Finding joy in the little things
With about a month left here, I am torn between wanting to go home and being sad about leaving this awesome place. I feel as though I have finally settled into life on the ship. Things that I once found unnatural seem like the norm. I know it may be a little bit of a shock when I land back in the States and realize I can take a shower that's longer than two minutes, sleep in my own room, and not have 400 people around me at all times. I wish you could all experience life on the ship, if even for a short time. It's hard to put into words the life-changing experience I have had here. Over the past couple weeks I have been trying to really take in everything I am seeing here, enjoying the small moments, and finding time to reflect on the past two months.
I want to start with two patient stories-two little nuggets that have really benefited from Mercy Ships, and all the "behind-the-scenes" work that takes place here. The first patient is this little baby boy. He came to Mercy Ships malnourished and tiny. The issue was that he had a cleft lip and palate. These two issues sometimes make it hard for babies to properly eat and get the nutrition they need. Mercy Ships first repaired his lip sometime back in the fall, but the baby needed to gain more weight to be safe for surgery on his palate. Mercy Ships has implemented a program to help babies gain weight and reach a healthy percentile of growth. It's called the infant feeding program. This baby finally gained enough weight to have his palate fixed and returned to the ship. Unfortunately he caught a respiratory virus that left him very sick and in our ICU. Me and some fellow PICU nurses had the honor of nursing him back to health-but it was a scary few days for all involved. It just blew me away the effort and hard work my fellow nurses put into caring for this baby-and seeing it through until he was healed. He will come back again for palate surgery. When he was all healed he smiled (a lot!)-he doesn't always look this sad-I promise. I love the work we do here and this little nugget touched my heart.
I want to start with two patient stories-two little nuggets that have really benefited from Mercy Ships, and all the "behind-the-scenes" work that takes place here. The first patient is this little baby boy. He came to Mercy Ships malnourished and tiny. The issue was that he had a cleft lip and palate. These two issues sometimes make it hard for babies to properly eat and get the nutrition they need. Mercy Ships first repaired his lip sometime back in the fall, but the baby needed to gain more weight to be safe for surgery on his palate. Mercy Ships has implemented a program to help babies gain weight and reach a healthy percentile of growth. It's called the infant feeding program. This baby finally gained enough weight to have his palate fixed and returned to the ship. Unfortunately he caught a respiratory virus that left him very sick and in our ICU. Me and some fellow PICU nurses had the honor of nursing him back to health-but it was a scary few days for all involved. It just blew me away the effort and hard work my fellow nurses put into caring for this baby-and seeing it through until he was healed. He will come back again for palate surgery. When he was all healed he smiled (a lot!)-he doesn't always look this sad-I promise. I love the work we do here and this little nugget touched my heart.
My next story is similar-this little baby also had a lip repair a few months ago and was entered into the infant feeding program to help gain weight. She also caught a respiratory virus that left her sick and fighting for her life. She has been with us for a few weeks and will receive her palate surgery on May 4th. I have watched nurses force-feed her in order to gain weight in time for the surgery to be completed. Everyone has worked so hard for this little girl's life to be changed. We are even watching her take some of her first steps! I feel honored to have taken care of both of them-and of course I need to put the two cutest babies in my blog post.
As the ship's stay is coming to an end-so are a lot of the surgeries. Our VVF surgeries are complete. I don't get to work with these ladies but some of the stories I hear about them are incredible. VVF stands for Vesicovaginal Fistula. These fistulas often form due to prolonged child birth. This is less of an issue in the States because C-sections are common practice for us when labor goes wrong. The result of having these fistulas is leaking urine. The women are shamed in some communities and thought of as "dirty". One woman even spoke about her husband leaving her-and her own children denying her. Once these women are healed, they have a dress ceremony celebrating their new life. It's like they are cleansed and have a fresh start. The ceremony takes place on "deck 7" which is an upper deck outside. They share stories, dance, and celebrate a fresh start. It's one of the most beautiful things that happens on the ship. Here are a few pictures from one of the ceremonies...
I've mostly been focusing on work as the surgeries are starting to wind down in anticipation of the ship sailing to Guinea-the next destination. We sometimes have down time to head off the ship and grab ice cream or a dinner with some friends. I did get to go to a one-year-old's birthday party. One of our day crew has a son that turned one. We drove about an hour and a half to their home to a proper African birthday celebration. It was interesting to taste the food and dance with all the kids at the party. They were certainly leery of the light-skinned foreigners, but we all share the language of dancing, smiling and pure joy and by the end we were all friends.
To all my friends and family who read my blogs- I can tell you one thing...you are missed! I cannot wait to come home and hug each and every one of you. I miss home a ton-but the work that is being done here is incredible and very important. So I will end with this...
"I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Isaiah 46:4
He will sustain me, carry me and rescue me. What a good reminder.
I loved this post Anna. It testifies to the life changing work accomplished by the entire Mercy Ships organization. It highlights the soul changing work that God our creator is doing in your life. And it reminds me of how easy we Americans have it. Something we take for granted all too much, unfortunately. But we are all placed in this world strategically for God's purposes; may we use our blessed life to improve the lives of others less fortunate. We do not necessarily need to go far, if we are not called to do so. We can make a difference from right where we are!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful stories! Thank you. You are being blessed and are blessing the people of Cameroon! Thank you, Lord, for what you are doing in Anna's life and those around her as she uses the gifts you have given her. We praise you for your Sovereignty.
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