Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Decisions

A bit rough at sea
A lot has changed since my last post.  It's hard to believe that a month ago we had a vague idea of what will happen this coming year.  As I am writing this, I am currently being rocked, bumped & rolled as the ship sails through 4ish meter swells coming at us slightly off our beam (thats maritime talk for big waves hitting us on our side- not the most pleasant situation as it makes everything slide, crash &/or break).  Even though it is rough sailing, we are at last sailing & not only that, but sailing to our Country Next!

And where might that be?

Well, let me tell you how we got to this point.  So Ebola.  Everyone knows about Ebola.  It's in the news, it's causing panic, it's a real pain in the you-know-what.   And to be really selfish, it has kept me from my home in Africa.  But this entry isn't about Ebola, it's about what's next. 
What happens when you don't secure for sea

We enjoy our views of Table Mountain from the ship
So once the decision was made not to go to any place in West Africa or even back to Congo, we looked around for other options.  One jumped out at us almost immediately.  Soon a plan came together.  Almost a month after we were suppose to leave for our field service in Benin, we finally left Gran Canaria heading south towards Cape Town, South Africa. 

No, South Africa is not our Country Next.  No Cape Town was a stopover after a 16 day sail (a sail that was relatively calm & enjoyable, until the last 3 days when it got really rough, but that's another story)  We spent 3 weeks in Cape Town to take on supplies, fuel, crew & to promote Mercy Ships in South Africa, all the while giving our Advance Team time to prepare for our arrival in our Country Next. 


A big part of our stay in Cape Town was giving tours to people in order to recruit new crew.  We gave 45 minute invite tours, complete with the "hospital experience"  where visitors became "patients", were given before photos of actual patients & were taken to the wards & told a story about one of our patients.  The story was interrupted by the OR nurse because the OR was "ready" & we needed to go.  A short video was shown in the OR to show why we do what we do & then they were returned to the ward to hear the rest of the story.  Another video was played to show the transformation of our patients & the visitors had the opportunity to find their patient's after photo.  It was really moving experience.
The lines outside

Giving tours in the OR
Along with the invite tours, we had 3 days of public tours.  It was a shorter experience, but no less moving.  In 3 days we had close to 5,000 people come on the ship & many people expressed an interest in helping us with our mission.

Of course our time in Cape Town wasn't all work & no play.  I had the opportunity to go on a game park safari (seeing 4 out of the Big 5- the Cape Buffalo was hiding), swam with penguins, went up Table Mountain & drove around the cape.  I also had the chance to swim with Great White Sharks!

Up close & personal with the King of Beasts
Penguins!
On top of Table Mountain
In the cage

I often stop & think, is this really my life?  How did I get so lucky that my home goes to all these cool places?  How many people can say their job took them to a place where we had to have a safety briefing on not making eye contact with the lions that are laying 4 feet from us at eye level?

Here come the Great White!
So that brings us to right now, rocking & a rolling on the high seas.  Ok, ok, I know you are probably frustrated by now not knowing where we are going or our Country Next, so I'll tell you.  Mercy Ships accepted the invitation from of the President of the Republic of Madagascar to bring the Africa Mercy to Madagascar for its next field service until the middle of 2015. 

Yep, Madagascar.  A large island in the Indian Ocean, off the southeast coast of Africa, roughly twice the size of Arizona.  Where hundreds of different animal & plant species are found no where else in the world.  Where more than 43% of its more than 22 million inhabitants are under the age of 20, & the nation is positioned 151 out of 187 nations in the UN Human Development Index151 out of 187 countries in the U.N. Human Development Index. The Mercy Ship is expected to sail with a stopover in Cape Town, South Africa, at the end of the month for refueling and crewing. Anticipated arrival into Tamatave, Madagascar, is by the end of October. 1 out of 187 countries in the U.N. Human Development Index. The Mercy Ship is expected to sail with a stopover in Cape Town, South Africa, at the end of the month for refueling and crewing. Anticipated arrival into Tamatave, Madagascar, is by the end of October 151 out of 187 countries in the U.N. Human Development Index. The Mercy Ship is expected to sail with a stopover in Cape Town, South Africa, at the end of the month for refueling and crewing. Anticipated arrival into Tamatave, Madagascar, is by the end of October..  Ninety percent of the population lives on less than two dollars per day, & official reports indicate that Madagascar has about 16 doctors for every 100,000 citizens.  

