peace finally got to go home yesterday, and apparently there was quite an entourage from her home town to accompany her back. it's not hard to believe, considering her sweet nature and quick smile. peace is from takoradi, a town that is about a 5 hour drive from here. she is a baker, and specializes in pies and doughnuts (i told her that i'll definitely have to visit sometime!) she lives with her husband, a woodcarver who makes furniture for the government, including an amazing table that ghana gave as a diplomatic gift to germany. she also has four children and one young granddaughter.
on wednesday evening i got to take peace around the ship...we mostly sat out on the aft deck and chatted. she was so excited to be going home to her family. her NG tube is out and she has been eating soft foods on the ward...she was excited to get home and eat some real ghanaian food, as it has been seven years since she has eaten anything solid...her tumor has been large for that long. i got to take some pictures of us on the aft deck and also got the "before" picture that the mercy ships photographer took. quite a difference, eh?
i am sad to see her go but am so happy to have gotten the chance to know her. i'll never forget the day i saw her at screening, severely malnourished and unable to keep the drool from spilling out of her mouth, nor the day that she woke up from her surgery and couldn't stop staring at her new tumor-free face in the mirror. she just smiled and smiled...
am almost over my cold...my nose still wants to be a professional snot-maker, so have been toting kleenex around. but overall i feel much better and more like myself. today i went to the OR to assist in a dental surgery...this time with Moses, a patient we saw in dental clinic who has severe osteomyelitis (bone infection) in his jaw. the surgery was short, relatively easy and went without complication. i don't know what it is about dental stuff though...it's the only thing in all of medicine that makes me cringe. i'll take a colon resection, hip replacement or bicoronal flap any day of the week...just don't make me watch a tooth extraction!
# posted by Jenn @ 4:36 PM