Loving the World 2013: VVF Recovery Continues!

After the Dress Ceremony Leaving the ship with Steph

It has been hard to find the words to put together a blog. The past three weeks here on the ship has been amazing and overwhelming at the same time. Every time I go to write I am overwhelmed with where to start. But hey I’m here for four months so I’ll just start with a few stories and eventually you may gain a better feel for what life is like here on The African Mercy!

Working on Ward B with the VVF ladies is lovely, but emotionally

draining. The first week I found myself leaving work next to tears. During the evening shift I would have 5 patients assigned to work with. The nursing care is not complex at this time but when a lady realizes that she is still “wet” (leaking urine) that’s when my heart brakes for them. I had a patient who had a poor understanding of the expected outcome of her surgery. Explaining the anatomy and about urethralplasty is not helpful since these ladies are not educated. They are unable to read or write and most have never even held a pen in their lives. Their faces are scared with tribal markings and their acceptance by society hinges on whether they are “wet” (urine leaking through the fistula) or “dry” (healed). Some of the ladies fistulas were so severe that they no longer had a urethra to patch up. In some cases the doctors are able to create a new urethra (out of tissue, however it does not have a sphincter therefore the ladies will be dry while being still, but will leak while they are active. They no longer have a fistula and risk of infections and other problems, but in their minds they are still “wet”). When your patient Is breaking down crying, its not the best time to grab a translator and talk with the patient, all you can do is be with them. I wish I could say some words of comfort and explain that even though they are still a little wet, their health will be better in the long run. All you can do is say a silent prayer and dry their tears. On my stretch of evening shifts it seemed like all the ladies who I was assigned to were struggling with being wet, and having complications. It was discouraging and I left work drained. This past week however has been a 180 degree change! After 14-21 days a few of the ladies have had their catheters removed, and have remained dry!

Last weekend my roommate Amy and I worked 4 ten hour night shifts. We each had 10 patients, I enjoyed getting to know more of the ladies and seeing them continue to heal. The night shifts were so lovely. Amy was great company and a great hunter of Cockroaches! I went to sleep in the morning with nightmares of cockroaches! Waking up throughout the day thinking I was being covered in bugs! Yuck :P By the time the 4^th night came I was in a great routine. Checking 10 charts and tipping catheter bags was enough to keep us moderately busy. We visited the other nurses who were working on A and D ward throughout the night too!

On Tuesday a group of the ladies had their Dress Ceremonies. They were celebrated and given beautiful dresses in preparation for their return to their villages! One of the ladies has been here on the ship for 3 months, she has had 3 surgeries with Mercy Ships and 2 prior to the ships arrival in local hospitals. As each surgery failed the chances of a successful surgery decreases by 10% each time. Before her last and final surgery she was talking to our team leader Steph, and said that if the surgery worked then Steph would accompany her to the village, but if it failed again, then she would just have to go home with Steph to America! Well I’m happy to say that Steph got to go on a lovely ride to this Ladies Village this past week. Her last and final surgery by the grace of God it was a success!

Yesterday we said goodbye to a few more ladies and have 15 remaining on the unit. Half of them still have their catheters while the other half are recovering still. We so greatly enjoy playing games with them and learning new songs and games in Fulua, and Susu. We get daily lessons in greetings and names of body parts! I don’t know when ill ever need to know what “finger nail” is in Malingo, but hey I do!
I hope that everyone back home has had a great start of February as we are already halfway through. Happy Valentines day! Here on the ship one of my roommates made us all cards, and gave out candies, another left us chocolate bars and another decorated the wall with a heart garland! Our Nurse Team leader left personalized notes for all the nurses working on Ward B. It was so lovely.

Below are Pictures that I took while working on a night shift! Read the descriptions! For those of you who are nurse, what do you think!? Its fun to open the cupboard and not know what the bottle for lactulose will look like today! The mind set of DO NOT WASTE is in the front of everyone’s minds! I hope you enjoy the pictures of the Unit where i work!