 We are planning on arriving in Tamatave, Madagascar on Saturday.  We'll have about 2 weeks to set up & get ready for surgeries that are suppose to start 11 November.  After all this time waiting, wondering & worrying, we finally have a plan, a goal & a purpose.  We are all excited about these next 8 months & what the future holds after that. 


Please pray for calmer seas (I don't think anyone slept last night- good gravy!  Things were flying left & right in my cabin last night!).  Pray for a safe arrival, our Advance Team who have been in Madagascar since beginning of September.  Pray for our patients to be found, good relationships with the government & the people.

Blessings

Friday, September 12, 2014

Lord, When You Close a Door, Will You Show Me a Window?

Waiting is not my forte.  Believe it or not, I am not a lazy person.  I need to be constantly busy, even watching tv I am browsing the internet, texting, & playing video games all the while holding a conversation with the person next to me.  I always need to be kept busy, be on the move.

I've been trying to become more patient & leave my life in God’s hands.  It is a new concept to truly hand over the reins & go where I am led.  I buck & fight & say, “but what about this plan?”  My biggest challenge has been the past month.  As we watched Ebola run rampant across West Africa, my heart's home, the uncertainty of the ship’s future plans was palpable.  As the choices for probable countries decreased due to Ebola, we were left scrambling to find a country that had a safe harbor & could support us on short notice.  On top of that, we also discovered an issue with one of the ship’s propellers & needed to return to shipyard in order to fix things.  One thing after another.

As we waited with baited breath to find out where we could go, a small voice inside kept telling me to do something.  I made a promise to help those in need & stripping & waxing the floors didn’t seem to be fulfilling that promise.  My feet were itching & my heart was aching, I needed to do something.  I kept having this feeling like I was needed somewhere, I needed to be helping.  I went as far as contacting Samaritan’s Purse & putting my name on their Ebola taskforce waiting list.  I had it all figured out, fly to the UK, go to Liberia, work for 2 weeks, fly back to the UK for 3 weeks of quarantine & then meet the ship where ever it was going to be.  Sounded perfect.  The dates seemed to be lining up, as more & more changes & challenges with the ship appeared, it was like God was opening the door for me to go.  I didn’t want to go, but I did. 

Uncertainty of the future is something I think everyone fears.  We like to know what is coming, we like to plan & have back up plans.  When we are asked to just wait & see, we become stressed, tempers flare, feelings are hurt.  Small issues become big ones.  So many times God has asked us to stop, listen & wait.  How many times have we thought we’ve known better? 

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you & not to harm you, plans to give you hope & a future” (Jeremiah 29:11)  One of my favorite verses.  As I look over this whole big mess of tangled possibilities, I know that God knows what I am supposed to do.

So we have a plan, a course before us now.  Even though we know where we are going, we cannot officially announce it yet until next week.  Needless to say, we are sailing away from the Canary Islands this weekend.  We will have a long sail, with a stopover for a couple weeks in another country, before continuing on to the country next.  I will be sailing.  I wasn’t sure, because I was waiting to hear back from Samaritan’s Purse about helping in West Africa, but another voice told me to rest, there will be other opportunities to help.  So I am going to rest.  My heart still cries for my home & friends back in West Africa, but I know I am to rest for now.

