Nous Fixerons Votre Hernie!

Mercy Ships brings hope & healing to those that often get overlooked & out casted.  We provide life changing surgeries to the people of West Africa at no cost to them.  Some of the big things we do have drastic outcomes- facial tumors removed, cleft lips repaired, limbs straightened, eyes made to see again.  These are the "glamorous" surgeries.  And then you have the hernias, the not so glamorous, exciting & less "photogenic" surgeries. 

I spend most of my days in the general surgery rooms fixing inguinal hernias, a very common, very dangerous condition here in West Africa.  Because of the West African work ethic of carrying very heavy items on their heads, starting at a very early age, they often end up with hernias.  This condition impacts their lives greatly.  The pain keeps them from working as hard as they used to, or even from working at all.  The hernias go left untreated for years, getting bigger & bigger, until its noticeable outside their clothes.  The patients, usually men, can't provide for their families, often turn to drinking because they have nothing else to do.  If left untreated, they could have serious complications that could make them very sick &/or kill them.

Dr James & Dr Nabil hard at work

On the ward with the General Surgery Team-
Dr Nabil, Jen, Raphel, Germain & Annika

We had one gentleman come from a neighboring country for his hernia repair.  He had had his hernia for about 5 years & it was quite large.  The day he was being admitted for surgery, he suddenly felt sharp pain in his hernia.  He collapsed & was rushed on board.  He was quickly diagnosed with an incarcerated hernia (the bowel gets trapped & twisted, cutting off blood supply to that portion of bowel).  He had surgery almost immediately.  An hour later he would have had, at the very least, a bowel resection (removing the sick portion of bowel).  If he had been at home or any place other than our dock, he probably would have gotten very sick & possibly died.  We were able to save his bowel & he made a good recovery.  He left 4 days later praising God & saying that Jesus saved his life. 

The general room can be very busy.  We can fix 3-5 hernias a day, some are small & take about 45 minutes (these are usually kids)  & some are the size of footballs & can take 3 hours to repair.  Even though these cases sound routine & mundane, by fixing one hernia, we allow one man to go back to work, thus helping not just one person but numerous people because now he can provide for his family.
Blessings