Purpose in the pain

Well, the last couple weeks have been a bit of a transition on the ward. Our plastic surgeon headed home a couple weeks ago, so surgeries for A ward ended (general and maxillo-facial surgeries in the other wards have continued). As a result, most of the patient care that we have been a lot of pain management and dressing changes. This has allowed us to have a lot more time with patients (especially in the evenings after the dressing changes are done). But, at the same time, when you have a ward full of children, you have to provide some good entertainment to keep them from bouncing off the walls.

Last weekend, we had an art contest to see who could draw the best ship. There were quite a few entries and we had some nice pictures at the end to decorate the walls on the ward. In the end, we decided to draw a number with a correlating picture for the winner instead of voting on the best picture (we didn't want to cause any tears from the little guys).

Among other things, we have kept the kids entertained with lots of games, crafts, coloring, movies, and songs. One of my favorite parts of the day is tucking the boys into bed (there are 5 in a row who are between the ages of 5 and 10). Their new favorite song is "Here I am to worship." We sing it together almost every night and then they give me kisses and I make them all lay down and close their eyes to sing them the "goodnight song." It is one of those sweet moments that makes all the hard, frustrating parts of the job so worth it.

There have definitely been a lot of ups and downs over the past couple weeks. Some of the kids despise their dressing changes and just scream through the whole thing. This past week, one of the little boys intentionally peed on me and tried to bite me because he was mad he had to get his dressing change. A lot of the kids also hate their hand exercises, which are very important for regaining full movement in their hands (which were previously contracted from burn injuries). Several of them have thrown tantrums and we have had to really talk to those kids quite a bit about the whole reason we're doing this...we have come across quite a few behavior problems and have had to guide some of the parents in appropriate discipline (sometimes they just threaten to beat the kids which only makes things worse). But, with time and a lot of patience, things are starting to improve and the kids are beginning to understand the reason for why we're doing what we do. We have been able to build up a lot more trust with them as well. It's encouraging to see all the improvement that we've had, even though it has been a slow and painful process. It's interesting that we've been studying patience in our Beth Moore Bible study this past week...I guess God knew that I would need an extra dose of that.

It's interesting when I think about all we've been teaching the kids and what God is teaching me through it. We ask the kids to do painful things like stretching little fingers that don't want to be stretched or taking off bandages that need to be changed. We give them medicine, but we know it is somewhat painful. But, because it's for their good, we tell them they need to do it and ask them to trust us. The same is true with God. So many times, He stretches us and asks us to do things that are painful and unpleasant. We often throw our tantrums and ask God why he is making us do something we don't want to do...all the while, not understanding that it is for our own good. But, as we learn to trust Him as our loving Father, we realize that He allows us to go through uncomfortable circumstances to perfect us and make us more like Him. And in the end, the pain is worth it.

"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

 Hebrews 12:11

Miracles still happen

Every now and then something amazing happens on the ship...and each time I have the privilege of witnessing these little miracles, I am so blessed. A few weeks ago, we admitted a two-year old girl named Josephine who had inhaled a stone. Her family had been to one clinic after another and even went to the government hospital. They were told by the specialist that she needed a pediatric anesthetist in order to perform the surgery to remove the stone. But, if she didn't get the operation soon, she would die.

In desperation, her parents went to the ministry of health seeking any help they could find. At the same time that they were at the Ministry of Health, Ann Gloag, a member of Mercy Ships'  International board, was there as well. And through God's providential timing, the family connected with Ann and she was able to arrange for Josephine to come to the ship for medical attention.

Josephine before surgery
 

However, the type of surgery that Josephine needed was not the type of surgery that we usually perform on the ship. In the OR, the surgeons all came together and tested every idea they could possibly think of. But, after spending five hours in surgery with no success, they decided they had to stop before irritating her lungs too much and causing further complications.

Josephine came back to the ICU on a ventilator, needing very close attention and care. I was the charge nurse on shift, so I came down to get report with the ICU nurse from Dr. Gary Parker (our head surgeon) and the anesthesia team when Josephine got out of surgery late that night. I have to admit that there is a part of me that tends to feel a bit inadequate when it comes to being "in charge" of the ICU. I am not personally an ICU nurse, but there is only one charge nurse at night to cover all the wards, so that means I am left with the responsibility of the ICU.

Around 2am, I walked down to the ICU to see how Melissa (the ICU nurse) was doing and to check on Josephine. Right after I got there, Josephine started acting restless. She was squirming back and forth, despite the sedation meds that she was receiving through her IV. Her breathing started to become labored and she was sucking in for breath. "Something is wrong," I told the nurse. "She looks like one of our RSV babies back home." Although she was an ICU nurse, she didn't normally work with pediatrics, so we combined my pediatric knowledge with her ICU experience to try to troubleshoot the problem. Right then, Corina, a Pediatric ICU nurse came through the door in her pajamas. "I just woke up thinking about the ICU and thought I'd come check on you guys," she said. Within a few minutes of her arrival, Josephine's became more labored and then her heart rate dropped extremely low...too low to pump enough blood for her little body. The girls started compressions while I ran to the phone to page the anesthesiologists. Thankfully, they were roommates and the two of them came down immediately. They had even slept in their scrubs in case we had an emergency.