Please pray for
-  Protection over the people of West Africa
-  Their governments to make wise decisions out of knowledge & not fear
-  Protection over those that God has called to aide in the relief efforts
-  Our ship sailing into our country next

Blessings

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Three Hats, One Heart

So up until now, I have only been focusing on my job as the OR Educator.  Mondays I spend most of the day doing orientation with all the new nurses that arrive.  With such a high turnover rate in the OR, it isn’t uncommon to have 4-7 new nurses a week, that can be 1/3 of the staff in the OR!  The rest of the week, I try to focus on the education of our Day Crew- organizing classes, preceptors, & training opportunities.  When I’m not do any of that, I am sitting at a computer doing ordering & other tasks that need to be done.  There just never seems to be enough hours in the day.

Everyone gathers to say Thank You to Dr Itengre before he leaves
But all that has been put on the back burner for the time being as I don another hat.  VVF OR Team Leader.  VVF started 6 weeks ago.  We had a rocky start trying to get our ladies from all over the country to the ship in time for screening & surgery.  But because of that delay, we were able to focus on another overlooked group of women- women who have GYN issues that aren’t fistulas.  These are women with uterine prolapses or cystoceles & rectoceles (where the bladder or rectum prolapses into the vagina).  This is a new adventure in surgery for the ship- we are just starting a Women’s Health program.  It seemed to be a success.

The ladies have fun on Deck 7
As team lead, I work closely with the Ward VVF Team Leader, Steph.  She & I were team leaders last year in Guinea & get a long fabulously, I can’t tell you how awesome it is that I have her as a counterpart in all this.  Together with our surgeons- Dr Itengre Ouedraogo, a surgeon from Burkina Faso living in Niger & Dr Sunday Lengmang, a surgeon from Nigeria, & an awesome team of nurses in the OR & the ward, we work to restore these beautiful women’s dignity & self worth.

Let the party begin!
There have been challenges, non-ideal outcomes, long days, even longer nights, but through it all you just need to step onto the ward & see all the smiling faces & hear the laughter to know that this is where we are supposed to be right now.  Throughout the day & even in the evening, we can hear singing coming from Deck 3 (where the hospital is).  This is our ladies going for a walk up & down the hall, singing & dancing.  It truly is something that needs to be experienced.
The first of many dress ceremonies

As always, we have a dress ceremony for our ladies who are healed, no longer leak urine or feces & are ready to be discharged.  It’s like a graduation ceremony; only instead of a diploma the ladies receive the greater gift of hope.  The colors of their dresses & the jewelry only enhance their natural beauty,  making them stunning to look at.  It is a time of hugs & kisses, dancing & singing, telling their story & tears, all rolled into one short emotional rollercoaster.



A grateful lady thanks Dr Itengre



Beautiful smiles


Blessings

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Patient Story- Claire

Here is another amazing story written by one of our ship writers about a woman name Claire.  She had a goiter that grew over the past 25 years & almost killed her.  I was privileged to assist Dr AJ with her surgeon.  Here's her story...

