28-2-12

Sannu!!!!

Well I woke up again at 1am but was able to fall back asleep pretty quickly this time! Alison and I slept in until 730am today and woke up feeling much more rested. After showering and getting ready, we walked over to the hospital with Greg at about 830am. Our first stop was at the fistula clinic. It is a completely brand new building and is Beautifully built. Right now they only have 5 patients because they don't have an anesthesiologist. The five girls must only have been no older than 15. A lot of them do not know how old they are when you ask.

A little medical history... A fistula sis caused my increased pressure during child birth, especially in the under developed pelvis. Here in Niger, girls are allowed to get married at age 9 but must wait until they are 12 to sleep with their husband. So usually, as soon as they turn 12 they become pregnant. Anyway, the increased pressure occurs when the babies head does not fit through the pelvic opening, gets stuck and often the baby or the mother dies. Then a fistula (large ishemic damage) occurs causing rupture of the bladder, urethra or rectum. If the baby becomes stuck, it will eventually die and be discharged slowly along with pieces of the mothers pelvis that has died. Unfortunately, the only prevention (c-section) and treatment (stitching the damaged bladder or rectum) is surgery. The down side is... Treatment is usually way to far away to receive the needed help and the women must have permission from their husband prior to seeking medical help. It's a very sad process and these poor girls who have to suffer.

After the fistula clinic we went over to the PT clinic which was actually quite full. There is no line or appointments. People just come in and patiently wait until they get their treatment. Way different than in the states.

My first patient was a little boy, probably 2 of 3, with burns on both his ankles and the tops of his feet. Cooking here is usually over an open fire so there are a lot of burn victims. My job was move his joints around And perform joint mobilizations so that he doesn't get too stiff. He was screaming because it hurt so badly. I almost broke down and cried while I was working on him because I had no way of telling him why I was doing what I was doing or tell him its going to help. I will see him again tomorrow and make sure I bring him a toy to cheer him up!

After lunch, which was at Toms familys home we went back to the clinic for round 2. I saw another burn patient. She was 9 years old and had a pretty large burn on her ankle. She too was in terrible pain when I was working with her. In fact, her wound opened up during the stretching, but I was good to release that skin. She was very brave!

I saw another cutie patient she was 5 probably and she had a burn on her wrist and hand. Her family was very nice. she walked around holding her arm up in the air almost as of she were saying.. Everyone look at my burn.. It really hurts! Haha

Our last patient was another little girl who ended up getting malaria. She hasn't been walking for 4 weeks because the sores hurt do badly. Now that she is healed we got her up and walking with a hand made child sized rolling walker. You could tell it hurt to walk but she was a trooper. Greg took a picture of her and then showed it to her and she got the biggest smile on her face. It was pretty cute!

Lastly, coming here I didn't know what to expect but had an idea based on reading and pictures I had seen. However, nothing could have prepared me for what Niger is really like. I mean what do you think of when you think of the poorest country in the world? Then, multiply that by a thousand and you're getting closer. I thank God for the many blessings in my life. Your prayers for our team here as well as for the people of Niger are greatly appreciated!

Sia gobe (see you tomorrow in Hausa)