Action from all angles

Our 2 weeks is coming to a close. Erica and I are waiting to catch our bus back to Accra where we will spend tomorrow at the beach and then hop our flight back home and return this coming weekend.
It seems to be a non-stop medical adventure. We have both agreed that much of what we have been dealing with has been rather acute and intense. Your prayers are much appreciated.

Yesterday morning I woke up and prepared myself to help in a delivery with my old friend Afriyie (the midwife now). Being in the ward with her felt like the good old days, when I first started my apprenticeship in 2006, except now she is the head midwife.
I could hear the laboring mother already in the labor ward, vocalizing her pain, which for women here means they are about to push their child out. I unknowingly put on the last pair of gloves that the clinic owned and assisted in the delivery. It was a perfect birth of a beautiful baby girl. (Erica raised money for the trip and spent that afternoon in Kumasi buying much needed drugs to stock the depleted dispensary and more gloves)

However the night did not go as smoothly. We spent a good portion of our time in the back of an ambulance (which was really only a fast car with oxygen available), where Erica and I performed 30 minutes of CPR on a 3 month-old who had to be transferred from our clinic to the local hospital, and then, to the next biggest hospital. It was a night of a lot of fast-decision making and many firsts. The story is a long one, and graphic, so I'm saving it for my blog for those who are interested. The end result was undefined. It was getting late and we were far from our village with no money and no food. Our job was done and we had spent hours with this child. We couldn't wait around any longer to know whether the baby would survive or not, however the CPR sustained her life and our skills were very much needed. The ambulance drivers took pity on us and drove us all the way back to the clinic for free- and a very interesting conversation ensued regarding care across cultures. We shook hands and promised we'd add each other as friends on facebook and keep in touch that way. I had a grateful moment that communication had become that easy. And maybe one day, we'd be working the ambulance together again?

On Monday Erica, Agyei (the translator), Mabel (a healthcare assistant) and I took a bush taxi out into a very, very remote village. We had decided we wanted to do a 1-day wound clinic and serve people who lived too far to walk to the Huttel Health Center. We carried with us (in a big red backpack) supplies to cleanse and dress wounds. Slowly people lined up. We took them one by one and sat them on a bench underneath a big tree. They slowly unbandaged wounds that had been wrapped up in dirty old cloths. Let me just say I typically find this type of thing to be utterly repulsive. Originally it almost made me not want to be a nurse. But something shifted on this day and the Good Lord has given me a new tolerance! The most exciting part of the day was the discovery of an 11-year old with Buruli Ulcer. Buruli Ulcer is a local flesh-eating bacteria that infects a person and utterly destroys the place it decides to inhabit. I have seen limbs completely scarred and unusable due to the buruli ulcer. However it is very easy to treat, especially when detected at the early stages. Much of this comes down to education. We called the girls mother over to look at her wound. We asked her why she hadn't sought medical care. She said because it wasn't a painful wound (even though it was larger than a large slice of salami) so it hadn't posed a problem. I told them it wasn't painless (that is a telltale sign) but it would continue to grow and there was a good possibility if she didn't seek care her daughter would lose her leg. She seemed to understand and said they'd come to the clinic the next day for a referral letter to the big hospital. I told them they have a free program for Buruli Ulcer patients. Treatment is free and they even provide incentives of chocolate milk (Milo) and sugar.
But even with all that they never came to get the referral letter.
So we loaded up in a taxi again (a few days later), went back out to the village, and found the girl and her mother. We said the exact same thing we did a few days ago and we delivered the referral letter. Repetition and repeated attempts seem to be essential here. At times it can become a little frustrating, but hopefully, ultimately, it works. I re-bandaged the wound (hooray!) and gave her a See's candy to put a smile on her face and a little anticipation in her future. Then we made sure her next weeks taxi fare was paid for so she would have no excuse to not go.

So that is a little of what is going on here. We called the family I stayed with my first night (the 4-pillow family) and they said to please come back and stay with them while we are in Accra. So that is where we are headed. Oko and Angela leave back to America on the same flight so I am sure we will be taken care of up until we leave. However your continued prayers are much appreciated- I truly believe they have enhanced this trip.