For a barely four-foot-tall woman named Claire, social rejection was a daily reality. The focus of this negative attention was an enormous goiter hanging conspicuously from her neck like a sack of oranges.
In the chaos of the street market in Pointe Noire, Congo, Claire just wanted to shop unnoticed. As she wove her way through throngs of shoppers, she tried to ignore the stares and the brusque way she was shoved by passersby. 
But then, as usual, attention suddenly focused on Claire. She recoiled as insults were hurled at her, and people stopped to stare. As a crowd gathered around her, someone declared that she was a witch. Another yelled that she ate human flesh, and that’s what caused her neck to enlarge. She quickly turned away in shame, tried to cover the softball-sized bulges of the goiter, and pushed past the crowd to escape. 
The emotional trauma of verbal insults added to the physical ache from carrying the misshapen, heavy mass. The pain radiated down her back, all the way to her waist. With no money for surgery, she felt hopeless. The only way to avoid the ridicule was to become a recluse.     
Emotional pain was certainly no stranger to Claire. Eight of her twelve children had died of malaria and other illnesses; only four had reached adulthood. And how, she had only one surviving daughter, Olga. Since the age of 8, Olga, now 36, had watched the mass on her mother’s neck enlarge. Now Olga has 3 children of her own to take care of, as well as her beloved mother. She said, “It hurt me so much to see my mother with this condition. When I was young, I woke up every day and looked at her to see if it was gone. I prayed that one day God would do something to help us. Neighbors told us that we could get it removed with surgery, but we had no money for that.”
As the goiter grew, Claire was no longer able to plant and harvest crops – cassava, peanuts, and sweet potatoes – to provide income for her family.  It became too painful to bend over.  
When Claire’s husband died in 2004, she had to depend upon her daughter Olga for support.  Despite the lack of running water or electricity, Olga’s small tin shack provided shelter from the elements. Claire’s bed was a thin pad on the floor draped by a mosquito net. As soon as the tropical sun rose above the other houses, it became too hot to stay inside. The family would sit under a large avocado tree while Olga heated water over a fire to make coffee to drink with bread and butter for breakfast.  Lunch consisted of fish, if they had enough money to buy it, and cassava.
They had no way of knowing that a staple in their diet, cassava, was a goitrogen, a class of food substances that cause goiter growth. Mercy Ships volunteer Endocrine Surgeon A.J. Collins explains, “In Africa, eating cassava is a well-established cause for promoting the growth of large goiters. It contains a compound called thiocyanates, and this is a powerful blocker of iodine uptake into the thyroid gland,” said Dr. Collins. Lack of iodine is one of the factors that contribute to enlarged goiter growth, which is all too commonly seen in the African population. Simply providing iodine supplementation does not cure the problem.
In August last summer, a local pastor stopped near Olga’s home. He made an announcement on a loud speaker that a hospital ship was coming to provide free surgeries. It was a Mercy Ship. 
The pastor showed Claire “before” and “after” pictures of another person with a goiter who’d had a free surgery onboard the Africa Mercy. She was shocked to see someone else with the same huge mass bulging from their neck. And she realized that maybe she could be healed! She became giddy with excitement, laughed out loud, and jumped up and down with joy. The pastor explained that the Mercy Ship would have a Patient Selection Day in one week. “I want to go there now!” Claire exclaimed excitedly.
 “It was the first time my mother ever had hope of having her goiter removed,” explained Olga. “And it was the first time I ever felt that my mother could be helped,” she said.
Claire and Olga attended Patient Selection Day for Mercy Ships with over 7000 other people from all over Congo and some neighboring countries. Finally, it was Claire’s turn to be examined by the Mercy Ships volunteer medical team. She was thrilled when she received an appointment for a free surgery onboard the Africa Mercy to remove her goiter. 
Surgery day couldn’t come soon enough for the 73-year-old who had carried this heavy load for twenty eight years. By this time, the huge goiter had grown to more than 3% of her 35 kilos of body weight. 
On the day before Claire’s surgery, Olga, wrapped in a colorful African scarf, sat beside her mother’s hospital bed. They had waited and prayed for so many years for this moment to come. 
The next day, nurses escorted Claire to the OR where surgeon A.J. Collins was waiting. The surgery took several hours due to the size and complexity of the abnormal growth.  
Olga wept when asked how she felt about seeing her mother after surgery. She could barely even remember what her mother had looked like before the large mass had started to grow.    
“I’m so overwhelmed with joy,” Olga said. “The first day we came to meet Mercy Ships we didn’t know what the outcome would be. Right now, I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to Mercy Ships and all the doctors and nurses who changed my mother’s life. I never thought my mother would have this surgery. She had this condition for so many years. I’m very, very happy.”    
Now, Claire will be able to walk down the street and shop in the local market without the fear of being mocked. She has been freed from both the physical and emotional pain.
At her post-operative checkup, Claire greeted her surgeon Dr. A-J Collins with a big smile and two thumbs up. “Before surgery, I was sick and very sad. But, now, since having the operation, I feel alive,” she remarked.

Claire is escorted to the OR

Onboard the Africa Mercy, Mercy Ships volunteer endocrine surgeon A.J. Collins removed the goiter in a free surgery.


After surgery, a very happy Claire said, “Before surgery, I was sick and very sad. But, now, since having the operation, I feel alive!” 

