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UNMIL
United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) sent us many women troops to keep on standby in case the crowds were not manageable. Their presence was a great asset just even for peace of mind. Screening day... the busiest day so far. It is a day where hundreds and thousands of people come to a soccer stadium in hopes of free surgery. As soon as something free comes up, automatically people will come with whatever ailments they have just to see if they will be helped and get something for free in a country where nothing is free. It is a day where people will wait in line for hours on end in an anticipating hope that someone will be able to treat their sickness they have for so long carried with them. Most people by now know Mercy Ships and our ministry as it is the third time that we have been here to Liberia.
We have asked the Monrovia police and the UNMIL police to help us out and be a standby if needed but we hoped that it would not get to that. But it was a big ordeal for all of the healthcare staff and many other people on board the ship. I started my day at 0530h... yes that means 5:30 in the A.M... not my shiniest hour, but I managed to paste on my smiling face before the
Screening line ups
Here is a picture of a few of the nurses I was working with among the lineup outside of the soccer stadium we held the screening at. Our job was to pick out all the people who were not appropriate for the surgeries we offered. I am in there somewhere, but might be hiding behind other people further down. sun rose. We took all the supplies to set up our screening areas in the soccer stadium. The viewing area of the soccer stadium was set up in sections underneath the roof, so we would be covered from the hot sun and in case of rain. It also gave people a place to sit and wait as they went from station to station.
Basically my job officially was called "the back of the line!" I was to go around in the lineup that was extending around the stadium and ask why people were there and what their problem was. I, along with about 8 other nurses were the bearers of good and bad news. We were responsible for telling them if they could remain waiting in the line to be assessed further and have the surgeons decide if it is possible to operate or if we cannot help them at this time. This was all based on the type of surgeries that we are doing at the time. I was told that we were doing Maxillo-facial, plastic surgery and orthopedic surgeries.
There were also a night crew of 4 nurses and 4 security guards that went from midnight
UNMIL Soliders
Here is an example of the many UNMIL soilders that were sent to us. They were all women! to 6a.m. to start with the crowds that night that would line up to wait. They saw a few hundred people and turned many of them away.
So for the morning, I walked through the line up asking people what they were here for in my best Liberian English - " Hello mama (papa), why you come, what your problem uh?" then they would say anything from "my stomach hurting me," "my eyes, I cannot see good," "I got hernia," to "my body aching all over," and "my teeth are hurting me" and proceed to smile big!
So with these cases, it was obvious that the surgeons we had would not perform a surgery on them. So I would as them if they have problem with toileting (most would say ya), kindly give advice to the ones that had stomach pains, to drink plenty water, lots fruits and fibre like casava leaf and tell them this is not a surgical problem and send them on their way!
Second big group was the eyes.... they have heard that we have eye clinics and most of the people that have eye problems that can't see good... of course you
Goiter
Many women similar to this woman came desperate for us to remove their goiters, but unfortunately, we are unable to offer that surgery as they probably would not have the money or the means to take the hormone replacements required when we remove such a large tumor accociated with the thyroid. can't see, you need glasses and your 40-50 years old!!! HA, for us it's no problem, for them... a big problem... where does one get glasses... so we would tell these people kindly to go to the eye clinic every friday morning at Redemption Hosptial where they could have an eye doctor to look at their eyes. many did have cataracts but I'm no expert, but we would usher those people out of the line nontheless. Most would go freely, but the stuborn ones, we would just look at the police or security guys and they would kindly usher them away, with a bit more indimiation than I can muster!
The next problem: the hernia patients... well many many people were helped here on Mercy Ships recently when the general surgeon was here... I think I was moaning about that last blog because we would whip through about 10-13 hernia patients in a day for like 2 weeks!! busy busy! But that meant as well that word got around that Dr. Bruce was here and they were doing hernias. But unfortunately, I had to again, give some bad news to say that "the doctor who do the operation, he
Screening
Here is one example of the variety of people that would come with hopes of a cure. Here in the yellow vest is George Washington! He is one of our day workers that work on the dock, escorting patients and taking them to the right place on the ship. he works hard and was very good with delivering bad news to people in the lineups go home, so no hernia operation now."
