Miracle

This week there was a miracle on the ship. Baby Obre (or O'brian as his mom now calls him) was having trouble breathing. His tiny little body didn't have enough reserve to keep going, and I spent some of the day holding an oxygen mask up to his face. His Oxygen Saturation would drop and somewhere around 5 pm he just couldn't keep it up. Obre was moved to the ICU and put on a C-pap machine. I came back down to the hospital the next morning with weights on my legs waiting for the bad news that he was on a ventilator, or that he didn't make it. Ali, one of the nurses, came into the lab with a huge smile on her face. She told me that around midnight the Dr was called because Obre just couldn't breath anymore and it was time to intubate him. While the nurses got everything ready, even pulling out the tube from its package the surgeon Dr. Gary prayed over Obre. Minutes later Obre's oxygen rose to normal level, his heart slowed down, and he was breathing comfortably. That night there was a miracle and there still isn't any explanation for a tiny 5 pound 4 month old to be so close to death, and now resting in his mamas arms. Several times a day I peek into the ICU just to check on my friend and hug his mama. Right across the hall from the ICU is B ward where Ama is. Well, I can say now that she WAS there, since Ama has been released from the hospital only a week after major, major surgery. She is at our hospitality center and only has check in with the surgeon. Just wait until you all see the pictures. Ama would probably call that a miracle too!

Ama update

Today was Ama's surgery. We knew that there was a chance that she would need a transfusion of blood, but she ended up needing 3. It was a long day. Not only did we have to draw the 3 pints of blood, but we had to cross match 13 people to Ama just in case she needs more. That means me running all over the ship in between to find more A+ blood donors and drawing a sample of their blood to match. Ama came through the 8 hour surgery well, and was recovering in post op when I last saw her.

In other news I fell in love today. His name is Obre and he is 4 months old. I met him because he needed a full set of blood labs. The problem is that he is only 4lbs. He is smaller than a newborn. That meant it was very difficult to get blood, and took 3 of us several (7) sticks on his tiny little body. When we took him back to his mama I sat beside her and told her that when he looked at me he frowned as if he knew what was coming. I did enjoy cuddling him and walking around showing him off to everyone else. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of him so you all can see. The plan is to build him up with feedings through his feeding tube and bottle, and repair his cleft lip and palate as soon as he is ready.

It is time for a break. Since it is Easter we are on a 4 day ship holiday. My plan is to sleep, go to the market, and find a good place to swim! Have a wonderful Easter.

Giving blood

Her name is Ama. She is 40 years old and came to have a very large tumor removed from her jaw. I met Ama when I had to draw her labs before a surgery date could be scheduled. When we tested her blood it was found that she had a hemoglobin of 3.5. Now that might not mean anything to some but that is critically low. In fact, her blood was water, and how she was even able to walk to us is the biggest question. Usually you are given a surgery date and told to return the night before, but Ama was admitted immediately and the dr. ordered a blood transfusion. Well, Ama is A positive and so am I. Our blood was cross matched and was compatible so off I went to the room to lay down and have my blood taken. The best part is having everyone walk in to see what you are doing and to comment on how the person who draws all the blood on the ship is now getting her blood drawn. It only took about 4 minutes to get 500ml. The bag was tied off and walked about 10 feet to Ama's bedside. There the nurse takes it and checks it with another nurse. After a couple of minutes I walked over and held Ama's hand. With a translator I told her that it was my blood that was going into her to make her strong. She was so grateful and squeezed my hand for a long time. "merci, merci" Thank you, thank you. Ama will have her surgery tomorrow and I can't wait to see her after.
This all happened on Monday evening, the same day that baby Anicette died. Maybe it all happened on the same day so I'd remember that there are many that we can help.

Anicette

To repeat a nurses words "she waited until we weren't looking and slipped away" Yesterday a tiny little baby, the same age as my niece Peyton, died in her mothers arms. I met Ani a little over a week ago when her mom brought her to the ship from Benin. Last year Ani was on the ship for many months as they fought for her to gain weight to have her cleft lip repaired. She had the surgery and it was a great success, but when she arrived at the ship last week she was small and malnurished. It was scary. There never seemed to be a reason for her size. Was it mama not feeding her? or a digestive problem? On Friday last week I had to get help to try and draw blood from Ani. We had to draw from a vein in her head. Yesterday I was standing over a patient in the bed down from Ani's. I had waved hello to her mama, but not gone over. While I was looking for a vein in my patient to draw blood, I heard the nurse say that Ani wasn't doing to well, and at the same time heard her mama cry out. A nurse did CPR, the doctors and medical response team all came, but there was nothing that could be done. Ani's little body had fought so hard but was at rest now. It was a sad day on the ship. The same nurse I quoted in the begining of this blog also said that Ani is now in Heaven, fat and running around. I like to think that is true.

