June 19th
Hi this is Mama Gayle. I worked with the orthopedic doctors in clinic today, to see the patients we transferred. The rest of the team left this am to go on safari with Julius, my Tanzanian Assistant. They were very excited and I am happy they get to see God’s beauty of Africa. I am so blessed by this wonderful team. They have been working so hard and really came with a heart to serve. They have shown so much love and compassion for the patients. It is a joy to work with such a great group of students that are so excited to learn, and I love to teach. It has been fun to teach them how to scrub, gown, and glove for surgery. They showed so much excitement for being able to assist in the surgeries and especially that they are the patients that we referred from our outreach clinics, and patients that Hope Ministries is supporting. They are able to see first-hand how these peoples lives are changed.
I am overwhelmed with emotions. I have shed tears of happiness and joy. My heart breaks to see these patients in outreach clinics because they present with advanced cases, because of lack of health care and/or lack of finances. I know that God has sent us to help his people. The pain and suffering that the people have had to endure is unimaginable.
We had a lady that presented with the largest goiter I have ever seen and she has been suffering with it for 20 years. It is hard to believe she is still alive but God had other plans for her and sent us to help her. When she was intubated in OR, her airway was displaced way to the left. It was amazing that she was even able to breathe. The surgery took 3 hours with the work of some very skilled physicians and I visited her today in the ICU and she is doing very well. Praise God. Then came my tears of joy. All the patients that we did surgery on Tuesday and Wednesday are doing very well. God bless all the donors who have supported Hope Ministries, because you cannot believe how these people’s lives have been changed.
There was a young man who came to my clinic last January and had severe curvature of the spine, and it was affecting his breathing. After all the diagnostic tests, it was determined that his condition was too advanced. I was so sad because he is such a lovely person and always happy. After some discussion with the doctors on how we could help him, we sent him to a doctor that could make him a brace that would support his chest to maximize his lung capacity. The brace was affective in helping his breathing but after wearing this brace it started causing problems with his hip and leg, because that leg is so much shorter. He came to me a couple of days ago at the hospital and we decided to get him a special leg brace with an elevated shoe that would decrease the pain. I pray this will provide his with some relief.
The hospice nurses came to visit me at the hospital yesterday and asked for some assistance with some very sad cases. Such heart breaking stories. I contacted a doctor about these cases and I arranged for them to be seen today at the clinic and Hope Ministries will assist with the payment because they do not have any money. I cried when I saw them and heard their stories. We are going to help them medically and one will need to be referred to another hospital for cancer treatments.
I am humbled by this experience and love that Selian Hospital and Doctors make God the center of their care. These physicians are so kind and compassionate and have been awesome teachers for the students.
God bless all the donors who have assisted us financially, because we could not do our work without you. Also I ask that you continue to pray for the team as we continue our journey here in the lovely country of Tanzania.
I just talked to the team and they had a great day on safari. I will share some pictures that they sent to me.
Sending a lot of love to my family and friends. Miss you!!!