June 18, 2011

I had a wonderful birthday in Togo!  We went to Kpalime today to shop.  It is the nearest "big city" to the hospital in Tsiko (pronounced "chico" I don't know if I told you that already).  We shopped at the mission blind center.  All of the proceeds go to help fund the blind center where blind kids can go to learn a trade and get an education.  We then went to the market which was huge!  There was stall after stall of food, toiletries, fabric and knockoff shoes.  I got some rally pretty fabric at some booths.  The women here wear dresses made of one of these patterned fabrics and have a shawl and head wrap to match.  We then went to the artisanal center where craftsmen sell their wares.  There were woodcarvings, tie-dyed fabrics, pottery and jewelry.  Some of the carvings are so intricate and beautiful.  We had lunch at Hotel Royal.  It is a small hotel owned by a European woman and is a favorite of the long term missionaries.  After running some errands we came back to the hospital and relaxed.  Apparently, a van crashed on the mountain, so 10-12 people were admitted to the hospital.  Dad went up to help out with the overflow.  It's been a nice, relaxing day.  A great way to turn 18!

June 17, 2011

Today was a full day but not a hectic one.  At 3 am, Dad deliverd the woman with severe preeclampsia.   It was a fetal demise, so it was pretty sad.  Her blood pressure went down and she looks much better today.  Praise the Lord! She may be able to go home tomorrow.  After we made rounds this morning, Dad delivered another woman who had been laboring all night.  She had shortness of breath and was exhausted.  The baby was coming out a little crooked, but it came out fine.  Another little girl!  Next, Dad did a minor surgery in the clinic.  A woman had a stitch that was too tight and caused her a lot of pain.  He just numbed her up and removed it.  She was very sweet, but I'm sure it was very painful.  We saw some more patients in the clinic, but everyone was pretty much ok.  Dad did a C-Section on a 16 year old who looked like she was 10.  She must have had some sort of syndrome, but her mother said she was just small.  She weighed only 60 pounds so for the C-Section they couldn't do a spinal.  They had to use ketamine.  She had a healthy 5lb. boy.  The first boy I've seen born.  Back in the clinic, we admitted a pregnant woman with malaria.  She had also miscarried, so Dad had to do a D&C.. She didn't want the baby, so someone in the village gave her medicine to induce an abortion.  She had to come to the hospital to actually remove the fetus.  Needless to say, I did not watch that surgery!  We also admitted a woman who was very weak and had alot of labs done at a hospital in the capital.  The labs showed that she had bad renal failure, so we were expecting the worst.  She got IV fluids and a unit of blood. Turns out, all of the labs were wrong.  They repeated them here and they all showed she was ok.  She most likely was just sick with a virus or something.  She is doing much better.  So, now the baby count is 9 and Dad has delivered 6.  (The uncomplicated deliveries are done by the nurse/midwife.)  It is amazing how far people come to see the doctor at this hospital.  Yesterday, a woman was here from Nigeria which is like 2 countries away.  Word gets out that there are specialist doctors who give good care and people come.  Also, all of the nurses at the public hospitals are on strike, so people can't get any care anywhere else.  Trust me they aren't coming for the facilities.  It is amazing to see all of the family members who come with each patient.  The family is responsible for feeding and giving non- medical care to each patient.  They put mats on the floor and set up shop next to the patient's bed.  Dad said the other night there was someone sleeping on every bed, stretcher, chair and every inch of floor space.  It is a different place.  Dad asks every night what's on TV!  Haha!  I wish we had TV!

June 16, 2011

What a day, what a day, what a day!  It started at about 12:30am when my dad had to go in and do a C-section.  Everything turned out fine and the baby was a big healthy girl.  This morning during rounds I followed Dr. Miller.  He is the pediatrician here who stays for about 3 months at a time.  He discharged 3 kids today which was so great!  One little girl who is only a few months old has been there for months.  She finally got to go home today because her fever went down.  We also saw a preemie baby who has been there for about 6 weeks and is still only a little over 3 lbs.  She is slow to gain weight.  Dad did a hysterctomy with only one assistant and one anesthetist.  The woman had fibroids so big it was if she was 20 weeks pregnant.  I watched him do a myomectomy too.  The woman had big golf ball sized fibroids that had to be removed, but she didn't want a full hysterectomy because she wanted more kids. (That seems to be a common theme here.)  I also helped my dad in the prenatal clinic.  We saw around 20 people with a myriad of problems.  (Mostly people with fibroids or infertility)  This afternoon I helped with another vaginal delivery.  Dad delivered another big healthy baby girl.  Once again the woman had no IV or pain meds.  The baby count is 6.  Dad has only delivered 4.  Unfortunately, Dad admitted 2 women with fetal demises.  One woman had a 22 week fetal demise, so she is in the maternity ward waiting to deliver the dead baby.  It was very sad because she was in the same room with the woman who gave birth to a healthy baby.  She had to leave the room because it made her sad.  The other woman with the fetal demise was 30 weeks along.  She had extremely severe preeclampsia (high blood pressure) and it is very slow to come down.  Dad said that he sees about one woman a year who is that sick.  She was also in the room with the woman who gave birth.  So, the day isn't over yet.  However, the fact that 3 children were discharged and many new moms were discharged with healthy babies makes the day bittersweet.  Please keep praying for us and for the very sick mom.  Also, there is an extremely malnourished 18 month old who looks to be about 2 months old.  She also needs lots of prayers.