blood curtling scream

I found out yesterday what exactly a blood curtling scream is. The call came from admissions that they had 2 four year olds that needed blood draws. They were working on hydrating them so I went out about an hour later. The first boy sat quietly in his chair while I looked at his arm, and so the translater told me that he would be fine without being held. I asked him to sit in the chair and hold him anyway since mom had a baby on her back and couldn't help. The boy was still and quiet right up until I put the needle in his arm. The scream heard around the world (literally)My heart stopped, I almost peed myself, and I couldn't breath. They could hear the screams on the ship. Happily for me and him it was a good stick and we got blood right away, since it would have been a disaster to wiggle the needle. With 4 adults holding him down he still managed to jerk his arm enough to get the needle out but not before we got enough blood.
Once my heart returned to normal and the rest of the crew got the ringing to stop in their ears we called outside for the next 4 year old little boy. Well..... this little boy with deformed legs took off running like the wind. His mom couldn't catch him and I couldn't stop laughing long enough to help her. We did finally convince him to come with us and it was quick and painless after a few (10) stickers and a new stuffed toy were given. Today when I got the call that there was another 4 year old waiting, I wanted to call in sick!
Also yesterday was a slow day for me in the afternoon, so I asked to observe surgeries for awhile. Eye surgeries were the only ones happening so I spent almost 2 hours in the eye rooms. It is amazing to me, that people were led in the room blind and left the room with sight. Read that again,,, blind but now can see. How crazy that it only takes a few minutes but is almost impossible to have it done here. In the U.S cataracts are removed long before they cause severe problems, but here they are certain blindness. In the 2 hours atleast 12 people had their sight fixed.
I'm off to a meeting and then to run on the dock. Hope all of you are well.

Here are some pictures of the club foot casting. Up until lately you had to surgically repair a club foot. Now there is a technique that uses weekly casts to slowly stretch the childs tendons and muscles. The tiny baby is very young and up until two is the idea time to catch it. Usually the foot is able to be straightend without surgery. The benefits are no surgical incisions that can become quite dirty here in Africa and quicker recovery time. The child in the bucket is soaking is cast off before having a new one put on. The doctors and nurses are trained to do this casting and are training local medical staff, and leaving casting material here for them to use after we leave.
Today we had a patient that needed a blood transfusion. My friend Hannah had the same blood type and came down to donate a unit. She was a good patient and drank lots of water all day. It is interesting having to draw blood from your friends and the blood donor needle is HUGE! After she had recovered we walked over to the ward where the 11 year old boy was with his father. The dad was so grateful for Hannah giving her blood but the little boy wasn't to sure about it. We took pictures and hope to have those on here soon. Time for bed. Goodnight.

singing

The last two days have been crazy. Very very busy with lots of extra work thrown in. At the end of today when I was just getting ready to leave (well, go upstairs to my room) I heard drumming coming from the other side of the hallway. Of course I went to investigate and there were people dancing and singing and playing the drums. This was all taking place in the ward. There was a patient with a cast on each leg up to her thigh clapping and singing and playing a gourd instrument and day workers and crew dancing in a conga line around the ward. Everyone had huge smiles and of course I jumped in to dance also. It was the perfect ending to the day and I went upstairs energized.
This past weekend I traveled up north to Kpalome (palomey) Togo is very green with huge trees and bushes growing everywhere. It was beautiful. 4 of us and one of our translators hired a driver to take us for the day. We went to a local artist school and watched a women make pottery on a wheel and visited all the shops in the colony there. Since it was lunch time we went to a hotel and wanted to buy our translater and driver lunch but they left us to eat our "american" food and went in search of "african" food. After lunch it was off to see the sights and this is where it got interesting. While trying to go to a butterfly sanctuary, we were stopped and told that it was closed but for money these two men could give us a tour and show us the butterflies. |This sounds menacing but is common here. We ended up on a 2 hour hike learning about different plants and different cultural things. It was very interesting and worth the money, except we only saw two butterflies. The excuse was we had to come in the morning to see butterflies. Then it was off to the waterfalls. Togo is know for several waterfalls and we were excited to go and see. However, as we approached the mountain, we were stopped and told that we had to pay to hike and see the waterfall. So we payed got a ticket and took off down the trail with a guide. All of a suden he stopped and pointed up to a giant rock face wall and said that there was a waterfall there yesterday but they built a dam (yesterday mind you) and now there isn't one. So there we stood. Staring up at a rock imagining where a waterfall should have been. No butterflies on the butterfly hike and no waterfall on the waterfall hike. The day ended with a visit to the fan ice store where you can select different flavors of ice cream like stuff. Of course, being our luck they were out of most of the flavors :)
Yesterday we had a screening for patients with facial tumors, and goiters. There were a lot of people and that meant a long day of drawing blood. Today was a blood donor screening so I mostly had to draw crew members blood. There is nothing like sitting at dinner and having friends come to show me their arms where I stuck needles in them.
Yesterday marked one month of being here and one month till I go home. I really wish I could stay longer.
The pictures are of a patient waiting to be admitted, and a couple of my trip up north.