 Story by Pauline Rick
Edited by Nancy Predaina
Photos by Michelle Murrey, Pauline Rick, and Deb Bell

Blessings

Saturday, December 14, 2013

In the Classroom

The first few months of surgery has come & gone.  What a rollercoaster! I’m settling into my new job as OR Nurse Educator, a job that has me more at a computer than in the OR (not sure how well I like that right now), but I get to meet all the new people that come to the ship & help them adjust to the Mercy Ships’ way of life.  I also get to work with the Day Crew, our local crew that are part of the Nurse Education Program, with all the joys & frustrations that go with it!  I am finding new found respect for teachers now, especially my nursing instructors-  I don’t know how you do it & not loose your sanity! 

Ok- to be fair, the class room bits are fine & the nurses are excited to learn & participate, they pick things up really quick & even though English is still a struggle for most of them, they eager to learn.  It’s the managing of all the stuff- be on time, only 30 minutes for lunch, stay in your room, etc, that has me pulling out my hair!  A lot has to do with the cultural differences between the priorities in time.  It would be considered rude to leave a meal when others are still eating, even if that means that makes you 20 minutes late coming back from lunch.  And with English not being their first or even fourth language, communication can be a struggle, as medical English isn’t necessarily taught in school. *sigh*

But with all the frustrations, I do enjoy seeing that flash of light in their eyes when they get to try something new or see a new way of doing things.  Most of our day crew nurses are older than I am & have been working in hospitals for many, many years, but as many of my nursing friends, a good nurse never stops learning.  We’ve been focusing on patient care, performing patient safety checks (Time Outs), positioning & prepping the patient correctly & safely. 

Here’s a little bit of what we have been doing.
 
Renovathe is learning the name of the instruments

Ines is doing the Time Out

Missy leading the positioning class

Ali teaches about airway management

Flavien puts on his sterile gloves

Jean Francois helps Isabelle prep

Jean Francois does the initial count

Oldresse practices an abdominal prep


Blessings

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Patient Stories- The Vernel Effect

This is a lovely story written by one of the ship writers.  A little taste of what we are doing here in Congo.
Enjoy!

It’s impossible to be angry with Vernel because he’s just too cute – and now he knows it!
Vernel is a wily six-year-old who is probably up to something that he’ll most likely get away with. Why will he get away with it? Because when he looks up at you, with that lovable, mischievous grin, he mesmerizes you with his sweetness. Your only conscious thought is about how adorable he is. Were you about to reprimand him? You can’t remember.
I call this “The Vernel Effect.”
Vernel’s story begins in a fishing village eight hours from Congo’s port city of Pointe Noire. The cleft on the right side of his upper lip revealed his pink gums and front teeth as it stretched toward his nostril. Vernel was bullied for looking different, his dad says. The other children in their village teased him to the point that he would come home crying. Who could possibly have the heart to make Vernel cry?
Vernel’s father brought him to the Africa Mercy, a specialized surgical hospital ship staffed by volunteers from over 38 nations. In an environment where people with cleft lips are embraced, Vernel quickly came into his own. He never had to worry about being teased; the crew loved on Vernel from the moment he stepped into the Admissions Tent. We made him balloons, we let him play with the Djembe drums, and we discovered that he is a clown in front of the camera. On this ship in Africa, Vernel finally found his audience: 350 people who have eyes to see beyond his deformity. By the time surgeons repaired Vernel’s cleft lip, he’d forgotten he had it.
But there is one thing you can’t let yourself forget about Vernel – he is a ninja when it comes to tickling.
That mischievous smile on Vernel’s face is there for a reason. First, he will curl up in your arms or give you a hug or a big fat kiss. Then, in accordance with The Vernel Effect, you will let your guard down. And that’s when he’ll strike.
Think you’re not ticklish? Think again. Vernel has no mercy – especially if you have recently tickled him. This is a six-year-old with an appetite for vengeance.
But Vernel couldn't stay on the ship and tickle us forever. Eventually, he had to return home.
Vernel’s village had no idea what they were in for. When it was time for Vernel to be discharged, he called his grandmother to tell her he was coming home. “I’m a handsome boy now,” he said. Vernel was patched up from the inside out.
Vernel was not the first (or the last) patient to undergo a transformation here. But history will remember the 350 people onboard the Africa Mercy in Congo as the enablers of The Vernel Effect. It was because of them he realized his charm, and through them he developed his knack for launching tickle attacks. Consider yourself warned.

