Random Saturday- part 6: Surgery, part 2

This is the last part of the surgery patients.  Each of them is grateful for the opportunity to receive surgery services in Impfondo instead of traveling to the capital to receive similar services with a much greater cost to the family.

A straight forward surgery here and a gentleman who loves to talk.

This gentleman is back in after a complication from a hernia repair I did.
He is handling it well and should make a complete recovery.

This little guy is an Auca who broke his leg in three places when a tree that is parents were cutting down for honey fell on him.  I was very happy to have Guillome  (a PT student from France) here to work on him.  His last day he wanted to walk the 30km home with his family.

This little lady suffered much from a poorly done injection at an outside hospital.
Her smile and spirit encouraged me, and she healed well.
She also benefited from Guillome's presence.

This lady posed many diagnostic dilemmas during her hospital stay and needed to be evacuated for further imaging.
It's not often we have to do that, and hopefully, she will make a full recovery.

Happy?  This lady needed an amputation to battle a skin cancer on her  foot.
She was not happy to lose her leg but is glad she has a chance at life.

This lady is another stroke victim.  There are still not a lot of cholesterol problems in Africa, so  coronary artery disease is relatively rare.
However, strokes from uncontrolled blood pressure are very common, and we struggle to provide good supportive care to them.

Here is another forest victim.  He fell out of a tree and had a complex arm fracture.
After several weeks in the hospital and some rehab, he is doing better.

There are a lot of imperfect results pictured here, even though we do what we can. You've seenmany reminders of our "limits"- humanly speaking. Yet, God is bigger than those, and each of these people had the opportunity many times to experience God's love, hear His story, and to make a choice for Him. 
Continue to pray,
Stephen

Random Saturday- part 5 surgery

I am very grateful to all the docs who took time to teach me surgery skills while we were in Impfondo: from Drs Fuka and Harvey to Drs Cooper and Hyre, Dr Mackenzie, Dr Greene and many others who talked me through and walked me through many procedures. These people in these picturess have a chance at healing because those doctors took time to teach.

This gentleman is recovering from a "simple" hernia, which is never simple for me.

Traffic accidents are major source of injury.  This guy has a complicated open lower leg fracture that needed skin grafting, flaps, and other techniques that I learned when in Soddo with Dr Greene.

This gentleman presents another severe wound infection needing removal of dead tissue and placement of a skin graft in a very complex area.

This old guy has an indomitable spirit and is here for chronic wound care.

Another bane of an aging African population is hypertension and stroke.
This guy has survived polio but now has very hard to control blood pressure and his first stroke at the age of 47.

Remember the war back in 2009?  This guy does.  He didn't make it to us then and now has an infected hip joint that needs ultimately a hip replacement.

Another hernia repair.  Thanks Dr Hyre, Cooper, and Mackenzie for helping with these when you came to our  place.

Here is another jaunty soul.  He likes wearing our scrub caps. He has ulcers on his legs, and he has failed at one skin graft already.

If you think your life is tough, remember you could be suffering from the stigmata of leprsoy like this gentleman, unable to walk, and now with urological problems as well.  He keeps on trucking.

Keep praying for these guys. When we left on August 14th, a couple of them were only 2 days out from some pretty complicated repairs. Pray for complete healing and no complications from the surgeries. Thanks for walking with us in this journey.

Random Saturday- part 4: Pediatrics

 In Impfondo, I had the opportunity to do and learn much outside of my "US" specialities of emergency medicine and pediatrics. Surgeries, obstetrics, hospital management, and teaching are some of those. Even with all of that "cool stuff," it's hard to top seeing a kid get better.

Malaria and anemia, getting better.  Also styling in a sport coat:)

Malaria and anemia after a transfusion, waiting to go home.

Not sure what to think about the crazy white guy, but recovering nicely from cerebral malaria.

This 4 month old had a surgical problem called intussusception. 
Fortunately, her surgery went well and she have no further problems.

Urinary tract infection with malaria.  Doing well.

Another malaria and anemia combo.  She also received blood.

Newborn with a bloodstream infection. 
It would be nice for a way to check for bacteria in the blood here.

This smiley girl is on her way to healing from malnutrition.
She has gained 7 pounds already and has another pound to go before she goes home.

Contemplating her discharge date as well. 
She needs another pound before she can be safely discharged.

This ward has benefited the most from your kind donations to the poor fund of the hospital. Keep these little ones in your prayers. The come in the sickest, have the most potential to bounce back, and are the least likely in their family to receive community resources. It's a privilege to serve them.

Random Saturday- part 3: Tuberculosis etc

Most of these people have tuberculosis in one form or another and some of them are also infected with HIV. Both of these diseases rip into the fabric of African life like few others. These two tend to separate the patients from the one of the strengths of Congolese culture- the family- and become even more difficult to battle.

