water to wade through.  We chose a path and found our way across the island to the beach with waves.

We found some shade and claimed our spot.  Since this beach was in front of a hotel, we bought a couple of cokes which gave us the legitimate right to be there.  The water was warm and the waves were good.  Many of the families moved to the other side of the island where there were no waves or undertow.  That was a much better beach for little children.

After lunch we decided we would explore a little. We heard there was a town on the island, but didn't know what was there (or where it was)

One of the better paths to the village

A friendly goat

 Along the trail we saw some goats, chickens, lizards and some butterflies.   We did not experience any mosquitoes, but we had DEET with us for preventive purposes.We found a path that led to the village Elijah.  Above is a path showing the vegetation.  Being this close to the equator, shade is very welcome.

The tree on the left was unusual.  I'd seen this type of fruit before, but still do not know what it is.

It may look like a tropical paradise, but it is really hot and humid.










One of the first building we saw when we got to the village was the school.

The building also advertised a library as part of the school.

As we walked into the village, we were greeted by three small enthusiastic children.  The oldest one (3-4 year old girl) came running to us with outstretched arms.  The children are very friendly.  They must have known were were not African by our pale skin.  Since our French is limited, we could say hello and goodbye and smile and return hugs.


We got back and found a shady spot where the boat was anchored and waited for a while.  While there, some traveling musicians came by to perform a personal concert.
My tip was less than the cost of two cokes.  Not knowing the customs, I hope it was OK. for the 3-4 songs they sang to us.

One of the songs sung in English (mostly) for our benefit was "Welcome to Africa" which also welcomed us to the Island of Broom.  I asked about their instruments.  The man on the right was playing castanets.  I asked a couple of times about the other two instruments.  The one second from the left is some sort of Kobe.  They called it something else.  It is a lute type instrument with 8-10 nylon strings.  The neck of the instrument is attached to a calabash with some type of skin around it.  Standing next to the Kobe player was the chief singer and dancer.  Behind them was a percussionist  who also had a unique instrument.  I cannot remember what it was called.

Note the arm muscles of the drummer in the back.  These Africans carry heavy loads and really work hard.  They are in really good shape without the benefits of a gym.  We watched a group of men carrying food and beverages from a boat up to a restaurant. They pick up enormous loads and walk casually taking them up the hill.  People are very friendly and they love their music.

We returned to port during low tide.  So to get off boat, we first stepped onto a larger tug boat, then climbed up a ladder about 10 ft.  Since there were small children and a baby on the boat, the Africans just picked up the kids and passed them up the ladder to the helping hands on the dock level. 

Chuck

African legs

We're entering a new phase of surgeries on the ship.
It's officially the end of orthopedic surgery.  The orthopedic surgeries are done early in the field service, because they require lots of follow up visits.  They sometimes need re-casting, and there's a lot of physical therapy.  The follow up care will continue, but they'll be outpatients.

There's a favorite story about a little boy who had two casts put on after surgery. The nurses couldn't figure out why he would not stop crying.  Was he in pain?  What was wrong?
He was worried that they had taken away his Africa legs, and given him white legs!

We've seen lots of kids in the halls of the hospital, trying out crutches, or being carried by the nurses.

The hospital is on deck 3.  Every day, the nurses carry these kids up the stairs so they can go outside on deck 7.  There they can be outside and they get pulled around in wagons.  That's a lot of carrying kids up a lot of stairs!

African women have a very efficient way of carrying their children.

The nurses have adopted this practice. It's a lot easier to carry all these kids around-and it's hands free!

  One male nurse had a baby strapped to his back. The African men were laughing so hard,they could hardly stand up!  Imagine a white man carrying a baby like an African woman!

,
Here are our two latest crew members and their moms.  Not quite the African way, but close!

Debbie

God's rich variety

I've been studying the book of Ephesians with a group of women on board.

Last week we came upon this verse:  God's purpose was to show his rich variety to all the rulers
and authorities in the heavenly realms.  (Ephesians 3:10)

We talked about how God's variety is showing itself to earthly leaders as well- and does so on the ship!

When Guinea's president, Alpha Conde visited the ship,he commented on the many different countries we have  represented here.  He said that he thought this was a ship full of people from the United States, and was amazed that so many people from so many cultures can work together.
Here are some pictures of our diverse crew:

Here are a bunch from New Zealand.  Do you know that it takes 44 hrs to fly here from New Zealand?

I guess we can figure out where's she's from!

 

There are a lot of people from a lot of different places.

So many people.  And so many different jobs.

These folks are working in the dental clinic.

Anyone want to work in the OR sterilization room?

How about this job?  Does anyone want to hang off the side of the ship?

Of course, we have to have pictures of the OR team and some ward nurses!


We also had a church leader take a tour of the ship.  He wanted to know how so many denominations can work so well together.  He said that we should write a book!

It is amazing.  I'm amazed by all the different accents I hear.  (some of which I have trouble understanding)  We laugh at our differences.  What is that marmite stuff that the Brits eat?  And why do they put hot water in a cold drink?  And why does our friend from Austria think that the American girls are so "emotional?'  And what is that smell of the sauce that the Africans eat?

And my answer is that only God can make this all happen.  Only God can pull all these different people together to work toward the same purpose.

Debbie

Life in the lab of the Africa Mercy

I got to see malaria under the microscope this week.

H

This is a slide from the NYS department of health.  That's where I've seen malaria slides before.
But this one was for real.

Actually, we have a good, accurate serological test in the lab for malaria.  It's a much better test than looking for the parasites in a blood smear.  But we knew this patient had malaria, so we made a slide for fun.  That's what we do for fun in the lab.

Here's a picture of a blood bank in a hospital at home:

Here's a picture of the blood bank on the ship:

It's the crew!  We talked to a nurse who told us that once she gave blood, walked over to the unit where she was working, and ended up transfusing her own blood into her patient.  That's different!
We do have some units of blood stored.  We draw some of the more common types, and keep it in our small refrigerator.  Blood is good for five weeks, so it doesn't get wasted.
If your blood type is B, you're in demand on the ship.  Africans have a higher percentage of B than the population on the ship.

Most patients who are having surgery are admitted the evening before their surgery.
We have one patient whose facial/neck tumor is so large that he has been admitted early.  He has a trach and a feeding tube to prepare him for surgery.  Every morning we run his tests to make sure his levels are OK.  He has become part of our morning routine.  There are a lot of people praying for this man!

Debbie