Corina had pulled out the breathing tube when Josephine had started to crash because it had become clogged (which was why Josephine was showing such labored breathing). They were manually bagging her when the anesthetists arrived. We got everything ready to put in a new tube and Michelle (one of the anesthetists) re-intubated her successfully. But, Josephine wasn't out of the woods yet. She still had a stone in her lung and would continue to go downhill until it was removed. As I was rushing around to get supplies for the anesthestists, I saw Josephine's parents in the other room, on their knees, crying out to God for their little girl. My heart was breaking for them. One of our staff had informed me that their five-year-old son just died a few months ago and Josephine was all they had left. Surely God wouldn't take her too. We had to do everything we could to save this little girl's life!

Thankfully, Josephine settled not long after her new breathing tube was placed and the rest of the night she did well. But, time was running out and no one wanted to face the reality of what would happen if we couldn't remove the stone. The surgeons were aware of her fragile condition and voiced their concern. What we really needed was a cardio-thoracic surgeon. The problem was, how would we get one before time ran out?

So, finally, Ann Gloag called a friend who works as a professor in Nairobi and explained that she needed a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon immediately. She was looking for someone who could fly in as soon as possible. The professor recommended Dr. James Munene, head of cardiac surgery at Nairobi’s Kenyatta National Hospital.

Ann called Dr. Munene to explain the situation and requested that he come to Sierra Leone. It was the middle of the night and he was a bit reluctant, as he had never even heard of Mercy Ships before the call. But, after some persistence, Dr. Munene agreed and told his wife that he would be flying to Sierra Leone in the morning.

Dr. James flew to Freetown the next morning and not long after was performing surgery with Dr. Gary to remove the stone. The surgery went well and the stone was removed without any problems. A few hours later, Josephine was sitting up in bed, eating and drinking and doing great.

I visited Josephine the day after her surgery and was pleasantly surprised to see her awake and alert, playing in her bed. She was a very different child than the fragile little girl I had seen a few nights before who had fought for her precious little life. Her parents were sitting there with her, as her uncle played guitar music for everyone to enjoy. They were all in good spirits and celebrating the life of their little girl.

Josephine with her parents in the ward



It is so apparent that God's hand has been in all of this and it has been amazing to see his perfect timing through it all. It was no coincidence that Ann was there the day Josephine's parents came looking for help and it was no coincidence that Corina woke up in the middle of the night and came to the ICU at just the right time. We were not the only ones looking after little Josephine. God was watching over her life and in the midst of some scary circumstances, He showed all of us that we can still believe Him for little miracles.

Saying goodbye to the ship



Youth ministry

Well, one of the great ministries that I have been blessed to be a part of this year is working with the youth group onboard the Africa Mercy. The youth are kids of the long-term crew who attend the academy we have on the ship. This semester, we had nearly twenty kids in Junior High or High School in the youth group. Every tuesday night, we met with the kids in our youth room to have fun with a variety of activities, including games, testimonies, music, and sharing time. Over the last few months, we've been reading through a book called Bruchko. It is a true story about a teenage boy who feels called to work in South America. He packs up and moves there without any formal training or missions organization and sees God do amazing things through his obedience. It was a very inspirational book and it was great to read it with the kids and discuss it together.

Outside of Tuesday night youth group, we've had fun with movie nights and beach trips with the kids. We also served together at a local youth center called "Don Bosco" and offered that ministry every other Saturday to encourage the youth to connect with the locals in Freetown. Many of the kids who live at the youth center had problems at home or came in from the streets, so it was great to see our youth connecting and being positive role models to them.

       Attempting to stay hidden during a game of "sardines"

One of our beach days with some of the older youth



It's crazy to think that the semester is already over and it's now "summer break." Many of the kids are leaving this week to go home with their families for a much needed vacation. Other families are ending their term with Mercy Ships and won't be returning. While it is sad to see them go, I am so thankful for the opportunity to be their youth leader and get to know them this year. It has been great to build relationships with them and to see them grow over the past few months. I know that God has big things in store for each one of them and I'm excited to see all the ways that He chooses to use them. 

A few of the youth leaders decided to dress up and bring ice cream to the kids' cabins for

a study break during finals week...they were all pleasantly surprised :)

Youth group starts back up in the fall, but for now we're all having "summer break" and most of the kids will be home on vacation. Until then, I guess I'll have to be a grown-up (after all, isn't that why being a youth leader is so much fun...you kind of get to be a kid again)!