This lady has mult-drug resistant tuberculosis.

This young lady has anemia from an overactive spleen and is pregnant as well. 
She is almost ready to go home.

In the midst of treatment.

Keeping up hope one month into treatment

2 weeks into treatment

Almost done with the first 1/3 of her treatment, and she's look forward to going home.

This young guy has a yet undiagnosed illness, and we are still looking for answers for his multiple abcesses.

Yet another waiting to go home.

The hospital is waiting on government delivery of medicines for tuberculosis. Please pray that it comes soon so that treatments would not be interrupted.

Random Saturday- part 2:Premie and Women's Health

Little Jeremiah who is now just waiting to gain weight to go home.
He came in at 2 pounds, and he is waiting to get to 4.5 pounds.

This little guy came early the day before his mom need to take a national high school exam.
She delivered him, took the exam the next day, and has been good at encouraging him to eat.

This little lady has newborn sepsis from poor delivery conditions.

Here is another one of our feeders and growers.
She also has been exposed to HIV and now we are trying to keep her from being infected.
A lot for a little lady to handle.  Her name is Grace.

A young lady who is dealing with physical and emotional ramifications of a miscarriage.

Another premie feeding and growing.
Now off oxygen and his nasogastric tube is out, and he is waiting to gain weight.

Thanks again for praying for the least of these in Impfondo. It is always a joy to see a mom who doesn't think her child will live, get a spark of hope, then a flame as her child continues to grow and improve.

Random Saturday- part 1

This cutie is actually an ex premie who developed a viral lung infection.
She just came off oxygen in this picture.

This little girl is battling anemia and malaria and doing well.

This gentleman came in delirious with fever for a week.  
His family had been treating him with traditional medicine, which didn't help.
He died the next day.

This young bayauca lady came in with diffuse belly pain and needed surgery to diagnose her appendicitis. 
She's doing well now.

A little guy who couldn't wait for his 100 francs to buy him breakfast so he ate the 100 francs.
It came out well in the end.

Thanks again for praying for us while we were in the ROC and your continued prayers for our next stage in the journey.

Saturday Rounds Part 4

These are some of the patients that Stephen sees each morning in the hospital as he does rounds.

Each of them is precious to God, and we are grateful for the chance to be a part of His hands and feet at a time they are in need.

In this grouping of patients we see some of the social complications of illness:

The lady on the top left has a very contagious case of tuberculosis, but she is the source of nutrition for the child she's holding.  In the States we would offer infant formula but here breastmilk is not only the best choice, its the only one.

A different problem with breastmilk is seen in the second picture.   This mom isn't making enough, or is to tired to try.  Encouraging moms, giving bridging therapy for the kid is the cornerstone of treatment here.

Finally the elderly lady is suffering from a stroke.  She is getting good care from her family, but the concern is how she will eat.  She has a nasal feeding tube for now, but what to do for the future?Tough decisions to make without a lot of extra services.  Pray for us.

Saturday Rounds- Part 3

These are some of the patients that Stephen sees each morning in the hospital as he does rounds.

Each of them is precious to God, and we are grateful for the chance to be a part of His hands and feet at a time they are in need.

This grouping is eclectic but represents the wide variety of patients we see here at the Pioneer Christian Hospital
At the top left is a 14 year old with severe anemia from ongoing blood loss.
The middle top lady has been on this post before and is an Auca abandoned by her family and who has a bad medical situation as well.
In the top right there is an elderly man with renal failure.
The bottom row is a testimony to the ravages of tuberculosis,  lack of clean drinking water, and refusal to accept serious but treatable diagnoses.

Saturday Rounds- Part 2

These are some of the patients that Stephen sees each morning in the hospital as he does rounds.

Each of them is precious to God, and we are grateful for the chance to be a part of His hands and feet at a time they are in need.

The first is a growing premature child who will go home soon, the second is waiting to go home also.
The child hanging on the swing is getting actually getting weighed to check his progress in fighting malnutrition.

 These kids are all doing well.  The top left hand child has sickle cell disease and subsequent malnutrition.  The crier on the right is ready to go home.  The smiling girl on the bottom left is recovering from a cut achilles tendon and the last one has recovered from malaria.

Saturday Rounds- Part 1

These are some of the patients that Stephen sees each morning in the hospital as he does rounds.

Each of them is precious to God, and we are grateful for the chance to be a part of His hands and feet at a time they are in need.

The top grouping of kids represent common illnesses this time of year.  There is still malaria, but there is a significant amount of stomach illnesses secondary to lower water levels.

In the second row from left to right:
We have a child we have seen before with severe prematurity who is close to going home now.

In the middle is the child who I wrote about in the"trouble in maternity" post.  She still needs tube feedings and the mom is having difficulty with milk production.

The last child on the last row is a big brother of another premature child who is about to go home as well.