Up at 4AM by accident, but had awesome devotional as result.
- We left at 7AM in a long line of land rovers for the stadium which was about 15 minutes from the ship.
Arrived before daylight to an empty stadium which was set up within about 45 minutes with everything we needed to do the screening. Awesome organization.
- Met my interpreter for the day...Roland who was very conscientious and was great to work with through out the long day.
- Patients stood in line outside, some having been there all night. They where pre-screened with those that we might be able to help ushered into the stadium while those with problems we could not help offered prayer in a separate area. Those who we might be able to help where sent inside to go to registration, they then sat in chairs and waited to have their health history taken (that was the job I did each day). After history, they were taken to see the doctors (another long wait), then if they had a condition we could help, they were sent to physical, pharmacy (we gave each patient vitamins and other medications to help build them up before surgery), blood work, and finally surgical scheduling where they got their all important appointment card. If at any point it was decided that the patient would not have surgery, they were offered prayer. At each station, they might have to wait for hours or in some cases had to come back the next day and pick up where they had left off on Thursday.
- The first patient I had was a woman with a large growth on the side of her face. She wore a scarf attempting for hide it from view. She had waited in line all night in the hopes that she could be helped.
- Throughout the day I had many children with cleft lips and pallets as well as club feet and what appeared to be problems from rickets (bandy legs as the Brit's called it). Many women and some fairly young children with huge goiters. Some would meet my eyes, others would not. The women with VVF (which renders them incontinent) where screened in another area. Those with cataracts where also sent to the clinics set up around the city for screening.
- As I reflected back, I was impressed with how patient the Benin people where as they waited in line after line through this process.
- One elderly gentleman was carried to the screening on the back of his son, I do not know what distance he had come from. Don Stephens spoke to him personally after they pulled him out of the line and brought him in right away.
- A long, long, hot day, but so rewarding. Thursday was somewhat slower for the history people as they quit screening new patients about noon. I believe that everyone where seen who came, which is a comfort.
The patient that affected me the most was a young gentleman who used crutches as he followed me to my table. It was late in the day and he was one of many until he showed me his leg. As he pulled up his pants leg, I was expected a misshapen leg or perhaps a tumor....I was not expecting the several inches of steel sticking out of his thigh. Perhaps it was the surprise, but I lost all of my professional nursing composure. My eyes flew open and (thinking "this man needs a hospital" I blurted out, did you show them in the screening line. I thought briefly that it might have just happened until I took a closer look. I then realized that at some point, this man must have had an accident during which he had a steel rod placed in his leg which for some reason was now poking out of his skin. He quickly covered his leg back up, I continued with the history taking and he was sent off to the next station. What affected me so much was the hopeless stoic look of his face. I can cry still when I think of it. I am not sure as yet if we will be able to help him. It will require more than one surgery to fix. I hope and pray that we can and it would be great if he came for surgery while I was here and I was able to see an expression other than sad and stoic on his face.
They just put up the official pictures of screening day and there was this brave stoic man. I pray that he will be able to get surgery.
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