Christmas is nearly upon us and the ship has been buzzing with excitement as we prepare to take a break for a week and spend some time with friends and family.
It has been an eventful month doing more thyroid surgery with Dr John Roland from the USA. He has been a delight to work with and has surgically removed oversized thyroid glands for 19 patients. With this type of surgery it always puts us on high alert for emergencies once again. The ward has been full with these patients all lined up in their beds one after the other!
We have finished eye surgery and did a total of 1208 operations on the ship over 25 weeks. The mobile eye clinic has worked tirelessly seeing more than 15,000 people with a range of eye problems and then referring those who need an operation to the ship. This is an amazing accomplishment by all those involved in getting the job done. We will be stopping eye surgery after Christmas and commence when the ship sails to Monrovia, Liberia early next year.
Samuel* has been a patient that I have connected with. He came early in the outreach to have a hernia repair and returned to have his facial deformity operated on. His condition is called neurofibromatosis. This is a tumour of the nerves and has affected the side of his face. It has been growing for years and it is great that we are able to reduce the size of the tumour although not fully remove it. He was a lovely patient and was always cheerful when I visited him in the ward. This is why we do the surgery, to give hope where there was no hope before.
The “Hamatan” season is upon us now. During the Christmas period the “Hamatan” wind blows in from the Saharan Desert and covers a lot of West Africa with a fine, dusty sand. The dust is mainly airborne and I guess it can be several kilometers high. The “Hamatan” can last for about two months and during bad periods can be like a fog. When taking a walk off the ship it is very hazy and you can taste the dust in your mouth. The “Hamatan” season does not affect the work we are continuing to do for the people here in Ghana.
*not his real name