Disapointed some asked when the doctor come back to do the operation... but of course I cannot say and the worst thing to do is to give them hope and not be able to fulfill that... so I would say I don't know. Some woud ask what they should do in the mean time, and I would again give my best bowel care schpeel, and tell them no heavy lifting. But lets be honest, what grown Liberian man won't do heavy lifting... ?? not going to happen here! So, I would send these people on their way again.
The dental patients, well, Mercy Ships sends out a dental team daily monday to friday to the Redemption Hospital to run dental clinics so we would refer them to those clinics!
So as we would sift through those people who had problems we just had to say no to. Then came the challenging part.
It was the hundreds of patients that did have problems similar to those that we could help that I let through the lineups. There were many people with burn contractures, tumors, keloids, lipomas, fibromas, broken limbs, club feet, huge
Lineup
Here is yet another picture of the seemingly endless lineup in the morning. wounds from previously broken bones, some even came with their own XRays! That made it easy!
But then it made it hard those people that technically had the problems we advertised for but we would not be doing surgery for based on their acuity. There were burn victims with horrible scaring, but functional limbs... we are not going to fix that if they can function already. It would be great to give them new skin and take away their scars, but there is just no room for that when there are others with contractures that make it impossible to even open or move their hands.
The polio victims and other bone degenerating diseases that make their limbs unuseable... I saw all ages and sizes, male and female, with useless limbs... but what can we do when the damage is already done?? People coming in their wheelchairs wanting a miracle to be able to walk again. But how can we help?
There were many people with dislocated hips and joints from whatever injury... mostly car accidents... but unfortunately, we were unable to offer that as part of the othro category, so we would turn away many people
The crowds in the stadium.
As you can see many people were able to be screened and booked for surgery. Unfortunately that meant waiting in the soccer stands for a few hours waiting to be seen. who needed hip replacements away.
The many women who came with goiters... looks like a neck tumor, feels like a neck tumor, but it is just too much for us to offer that type of surgery... we have to weigh out the long term effects of these surgeries as well... will the people be able to function on their own afterwards, and taking out someone's thyroid and possibly parathyroid glands, they will not be able to get or pay for the hormone replacements that are required for them long term.
The many people with small benign tumors, it was tough to say, but basically the little ones, i just told them that it was too small and the doctor would say he would not operate because it is too small. They would look at me in disbelief, so if he wanted to wait in line for hours and hours for the doctor to say the same thing as me, then he was welcome to.
I could go on and on about the individual cases of chilrden and adults alike that were really breaking my heart. The stories of how they got their injuries or the fact that they were born
The children
~We had singing, games, and baloons for the kids to play with while they were waiting for family members. with defects that were not treated. Whatever the case may be, the images of these people that I turned away will be in my mind and my heart for eternity, just knowing that there is nothing we could do for them. My prayer for them is that they do not get so downhearted that they feel like God has abandoned them, or does not care because they were not helped that day.
But what I will focus on are the many people that went through the doors of the stadium and going through the process of registering, getting their vitals and histories taken, seeing the doctor and getting booked in for surgery. They even got their blood taken, and had the option of getting prayed for with the many people serving on the prayer teams.
It is these people that God has chosen this time for his care, through us, for healing. Whether this healing will come through physical, emotional or spiritual, only he will know. The hundreds of people that waited for hours between each line up, are hopeful that soon their life will change, improve and maybe, just maybe life might get better for them. They
Joseph
Here is Joseph. I admitted him actually. He was a really nice guy and soon he will have a new smile! The surgeons will remove the scaring that covers his mouth and lip and he will be able to open his mouth and smile again. walked away that day with a smile, many whom have not smiled for a long time, with a green appointment card in their hands to indicate the day they will return to the ship the day before their operation for admission.
Many other Mercy Ships volunteers were out in the stadium entertaining the children with music and games, there were people handing out water and food and escorting everyone from station to station so they would not get lost. We were not allowed to set foot on the soccer field and the women in blue camoflauge with guns reminded us of that! There were clouds most of the day, so that was a blessing in itself, knowing we weren't going to melt in the heat!
SO, overall it was an amazing day, very eyeopening and very successful as we filled our surgical slots until the end of this mission in November. But I think I will forever see some of those disappointed faces of those who did not make it through the lineup. I pray for them.
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Louise Cowlishaw
non-member comment
Um. Wow. That's pretty much all I can say.