THE GIFT OF LIFE-THE REASON I AM HERE!

God is at work healing patients through our skilled surgeons and through Jesus's love and compassion expressed through our crew.  Patients continue to come to us in near death situations.

Lawson came to us bearing the burden of a very large tumor that consumed the left side of his cheek and the inside of his mouth.  He arrived on the ship with little time to live. The tumor was spreading through out his whole face and into his brain and beginning to block his breathing passage. Praise God our doctors were able to save this man's life.

In all the years I have served on this ship, Lawson was one of the most thankful patients I have witnessed. By the grace of God, he recovered very quickly after a very long and serious surgery.  After a few days he was hugging medical staff, praising and thanking those that nursed and cared for him.  His testimony brought so much hope to the other patients in the ward that were a little apprehensive as they waited overnight to have their surgery.  He left the ship with the biggest broadest and brightest smile...a SMILE he was not able to produce previously because of the large tumor that engulfed his face and mouth.

His joy and celebration brought tears to my eyes. This man truly received the GIFT OF LIFE!  Upon his discharge, I escorted him down the gangway and along the dockside. He flowed with thanks giving and gave handshakes to everyone he passed as he exited the port.  Lawson touched the hearts of many with his joyful spirit and will to live.  A man transformed by love and compassion.

He was given a new life and I was blessed by his spirit to live.   This is the reason I am here!

“I came here so I could get help,” said Lawson, with as much clarity as he could muster. His gentle eyes betrayed his desperate hope.  A large growth stretched his mouth and cheeks horribly, causing his teeth to stick out in all directions. It had been growing for four years, inhibiting his breathing, eating, and speech, and eventually, his ability to work. The people in his village would not sell him food because they said he was a devil.  This once prominent football (soccer) player had to hide himself inside his house.  His wife left him, leaving behind their three children. Without work or food, he could not provide for his family. Life had become misery.
    
Then, he heard an ad on the radio for Mercy Ships. It said that the hospital ship Africa Mercy would soon be coming to Togo, offering surgeries free of charge. He thought they might be able to help him, and he realized it could be his only hope. Leaving his children in his mother’s care, he made his way to the screening.

     The tumor engulfing the lower half of his face was slowly suffocating him, bringing  him to the brink of death. He was admitted immediately, with surgery performed the next day.  It took three doctors eight hours to remove the benign growth and repair his nose, upper lip, and cheek. The large amount of blood required during surgery was donated by crew members.
     After the surgery, Lawson was overjoyed when he touched the bandages on his cheek to find the growth was gone. There will be more surgeries within the next year to complete the reconstruction of his face, but the immediate result will return him to a normal life. 

  “I can’t believe what has happened to me. It is a miracle!” he said, unable to hold back his tears of joy. “My way was crooked, but now my way is straight. Now, I am a man!”

     There will be no large family gathering as he leaves the ship. He plans to leave alone. “I want to surprise my family,” he smiled.  He is anxious to eat real food again and is especially looking forward to his mother’s ademe, a stew made with legumes, fish and red oil. Then he will think about starting his new life.

“I want to get back to work, but I have to start slow,” he said.
He plans to use photos of what he looked like before surgery and after. “I want to show pictures to everybody, so people can see what Mercy Ships did for me. Everybody who sees me, they will be surprised,” he grinned. “I survived! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen!”
 

AFM EYE SCREENING: THE BLIND SEE

Over 1,100 people wrapped around the Evangelical Presbyterian church on the first day of Mercy Ships eye screening.  People compressed together in long line ups with large cataracts, hardened and thick the size of marbles,  crossed eyes and infections all hoping to regain or improve their eye sight. 


After 3 weeks, potential patients continue to pour into the screening, averaging 450-600 people a day.  Approximately 250 people are screened and selected per day by our field eye team, and about 10% of those are scheduled for surgery. Eye screenings are held 4 times a week at three different locations.

The eye field team screen patients that show signs of cataracts, a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye, or in its envelope, and can cause blindness.  Pterygium, a non-cancerous growth of the clear, thin tissue that lays over the white part of the eye.
Mercy Ships estimates that approximately 30,000 potential patients will be screened in the 2010 Togo field service, of which approximately 3,000 will be scheduled for eye surgery. Mercy Ships also provides prostetic eye fittings for those that have had previous eye injuries.



While screenings continue in Lomé community, the Africa Mercy has begun performing eye surgeries aboard the hospital ship.  In the first two weeks, Dr Glenn Strauss, Ophthalmologist, performed 76 cataract and 3 Pterygium surgeries.

Everyday the Africa Mercy eye team serve to bring hope, healing and sight to the forgotten poor of Togo.    The Blind will see!

AFM DENTAL CLINIC IN LOME

Five days a week our dedicated dental team set out across the city of Lome driving approx 30 minutes to the clinic run by Mercy Ships.  The three story building is owned by the Ministry of Health and provides enough space for 9 dental chairs and all the necessary equipment required to assist approx. 250 potential patients weekly that are accepted from the pre-screenings held twice a week.


Potential patients come with a range of dental problems from simple cavities to infected abscesses that cause huge deformities to the face. The team coordinators schedule between 50-60 appointments per day.and work non stop extracting teeth, filling cavities and at times, constructing new teeth.


Due to the lack of dental services in Togo, many people have never visited a dentist or have received little or no education on the importance of caring for their teeth.  There are several preventative measures taken to help the patients. While in the waiting area, the dental team demonstrates basic dental hygiene to the patients, and the clinic has a hygienist committed to cleaning teeth in hopes of reducing the risk of cavities and infections.

The clinic will run throughout the 6 months during the Togo field service.  Mercy Ships estimates that several thousands of people will be helped during this time, most of whom will find solace and relief from their pain for the first time in their lives.

