Rounds today

Rounds this afternoon were very sad. We have a group of Somali refugees here who were brought by a NGO to be treated for their various congenital abnormalities. One had an imperforate anus, which requires two, sometimes three operations to completely repair. One had already undergone the first of three operations for his imperforate anus, and subsequently developed a fistula from his urethra to his rectum. (which we fixed). The third is probably the saddest. The child was born with ambiguous genitalia and was mocked horribly in the refugee camp where they live. Kids pulled down his pants, etc. to make fun of him. The child was given a female name and presumed to be a female. But in reality, he has testes, and after genetic testing, he was found to be a boy. So we operated to create a penis out of his ambiguity. It is now time for him to go home. But the mother is worried about 1) how they are going to get back into the refugee camp, since the child now has a new name (male now), and 2) how they are going to deal with the mocking, since his, too, is a three stage operation, only one stage of which is complete.

This was heartbreaking for me. We had a translator there who was able to go from Somali to English, which was a God-send. Listening to these people talk about their lives in the refugee camp made me want to cry and be angry all at the same time. I wanted to never send them back there, to let them stay at Kijabe until all of their surgeries were complete. But I know that is impossible. Their fate is to return to the refugee camp. Their fear is being forgotten. Each one of them expressed a profound fear of going back to the camp and then never hearing from us again. It was heart wrenching to hear them beg us not to forget them. They were not afraid of going back to the camp. They were afraid we would forget about them.

Anyway, it is time for me to take a nap. While call last night was a breeze, I do want to take advantage of this afternoon and take myself a nice nap. I am headed to dinner tonight at Gary and Leanne Finke's house, who are two young missionary doctors here for 2 years after just finishing residency. I am interested in talking to them about their experience so far, what they think, and if they are formulating long term plans.

Tomorrow I leave for Masai Mara. I went to the bank today and got enough money to pay for my trip. Now all that is left is packing. But at least all of my clothes are clean. Which is nice, because I have the whole of my limited wardrobe to choose from.

OK, that is all for now. I thought I would share with you some of the heartache associated with being here. I think sometimes it is easy to forget the plight of the patient when they are prepped and draped in sterile fashion, unconscious and waiting to be cut open. But when you round, you remember that they are individuals, dearly loved by God and their families, and desperately wanting the best for their lives and their children's lives. Not so different from us after all.

Talk to you again later-
Jill