Category: Blog

Bert

Dory, the tiny quad kid, is going to make it, thanks to a little TLC and several missionaries!

Dory is content snacking on her favorite snack-watermelon rind cut up just the right size her mouth.

Bert

Every Wednesday at 6:45 a.m. our G2 team gathers to pray for every patient in the hospital.

Most team members are Chadian.

In the photo below, we also had believers from Cameroon, the UK, Egypt, and the USA.

Kalbassou Doubassou (far left in the photo above) will serve as the hospital director after we leave for ten weeks home assignment. We’ve known Kalbassou for 25 years. 

April was busy with 142 operations.

May brings many changes to the staff:

Emily (SIM-France) and  Dr. Schüle (Anesthesiologist from Germany) and family have left.

Bill Wright (USA) left May 6th.

Elise Grange, Physical Therapy, (SIM France) leaves May 8th. The PT dept she started is running well with Chadian staff.

Martin and Elaine Harrison are doing a great job in accounting and management. They leave May 11th.

Melanie, an independent nurse from Sweden, has helped a lot. She leaves May 18th.

Dr. Mina (Doctors With a Mission) the Egyptian dentist, has started the dental clinic. He leaves May 27th.

Debbie and I (CEF – USA) leave May 27th.

Many leaving. Almost everyone wants to return.

The new surgical center will be dedicated to the Lord this week. We will finally be able to do more than one operation at the same time.

Please continue to pray for another surgeon and expat administrator.

Blessings,
Bert

Surgeons can practice in the US or UK all their career and never see such extreme pathology.

The photo below is of two fibroids that had essentially replaced the uterus.

Fibroids are benign tumors of the uterus and one of the most common reasons hysterectomies are needed.

(Warning for the squeamish, from Jean, the blog manager: The photos below are not lovely and contain blood and internal organs — stuff only God and doctors usually see. Certainly not blog managers.)

Surgeons can practice in the US or UK all their career and never see such extreme pathology.

The smaller, lighter colored fibroid is the size of a large navel orange. It was attached to the larger redder one.

The larger fibroid was the size of a large Ruby Red grapefruit.

The huge spleen that I recently removed almost filled this same basin. (See below)

Speaking of that case, my advice is not to program a mega splenectomy with a challenging nephrectomy and three other cases including a missionary with a hernia in the same day.  (Interesting note, the woman with the splenectomy offered me ten camels.)

 

 

 

Our patients are very appreciative for such surgery. We are privileged to be in a position to give them hope again.

We tell them that Jesus sent us because He loves them.

Almost all my patients now are much younger than I am and some of them understand that such cases take a lot out of me. They call me “Papa”.

Blessings,
Bert

 

Pastor Million and his wife now serve with us at G2.

They are supported by their church in Ethiopia and also affiliated with AIM.

They’ve studied Arabic but also have made friends here.

Both of them are committed evangelists. We welcome them to the G2 team.

Please pray for them.
Bert

Bebe Fatime is doing well. Her sutures have been removed.
Just keep doing well, little girl!!

 

 

This little Nomad boy, Younouss, had a tumor of his tongue.

It was unsightly when he opened his mouth. When I first saw him in surgery clinic his father wanted to haggle over our surgery fee.

Though I thought our charge of $50 was reasonable since he would have general anesthesia and the procedure would be performed in the OR, I did the operation for $35.

The father was not pleased as he wanted it done for $15!

Younouss was very brave and had almost no pain during or after the surgery.

The result was excellent. I expect the tumor to be benign. It was sent to the USA for a pathological exam. This is a free service for our patients provided by believers (the pathologists in SC and FL).

The father seemed very pleased. I was caught off guard when he told me now he wanted to give me a mother camel with a baby at her side!

I was told this would be a gift worth at least 500,000 cfas. What a difference in attitude?

I gently explained that I have no place for camels but I would accept the camels. I then, with Pastor Bernard as a witness, gave the animals to Younouss.

Both Younouss and his dad seemed to like this deal.

Though Bernard and I told the father how to be saved in front of Younouss in the clinic a few days ago, Bernard also followed up here.

I would label this family as “interested.” We will arrange to follow up where they are camped out through our data bank of missionary colleagues.

Bert

Debbie’s goat, Nomaid, delivered a big baby boy at last!

Now Debbie has a grandkid we named Bingo.

We usually don’t name the boys as they will go “down the road” in a few months, but we lost our herd sire to undiagnosed illness and Bingo may get the job.

Hey, they do that in the goat business.

Bert