Last post was in Gabon...without much follow up. I'll have to catch that up-to-date soon :-)
Earlier this summer Saskia wrote and asked it I would be able to assist as a back-up surgeon for the Women's and Children's hospital here in Koutiala, Mali. The catch was that there was a coup, then a rebellion up North...all of which upset the country a bit and prompted the US Govt. to suspend all travel for US citizens. It has stayed relatively safe in this section of the country...and now I'm here.
Today I sent a brief update to a couple friends. I decided to use the excerpt following as a post today. Nothing extravagant, but it may give a flavor for the work.
There are only 4 singles and one couple left of about 35-40 missionaries not including their children, here in Koutiala, who all work in or for the Women's and Children's hospital. The National staff is still fairly full-tilt, so no worries there.
Thanks for your prayers. Much appreciated.
I'll include a bit of what I shared with my tech, Rhonda earlier today...
"Why Yes! Open Chole's can be fun!! Especially when they are for cholelithiasis and not infection, so good tissue planes and nice anatomy (whew!!). Little blood loss, and an assistant that is brand new, hardly trained except to set up a table, and had never seen a gallbladder. He was excited - calmly excited, as I think he was a bit nervous. It is funny, but "big" cases over here are quite "normal" since nobody knows the difference. I sometimes have to tell the team that it is a "big" case and I need more equipment, otherwise they give me the exact same instruments for a c-section, bowel excision, leg amputation, and cholecystectomy!
I also worked with him to disarticulate a hip and do a leg resection on a lady with Nec. Fasciitis, also removed her dead baby. I think that was a HUGE eye-opener for him. One of my top-5 "worst" cases that I've stored in memory. I don't ever want to do one of those again - and thankfully, will never likely have the chance. She died later in the day. It was her only chance - and if it weren't for the overwhelming sepsis she might have made it. Definitely not a good day on Monday.
...
Hearing what the weather is like there is making me feel a bit guilty. It is hot here, but it is supposed to be hot! My brother wrote me and said he was watering the lawn in front of my house - which means it is REALLY dry. I still see some occasional twigs of green grass around here. Rare though.
Last night it was quite warm as I ate dinner at a Malian family's home. It was typical African, with eating with our hands, and the men inside (where it was warm!!!) and the women and children outside in the cool evening. Kind of wished I was a kid in a way :-) It was some kind of dish made up of a grain, spices and onions, and fish sitting on top of it. Lots of oil mixed in to give the "millet" some substance and make it stick to our fingers.
Afterward we drank a sweet millet/grain type of porridge for desert. Kind of like drinking thick oatmeal, partially cooked, with lots of sugar and a little milk.
Then,...the rounds of HOT Tuareg Tea (the pure tea/sugar combo) poured in shot glasses and sipped loudly (to keep from burning your tongue). Thankfully there was about 15 minutes between rounds to allow the caffeine to kick into place in time for the next shot. Good stuff.
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| Jason and our Host |
Home around 10:30p in order to put together a lecture for this morning - didn't have any problem staying awake! :-)
Gave a lecture this morning to the nursing students. They seemed to like it. Gives the staff here a break from lecturing as well.
...
Ok - it's quiet here, at the moment. Slow Wednesday. A couple of procedures, barium enema and EGD to do in the next couple of days, and possibly some skin contractures to debride - otherwise only emergent cases expected. So I'm going to work on a lecture or the docs.
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-- There you go. I know it isn't too exciting. But Life is often lived in the mundane wrapped in eternal perspective.
Thanks, again, for your prayers and I do hope you are having a wonderful summer.
Blessings,
John
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