The Joys of Being Here

It is hard to believe that we have been doing surgeries here in Africa for two months already! I love being on the ward, it is such a happy place to be, full of smiles and laughter. There are children everywhere, playing games, running, being cuddled. In between my regular nursing duties, i.e., distributing medication, checking vital signs, emptying drains, and changing dressings,  I love to spend time with the patients playing games, weaving friendship bracelets, practicing my French and Kituba, and cuddling. Cuddling is definitely near the top of my list of the joys of being here.

 

 

Maxillofacial surgeries continue to happen at a steady rate, and I love getting to see my little children come in for their cleft lip surgeries. It is typically a simple surgery, but it makes such an immediate difference in these children's lives. I had a 9 year-old girl who was scheduled for a cleft lip surgery this week. She was so very quiet and serious and despite all my efforts, I could not coax a smile out of her. I thought she might be a little frightened, so I pulled up the pictures of young Vernel on the computer (see sidebar) and showed her his before and after photos and what his bandages looked like after he had surgery so that she knew what to expect. I have no idea what she has gone through in her nine years of living with a cleft lip, but she was so withdrawn and desperate for love. She hardly spoke, but she wanted to be held constantly. If I put her down so that I could attend to my other duties, she would follow me around and wait for me to finish my work so that I could pick her up again. Nine years old is a little old to want to be held and carried like that, but she seemed to need the extra love and attention. After surgery her new lip was still swollen, and she was still quiet, and wanted to be held and cuddled. While I was on night shift I held her in my arms until she was ready to sleep. I never did get to see her new smile, she went home only two days after her surgery. She comes back next week to have her stitches removed, and I hope to see a transformed little girl.

My Serious, Snuggly Child

Plastic surgery has finished for now, and orthopedic surgeries have begun. So many lives have already been changed for the better. Of all the surgeries that we do here, the plastics patients require some of the longest healing times. Most of these patients have burn contractures which have been repaired with skin grafts. Practically speaking this means that the surgeon takes healthy skin from another place on their body (usually the thigh) and uses it to repair the open places left when the scar tissue is cut away. Many of these patients will stay in the hospital for one to two months. We develop close relationships with these patients and their families. Even though we have finished the plastics surgeries, there are still ten or so plastics patients left on the ward waiting for their grafts to heal.

 

It has been so exciting to see the first few orthopedic patients come in. Beautiful children with cheerful smiles, excited laughter, and crooked legs, eager to shake your hand as they walk past you in the halls. Some of them will not need surgery, their legs will be put in a series of casts to straighten them. Others will need surgery to correct the more severe bone deformities. The first few are already walking down the hall, with their legs casted, learning how to walk with straight legs.  

Ortho patients on the dock

The greatest joy of being here? Simply watching my patients from admission to discharge. Seeing the changes in them as they are showered with love and unconditional acceptance. True, we have helped to heal them of whatever physical ailment they had, but the greatest thing that I get to do here is to make sure that each and every one of them know that no matter what they look like, they are not cursed. To let them know that they are human, they are intelligent, they are special, they are worthy of love, and they are loved by us and by God.

Hello from A Ward!!!