Patients

So, can I just say I love my patients. I worked this past weekend so I went to the church service we have on the ward. I think Im going to do that again next Sunday, just because it is SO lively and celebrational and I actually know people in the congragation. All the patients that are able to from all 3 wards cram into one and there is drums, worship, and time for patients to give their testimony. Then there is a small sermon. This past week Andrew (the albino who I have written about previously) gave the sermon based off of the Luke passage where the sick woman just touches Jesus's cloak and is healed and Jesus feels the power leave him. He did a great job. It was fun taking care of him this week cause he gets dressing changes three times a day and you have to put vinegar/saline water soaked gauze on the wound and let it sit for 10 minutes. We would go to a different room to do this so we just hung out while we waited for the 10 minutes to pass. The whole week he was so excited about talking in ward church. He would go over the passages with me and what he was going to talk about. He also shared with me much of the hard times he had been through personally and how he didn't give up and how God provides. I also started praying for him while we waited for time to pass. I have really enjoyed those times with him. He is still here and is going for his second surgery tomorrow actually to get a skin graft from his leg to cover the open muscle on his shoulder. After he preached Sunday I told him he did a great job and he said, no...God did...how cool is that.
I also enjoy walking back to the ship from being to the market and often seeing some of my patients being discharged and walking out..or leaving after a follow up apt. It is so fun to see them, and run up and give em a hug and say hi. I was running with Red (one of the charge nurses here who is amazing) and we saw one of the patients we had really gotten to know. We both ran up and gave her a hug. Then we started talking about how cool that is and how most of these patients are probably not used to being loved like that and having people be excited to see them after they have lived with illness and deformaties.
It is always interesting nursing here and exchanging information with patients...as I have mentioned before regarding translating. Well, another thing that Africans do is raise their eye brows...for everything it seems. I had a girl last week who was queen of this. Usually when they raise their eye brows (ever so subtly) it means yes. Again, it took me a long time to even notice them doing it cause it is so subtle which ads to the entertainment. But I had a girl and granted she did have jaw surgery and couldnt really talk she still had the eye thing mastered. But I would ask her if she wanted to take the medicine liquid or in pill form and she would raise her eye brows. Well, thtat didnt help me so then I would ask her if she wanted it liquid...raised eyebrows. Then I did the same with pills...same response. I was crackin up inside cause Im like...really...I think Im missing some hidden signal..she would raise her eye brows for everything. Anyhoo...guess you have to see it..but good times.
Here are a few of the patients I have gotten to be close with. One is a girl who had no nose/lips because of the flesh eating noma bacteria. Thanks to the surgeons here and many surgeries later she has a nose and lips and was just back for a revision of that. One of these pictures was taken after she finished braiding my hair. Then her mom taught me how to wrap and hold a baby on my back like the women here do...the woman in the next bed over had a little baby that we all enjoyed helping babysit while mom was getting surgery.

Another man..Popey..had had a part of his jaw (mandible) removed and was here to get a bone from his hip placed in his mouth to be his jaw bone. He had to have his mouth bandaged shut for a few days and was having a hard time after the surgery...we were both getting frustrated and I was able to pray with him and I visit every day to see how he is doing. That is another fun thing about working and living in the same place...even when Im not working I'll often pop my head in to say hi to the patients...they love it.