June 15, 2011

Tuesday was a very busy day.  The was clinic was super busy, full of people with a wide variety of problems.  Tuesday night was the prayer meeting held by the missionaries.  The prayers were in the traditional Baptist style, long!  It was a lovely meeting with hymn singing and prayers.  Today, Wednesday, was a slower day.  The hospital has scheduled it so that every Wednesday is a "break" in the middle of the week.  Dad and I spent most of the morning checking on a woman in labor with twins.  It was her first pregnancy. She was over 40 weeks pregnant with twins!  She is so strong.  She labored from 7:30am until about 1:10pm when the first baby was born.  She had no IV, no pain medication (aside from one shot of low grade pain medicine at about noon), and no heart monitors for the babies.  She was uncomfortable all day, but barely made a fuss.  She pushed the first baby out, not much pain medicine and no epidural, without making a peep.  The first baby was a healthy 5lb. 8oz girl with the cord loosely wrapped around the neck.  The second baby came about 10 minutes later, but was in worse shape.  We never could hear the heartbeat of the second baby after the first baby came, so we were worried.  She came out with the cord around her neck and leg.  She was very blue, so my Dad and the nurse/midwife had to resuscitate her.  She ended up doing fine and weighed 5lbs.  The mother was so strong but exhausted by the end of labor.  Her sister-in-law was her only family member with her, and she was so excited to see healthy baby girls.  This afternoon we rested and swam in the nice pool that is on the compound.  We are having a great time with all of the missionaries!

June 14, 2001

We made it here safely!  It was quite an adventure from the airport in Accra to the hospital.  Our driver, Johnny, was a life saver.  He knew exactly how to handle the border patrol between Ghana and Togo.  we were on paved roads most of the time in Ghana, but about 1/3 of the 6 hour trip was dirt roads.  We passed small cinder block houses and also mud huts.  Most of the houses were painted with cell phone logos.  Johnny told us that they promised to pay the families to put the logos on their houses, but they usually never paid them.  The money usually go "lost" on its way to the families.  There were goats everywhere!  Johnny was dodginggoats and chickens (along with potholes) the whole drive.  Near each toll booth there were tons of vendors selling bread, fruit,jewelry, and pillows.  The border patrol was very interesting to say the least.  In Ghana, we had to sign out at the customs office.  It was a small building with a fan and a tv.  The agents were friendly and made sure we had all of our papers.  Between the customs office in Ghana and the customs office in Togo was about a mile long, one lane, dirt road through the jungle.  The customs office in Togo was a tiny shack with no electricity and one border patrol who wasn't wearing a shirt.  Johnny gave each of the security guards at the checkpoints a loaf of bread as a peace offering.  We finally made it to the hospital and got checked in to the guesthouse.  We had a good night's rest and woke up to a full day's work.  It's pretty hot and there is not much a/c, so I got woozy.  However, I saw alot of different things.  I watched the doctors do rounds on the ICU, men's and women's wards.  I also went to the clinic with my dad.  He saw alot of patients from C-Sections post ops to men with hernias.  One older woman  had advanced cervical cancer, but there isn't much that can be done.  She could have major surgery to remove the cancer, but it would just come back without radiation which is relatively unavailable here.  My dad also did a D&C for a retained placenta.  The woman was bleeding heavily, but she got fixed "right up".  My dad was surprised that he scrubbed in to do surgery with only soap.  There is not much infection, so soap must work fine.  The people of Togo are so strong and reilient.  One woman had stitches removed today and she barely flinched.  It is also amazing to see the women carry huge containers full to the brim on their heads.  Most of the women have a baby on their back and a container on their head.  This is definitely an adventure, but I'm loving it!

In Transit

Well, my Dad and I made the first leg of the trip. We flew from Pensacola, FL to Dulles International Airport in DC, and now we have an 8 hour layover. At 10:45 pm we will fly from DC to Accra, Ghana where we will hop in a car and drive 5 hours to the hospital in Togo. We left the house at 8:30 am Alabama time on Sunday and we will arrive at our destination at approximately 6:30 pm Togo time on Monday. It will be a long trip, but it will be worth it! Thank you for all of the prayers you have prayed so far. I know God is listening. Please continue to support us over the 2 weeks. I recently found out that the internet connection at the hospital is unreliable, so I will blog as often as I can. However, the internet may prevent me from blogging as often as I had hoped. We will see how it all works out!


"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12

Commissioning Service

My Dad and I leave in one week for Togo. It is hard to believe the big trip is almost here! Our church had a wonderful commissioning for our trip at the 11 am service this morning. Our pastor Rev. Mike McKnight and our former pastor Rev. Joe Bullington prayed over us and asked the congregation to keep us, the people of Togo, and the long term missionaries in their prayers. We also received Bibles from the World Medical Mission organization that we can use while on our trip. Coincidentally today's sermon was about the Great Commission, in which Jesus called the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. Because Christians have been baptized by the Holy Spirit, we are given the responsibility to go and share the Good News with others. Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins, and it is by His grace that we are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. Please continue to pray for my Dad and me, the people of Togo, the current missionaries, and the hospital.

"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28:18-20