March update

Hello All! 

A huge amount of fabric to choose from
or, what I do on Saturdays

I am seeing a trend in my life - delayed communication to the wider world. Probably will never be a true blogger... or a great letter writer... So, if you have been waiting with bated breath for a new update from Guinea, take a deep breath now and continue reading – it is here at last!

Here he is! Sooooo much happier than at Christmas.

The day after – actually even during – my last update, the Christmas on-call operating room (OR) team was working on a little guy who needed an emergency surgery. The week of Christmas, which we were hoping would be a lovely week of much needed rest and celebration, turned into more work as we all took a turn in the operating theatre every day. Thankfully, God was kind and He gave us rest the next week AND our little guy got better! See his smiling face! This picture was on A Ward during his long recovery, but we are all so happy to say that he is now out of the hospital! We hear reports of him doing well at the Hope Center.

Enjoying some time on the bridge with
Captain Milo from Denmark.

 

Going home & goodbye to all the Ward nurses.

The Hope Center is where many of our patients stay before and after surgery if they do not have homes or family here in Conakry. Also, if they need extra building up before surgery and extensive recovery programs after surgery and discharge from the ship. Our little orthopedic patients all hung out at the Hope Center so they were close enough to have physical therapy to learn how to walk on their newly straightened legs. They also seem to have a lot of fun over at the Hope Center!

Some highlight from the last few months:  

One highlight I don't recommend - pinkeye and isolation.
But this haiku from my friend, Joanna, made it a bit better!

This winter, I was able to learn so much more than General surgery – so I can finally show more pictures of my patients! It is so much nicer to see pretty before and after photos of people with gigantic goiters than it is to see the same images of people with inguinal hernias! Please, take my word for it - it is just so much better.

Here are some before photos:

Goiters are more uncommon in men.
But here is one guy.

I think his pants are pretty cool...

Still so beautiful! But she has to be uncomfortable...
Most patients came to screening with a scarf over their head & neck.

Dr. AJ and the same lovely goiter patients as above - pre-surgery

I was privileged to be able to work with Dr. A.J. for 3 weeks. He travels from Australia and operates on the gigantic, massive goiters in West Africa. He has been coming for many years, so everybody knows and loves him and they told me what a treat I had in store. Well, the rumors were all true and those 3 weeks were some of the most fun in my 4 months here on the Africa Mercy. He made taking out those things look easy!

So, to back-track, a goiter is a growth on the thyroid gland in your neck. (Note: As an OR nurse, I usually just stick to taking things out or repairing bits of bodies and have forgotten many of the things I learned in nursing school (sorry, Ellamae!) – yes, this is a failing, but it is mine so there we are… So please take this as a general idea of how these thyroids and hormones and things work and not as a textbook in any way! You have been warned. Also note: (thankfully) I work as part of a team, so SOMEBODY understands this and helps our patients in the ways I cannot and the patients are truly safe.) These growths wreak havoc on thyroid hormones and other important chemicals in your body. If not treated properly before surgical removal of the goiter, patients can die just from all the chemical imbalances. If that isn’t bad enough, thyroids are highly vascular – they have so many blood vessels connected to them – that if you don’t have a very skilled and careful surgeon, patients can die from bleeding out. So, up until recently, removing goiters – although done for centuries – was considered a fool-hardy surgery and one to be avoided by a thinking surgeon.

This is a diagram Dr. AJ & Dr. Dan used to teach me the difference between
an "Extended Hemithyroidectomy" and a "Subtotal Thryroidectomy"
If you want, I will explain in person, but for now - you can guess!

Some of this I knew, but a lot I learned after listening to Dr. A.J.’s talk. And there was much more that I currently don’t remember. In the middle of this in-service, I was astounded. I had not stopped to think about all that could have (but didn’t) go wrong with all my patients! And that was after a week of working with him… Like I said, Dr. A.J. made it look easy. And not least, we have an amazing God who gives those skills and right patient conditions.

Our Screening team with the Goiter patients

 Speaking of patient conditions, all our thyroid patients had gone through the Africa Mercy thyroid clinic. Our amazing screening team had worked with them since September to get their hormone and chemical levels from toxic to well-managed/almost normal. This way, we could operate and remove their thyroids without them going into a thyroid storm – the real name of the killing, chemical imbalance. So much preparation goes into what we do here! It is amazing!

Take a peek at some of our patients in the hospital and post surgery: 

I think she looks pretty happy!

That grin!

Some of our goiter patients on A Ward

I can't help it! These pictures make me so happy!

My friend, Melissa, & I with unintentional matching
scrubs. Both soon-to-be-released to regular OR nursing!
Tired & glad!

The Future:
So, what is next here for me in Guinea? Well, I have actually overstayed my original dates! I really should have left yesterday (2 March 2019)… but, early on in my time here, my boss, Merryl, asked if I could extend to fill an open spot. Tomorrow, I start my last three weeks as an OR nurse without Team Leader responsibilities. Hurray! Exciting stuff just being a staff nurse!

Then what is next after that? Well, God is truly in control and as of yet, my life back in the US of A looks a little blank. I will get back home to Moscow, Idaho in early May (after several weeks of visiting family and friends in Europe). Between May 2019 and January 2020, I am not sure what exactly God has for me. 

However, January and February 2020 look like I will be back on the Africa Mercy serving in Senegal! So, watch this space (as my Aussie friends say), and I’ll up date you as I know things!

Thank you all for your prayers and support! May God richly bless you and may He be glorified in all we do!

Much love from Guinea,

Amaanda❤️

A note on photos: All the lovely photos of patients and crew are by our Africa Mercy photographers. The first photo of me in the fabric shop/heaven/huge amounts of indecision was taken by my friend, Melissa D. The other two odd pictures were taken by me. And the weird photo/text placement is all me, too...like I said, not a professional blogger.