From the moment he stepped on the gangway, Vernel was showered with love and attention. Here, Ward Nurse Rinnah Fry (AUS) helps Vernel draw a smiley face on his balloon.
Cleft lip or not, Vernel is never camera-shy.

Vernel has no mercy if you've recently tickled him. Just ask Ward Nurse Hope Berg (USA).
Leah Ferguson (AUS) and Tori Hobson (USA) doted on Vernel while he stayed at the HOPE Center  Mercy Ships’ outpatient care center for post-operative patients.
When Vernel was discharged, he called his grandmother to tell her he was coming home. “I’m a handsome boy now,” he declared.
See that mischievous grin? It’s there for a reason.
Vernel’s uncle was especially happy to see him. Vernel returned to his village as a new, undeniably handsome, boy. No one will be able to tease Vernel anymore.


Sunday, September 1, 2013

In the Starting Blocks...


The line outside in the morning
Screening day is one of those days that you look forward to, but dread at the same time.  On one hand there’s the anticipation of meeting the people we were called here to serve.  The excitement of saying yes to those that we can help, seeing the joy on the faces of those that receive that covenanted yellow card.  On the other hand, the long day filled with emotional ups & downs as person after person come through the line, hanging their heads when they hear the dreaded “I’m sorry, we cannot help you.”
The line outside in the afternoon
The line outside the screening site started forming days before the actual screening.  Word had gotten out that a big white ship was here to do free surgery & were going to have a big screening, but the dates got mixed up & so many people weren’t sure exactly when that day would be.  So as to not risk missing what could be their only opportunity, they came & they waited.



The first of the crew started arriving at the school where screening was going to take place around 0430 to start setting up.  There were over 7,000 people waiting outside the gates when they opened at 0624 Wednesday morning.  The gates remained open until 1844, well past dark.  In that time, over 4,200 people came through the main gates.  Out of all those, only 1,326 made it through the pre-screening process to be seen by a doctor.  Throughout the entire process, everyone remained calm & orderly, there were no pushing or shoving.
We can't help everyone, but we can pray with them
The entire ship was there to help.  We had doctors & nurses assessing patients, we had patient escorts to make sure the patients went to the correct station, we had people handing out food & water to patients & crew alike, there were people to play & entertain the kids who had to stand in the long lines all day, people to pray for those that heard that we could not help them. 
I love scheduling surgeries!
My job was at the General Surgery Station again.  We had 5 doctors to help screen for hernias, lipomas & anything else that didn’t fit the mold for MaxFax or plastics.  For whatever reason, they gave me a radio this time around, so not only did I get to listen in on what was happening outside, but I also had to call for needed resources & get questions answered, as well as put out the occasional APBs for a wayward surgeon who would wander off J 
Always a joy to work with Lord Ian

Hard at work

The general station was hopping.  We worked hard, but we also had an amazing time.  At one point, our waiting line took up 3 classrooms!  The secret to keeping a calm room that is filled with anxious & tired people is to have fun, act silly, joke, laugh & just enjoy yourself.  We scheduled what we could for the surgeon that was there & placed the rest on wait lists to be seen by the actual surgeon that would do their surgery when that surgeon arrived.  We had a great team, great attitudes & even though it was a long day, it was so much fun! 








They say this was the largest turnout for screening Mercy Ships has ever done.  But as Deyon Stephens said “Selection Day felt like the starting line of a great race – it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”  So with those words,

On Your Mark!

 Get Set!


GO!
Blessings