February 13, 2012

First day of clinic - Successful!

Renee', Rachel, and I (aka. Ree'johnal) survived the first day of clinic here in the jungles of Gabon. "Survived" might be pushing it a bit, as it was a quite enjoyable day with a nice number of patients (steady stream), an excursion to the Ob-Ward for a check on a delivery, multiple ultrasounds for Rachel, and Renee' was in high form with most of the cases in her expert field :-)

The Residents worked efficiently and saw quite a few patients - ranging from a little boy with a swollen arm (and likely Lymphoma), a man with a huge prostate (and likely cancer), women with various uterine anomalies, infertility, and a man with colon cancer and an "apple core" lesion, to name just a few. The 2nd yr resident effortlessly reduced the jaw of a lady who "yawned" three days ago - and her jaw stuck open. They tried unsuccessfully to reduce the dislocation where she lived, then it took three days to get here from her village. She was quite relieved to have a bit of anesthetic and have her jaw back in place. Little things like that make a person's day much better.

By the way, you can't close your lips with your jaw dislocated.

Three days.

Occasionally someone asks why I would come here. I most often refer them to these blogs. It is easier than trying to sum up an answer in one sentence.

But, in short, I come because I have been blessed to have the privilege of the opportunity to work with these residents, nurses, staff, and missionaries. God opens the door - and by His grace, I just walk.

Now - getting here this time was a bit of an adventure for Renee' and Rachel! They started at about 2am last Thursday - flew from Indy to Washington DC, met with the representative of Gabon at their embassy to obtain a visa, flew to Atlanta where they met up with me, flew across the ocean, ran through the Paris airport to be the last people on the airplane to Gabon, and finally arrived 36 hrs later in Gabon in time for dinner - but without their luggage. It didn't quite make the quick trip through the Paris airport.

A few hours later we were up and off to the airport again to fly across the equator, down, deep into the jungle, to the mission hospital. As we flew over our usual stop with the african airlines I commented to them (i.e., yelled as loud as I could into the back of the plane) that from that point we would have needed to drive another 2 1/2 hours. About 12 minutes later we landed. 12 minutes vs. 2 1/2 hours. Crazy.

Ever wonder why I enjoy flying? :-)

The gals were very glad Joanna T. is such an incredibly kind hostess - after 2-3 days of travel they were ver ready for a change of clothes. And, thankfully, our luggage arrived last night before midnight.

Speaking of midnight - just before then I received a call from the house next door. It seems a certain rat has been stirring in their attic for at the past few days. Traps and glue have not been successful in trapping the beast. However, a few hours into the wee hours of the morning, the phone rang and I was scurrying up into the attic myself to see what was banging around in the dark.

Turns out the rat had eaten all the bait, successfully avoiding the traps, and had been industriously chewing away at a large plastic travel bin. I caught site of the critter as it made its exit, just before I could swing my machete. I would have slept better having bagged the beast of the night, but instead had to go back to bed for an hour and wonder about better options. Just before dinner tonight we made one more foray into the attic - but still not rat, and I reset one of the traps.

We are going to win the contest before the trip is over. Or else Keir (Joanna's husband) will come home and solve it for us! The kids and I had fun hunting for it this evening anyway :)

Tomorrow will be a full day. Three OR's are scheduled for four residents along with Renee' and I. Rachel will be busy with Ultrasound I'm sure - she is quite a good teacher and the residents are enjoying her teaching immensely.

Somehow I'm scheduled on two hysterectomies and Renee' is scheduled on a thyroid - so it should be interesting for the both of us!

So, the week has started. Good food. Good fellowship. Good work. And a whole lot of thankfulness to be here at this time. Thankful for God's faithfulness as we have looked into the many faces of hurting people. I know there are tough times ahead. And I'm thanking God for his grace and love already.

I mentioned the lady with her jaw stuck open for three days...because it is one of the easier things to talk about. There are more painful examples, but that will do for now.

Thank you for your prayers. God IS good. Thankful for what He does through each of us.

John