November 10, 2015
by Pat Rees
I thought I would add a line since I found Fenton's email to all of you and don't want you to think that I am gravely ill here in this foreign country! I am "sharing the love" or the virus as it really is, that has been going through the entire surgical staff. It is the runny nose, fever, chills, sore throat, etc. I have to admit, I usually just put up with that, but this one was a "tough virus" as the residents are calling it, so staying home a day from work really was a smart thing to do. Anyway, I am on the mend, really having felt the touch of the Lord in bringing healing.
I would ask for prayer for two of our residents who will leave in a couple of weeks to go take oral exams from a multinational board. They need to pass these to get "certified" in their own countries for after they graduate. The difficult part is not just that they can be asked ANYTHING in surgery, which is hard enough, but that they have to explain it in detail in a language that isn't their first language (English). I have been working with them and there is another visiting surgeon who is head of a trauma surgery department in Dayton, who is also working with them these last 10 days. Pray as they leave to go to the test in Malawi that they will be able to show all that they know. I know that God can bring the answers to their recall since I know they have studied so hard. I am praying that the words will come easily in whatever language they have to use to answer these questioners.
We serve a miracle working God, and I see him working here in Bongolo in so many ways. In a resource poor country, there are few options other than surgery, or always having a catheter in your bladder, if you develop an enlarged prostate gland. We removed this man's prostate, but he had some bleeding after surgery and a rare blood type we (and his family) couldn't find a blood donor for. Because he was bleeding, we had to do some additional irrigation. Since we are irrigating with water, his electrolytes (salts in your blood) became too dilute and he developed what is called TURS--they drop their blood pressure, they get confused, they get very swollen--ALL of which our patient did. Being older, when your blood pressure drops, you risk your heart not getting enough blood flow, and this was a real concern for us. Friday we all gathered around and discussed medical options, and then prayed for him to stop bleeding, for his blood pressure, for us to find a blood donor, for God to save his life as the medical books say the mortality of patients who develop TURS can be quite high. Friday night as I left, we still had no donor, he was still bleeding, and still VERY swollen. I felt so defeated that we would probably lose this patient that night. Saturday, I came to check on him, and instead, found a man sitting up, smiling, yellow (not bloody) urine, and his thanking me for our care. No, it was a Bongolo Miracle. At the end of my medical knowledge and ability to care, there is a God who is greater, and can reach down, even into the middle of this jungle hospital, and heal. I am so thankful that we serve that kind of a God!
Thank you for your prayers,
Pat Rees