VVF SCREENING HOPE REBORN

Akissi, an 18-year-old girl, sits patiently in a white rob. Slowly, the line she is waiting in gets shorter and she moves closer to the examination area. She thinks back on the 4 months since her first screening near her home in northern Togo. She has been anxiously awaiting this day. The moment has finally come and she prays that the doctor will say to her, “Yes, we can help you.”

Akissi is one of many female patients that have arrived on the dock of the Africa Mercy with the hope of being reborn. These women are being screened for a debilitating condition called vesico-vaginal fistula, or VVF. Such a condition is common in African countries because of the lack of obstetric care. The Mercy Ships program, aptly titled “Hope Reborn,” will ease their suffering.

VVF is usually caused by difficulties during childbirth. Some women writhe in agony for several days before giving birth to a stillborn child. The prolonged labor causes a hole to form between the bladder and the vagina, making it difficult to live a normal life. The women experience an involuntary discharge of urine, and therefore they carry with them an unpleasant odor.  

Maggie Schrenk, VVF coordinator and a volunteer on the Africa Mercy, has been waiting for this day for several months. “These women are very special. I hold a special place in my heart for them. Today starts 6 weeks of surgeries that will repair their lives.”

This condition is a stigma in African society. It is a prevalent problem but discussion of this condition is swept under the rug and dismissed. Women with this condition are usually shunned and separated from everyday life around them. If more doctors knew how to repair the fistula it would stop the suffering of hundreds of women.

That is why Dr. Steve Aerosmith spends much of his time educating local surgeons. Dr. Aerosmith is a VVF surgeon from the United States and has spent 23 years performing VVF surgeries and educating African surgeons about the technique. Teaching other doctors onboard the Africa Mercy is a unique opportunity that Dr. Aerosmith appreciates very much.

“The ship is an amazing training platform,” Aerosmith says. “You take these African doctors out of their home medical facilities and all their distractions are taken away: no cell phone coverage, no pagers, and all their other needs are taken care of. It’s a unique niche for the ship that no body else can match.”

Screening day onboard the Africa Mercy is a long arduous day, but Aerosmith and the VVF team are prepared and up to the challenge. By 11am they are 2 hours ahead of schedule.

Lindsay Nelson, VVF Assistant Coordinator, explains, “We are moving through the exams quickly, which is great. We will see about 60 women today. After Dr. Aerosmith examines each one, the team will convene and decide who we will bring in for surgery, and who are inoperable.”

Spirits remained high throughout the day and examinations were completed by 4:00 pm. The team met afterwards to make the difficult decision of who will be given a surgery date, and unfortunately who will be turned away.

Saying no to patients is extremely difficult, but the team focuses on the ones they will be able to help. Maggie comments, “We will have ceremonies celebrating the ones who have received successful surgery. That day marks a new life for them and those are the moments I live for.”

There will be many of those moments onboard the Africa Mercy in the next few weeks thanks to the hard work of Mercy Ships’ amazing VVF team.