When plastic surgeon Dr. Taylor comes to BMC as a Samaritan’s Purse medical volunteer, he is always met with interesting cases and puzzles to solve. This young girl was born with syndactyly of both hands. Sometimes, syndactyly only affects two fingers or toes that are fused together. This little one, however, had fusion of all […]
Fasciotomy to Save a Limb with Compartment Syndrome
In December, I operated on a little girl’s forearm. She had developed compartment syndrome after falling and injuring her arm. The child’s family assumed she had broken her arm and brought her to the bonesetter who wrapped the arm tightly. After 2 days, it became apparent that the child’s arm was severely injured and she was […]
Visiting Nagboo Patient
Recently, I was able to visit one of my patients in his home, to greet his wife and new baby boy and to pray with them. Over a year ago, I had to amputate his lower leg. He had been shot by armed robbers. The tibia and fibula were shattered and the blood supply to […]
Situs Inversus Totalis
While operating I realize my patient’s internal organs are the mirror image of what is the norm and her heart is on the right side.
PJS (and not that’s not pajamas)
A 13 year old boy, who years before had a bowel resection for an intestinal obstruction, was admitted to our hospital several times with abdominal pain. The pain was intermittent but severe. After conservative treatment, he got better, but only for about a week. He then returned with pain, vomiting and inability to pass stool […]
Appendicitis
It’s been a busy week! In five consecutive days, I did five procedures for five patients with appendicitis. For each patient, I used the ultrasound to guide my approach. This week really helped me to fine tune my skills of finding the appendix with ultrasound! Two patients came in fairly early and I was able […]
A New Leg to Walk Proudly
Last spring, I met a 15 year old girl with a sweet smile and a large fungating tumor on her left foot. She had been to other doctors who did not offer any help or the cost was too high. The tumor appeared to be cancerous, but she was otherwise strong and healthy. Cancer care […]
Gun-Related Injuries in Mamprugu
The Mamprusi sure do love their guns. Unfortunately, this sends some to our hospital with traumatic injuries. With the Fire Festival coming up this weekend, here’s a cautionary tale of the wounds inflicted by guns that Heidi deals with.
KJ and Trey Today
Here’s a look at how Trey & KJ are growing. Trey is now 10 and KJ will soon be 1½