Waiting in line for treatment one woman expressed her excitement for finally receiving dental healing, “I didn’t know how I was going to get dental care so I was praying… when I heard the name of Mercy Ships I said the mercy of God is touching me and wherever he is working he gives a way to his mercy”.

AFM MEDICAL RECEPTION-TOGO'S HEALTHCARE

Over one hundred invited guests, representing Togo's healthcare interests, gathered for a medical reception aboard the Africa Mercy to view the hospital facility and learn of the medical services offered during this field service.

Following refreshments, guests assembled in the International Lounge where Dr Gary Parker- Medical Chief Officer, gave an overview of the medical services provided aboard the ship.

A video presentation on the Ponseti Management Program was shown. The program, headed by Dr. James McDaniel, provides a method for reversing clubfoot in infants, using casts and manipulation and only minor surgery is required.  Dr. Frank Haydon, a member of the Ponseti team, made a plea for partners to help fund the implementation of this program.  The team of doctors will be meeting with Togo's Minister of Health, His Excellency Kolman Mally, to explore ways to establish this procedure in Togo.

 Dr. Eli Abbobli Apesianyi, Pediatre en Sante Publique, Administrateur de Programme, Sante, who represented the Minister of Health said, "We take this opportunity to be grateful for the insight and wisdom you bring to us.  Surely, we know that you can make a difference.  Many thanks again, for bringing back life and hope to many of them.  Again on behalf of the MOH, we thank you.  Let us take the opportunity to learn from one another."
The guests toured the Hospital facilities and afterward had opportunity to ask questions at several stations set up to offer information on the types of health services and surgeries available onboard during the Togo field service. 

AFM'S FIRST ORTHO PRE SCREENING IN TOGO

The orthopedic pre screening held at the CNAO Clinic in Lome, Togo, West Africa, targeted children 15 years of age and under.  Dr. James McDaniel, Dr. Frank Haydon, and Dr. Gary Douglas assessed a number of children with bow loges, deformed hands and clubfoot.  Several infants and young children were accepted for entrance into the Ponseti program, which is being offered throughout the Togo field service.

The Ponseti technique, developed by Dr. Ignacio Ponseti over 50 years ago, is a conservative way to manage Clubfoot in young children.  This method consists of a series of casts and gentle manipulation of the foot into a position that is more properly placed, and requires only a minor surgical procedure to lengthen the Achilles tendon.  According to Dr. McDaniel, the Ponseti method is the gold standard of care which has been used worldwide for many years.  Unfortunately, most doctors in the area are untrained in this procedure.  Consequently, it has never been used in West Africa before now.

Under the leadership of Dr. McDaniel, this program is now being instituted in Togo onboard the Africa Mercy.  Because the full treatment requires up to four years for completion, other groups will be learning the procedure in order to continue the program after the field service is complete, Mercy Ships will supply all the cast materials and any other supplies required for the six months the ship is in Togo.

We hope to manage at least 60-70 crippled children with this program," said Dr. McDaniel. "We are delighted to be able to offer this opportunity to the children of Togo."

Photo: Liz Cantu

FIRST THREE WEEKS IN TOGO

During the first week of the medical pre screenings myself and our communications team bounced from pre screening site to prescreening site. The General Medical screenings are taking place in 3 different locations, 3 times a week for 10 weeks. The Orthopaedic pre screening-was held on February 22nd with another in a few months.   The Eye Screening is held in three different locations four days a week. Our Dental clinic is in full swing five days a week. At each screening site 1000's of people line up daily hoping to be seen.

The pre screening process is a very emotional time for me. Crowds of people gather with extreme medical problems. I saw young children with cataracts, crossed eyes, bow legs and clubfeet. People young and old with maxillo facial tumors that consume faces, cheeks and jaws. Some in critical danger of dying due to the limited capacity to breath and eat properly.  Bilateral cleft lip and palate babies-malnourished and premature. People young and old show up with spinal bifida, polio amd many other diseases and deformities. The good news is we can help; the bad news is we can't help everyone.  We have to trust and thank God that he has brought the right people along at this time and season.  With the free surgical treatment that is provide by our skilled medical teams, we must hope and pray for a better quality of life that will bring about lasting transformation not only for each patient, but for their families and communities as well.

We must put our hope in the healing power of Jesus! The blind see, the lame walk and the mute speak.

Patients are now in the ward and sugeries have begun. I love it when the wards are full. I never enjoyed  going into a hospitals at home, but here, as a communications photographer, I have the honor and priviledge to visit the patients and spend time with them during their recovery. The Togolese people love to express their appreciation for the free medical treatment Mercy Ships is providing for them. It is such a blessing to meet patients that I've talked to or interacted with at the screening sites, now in the ward. An instant bonding takes place when I see them. They remember me from the screening day which is the first process in building a trusting relationship with them.  Someone that took the time to love on them, talk with them rather than at them. That alone breaks down the barriers.

We have started a new Infant Feeding Program as well. Pre mature and malnourished babies, cleft lip and palate.  We have a set of twin girls, one born with club feet.  Our skilled Ortho doctors just performed surgery on the youngest child to have the new Ponsetti casting procedure done on the ship . The baby is so small she fits in the palm of my 2 hands and I have small hands. This program began last year. The babies are soooo tiny, less than 2-3 lbs.  The children will be in the ward until they have gained enough weight to have their surgery.

On another note: March 6th: As a safety precaution, a no shore leave policy is in place until the results of the Presidential election (March 4th) have come in. The streets have been quiet, businesses closed and the port workers have shut down. Please be praying that after the announcement of the elected President that peace will remain in the nation.

Isaiah 49 8-9: This is what the Lord says: "In the time of my favour I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you: I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritancs, to say to the captives, Come out; and to those in darkenss, Be Free."