Almost 2 weeks ago, William started to experience body aches and fevers. These symptoms were very similar to his bout of malaria last year, so we decided to start treatment for malaria right away. After the treatment had finished, the fevers returned and we knew he was suffering from something else. Last Monday, he had […]
A Telemedicine Surprise
The Hauns pioneer telemedicine at BMC by surprising their parents in the US with a live video stream of the ultrasound.
Pray for Fatima & Baako
Yesterday I drove to Tamale with Tommy Harrison (a long-term volunteer – as in, since the early 80s!) to pick up local pastor Baako and his terminally ill wife Fatima. She was seeking treatment at the Tamale Teaching Hospital where she had surgery to attempt to remove a cancerous growth in her throat. Unfortunately it […]
Grass Cutter (aka the Human Lawn Mower)
On the hospital compound the grass is cut using human lawn mowers! The hospital maintenance department has a staff of men who cut the grass with cutlasses (machetes) and they are pretty impressive to watch. Often they cut together in unison, creating a steady whish/whack/whish/whack rhythm. Sometimes a patient of the hospital can’t afford to […]
A New Life (Finally!)
In the past week or so, I’ve help deliver four babies via c-section – none of which were alive or able to be resuscitated. It can be very disheartening to the surgeon and is even more so for the families. The photo above is of the fifth child I delivered and it was a living, […]
Video Clip: Clinic Day
Here’s a glimpse into the crowded chaos of clinic day at BMC in Nalerigu, Ghana. On the day I shot this, it was already almost 6pm and these were all the patients yet to be seen by three doctors and three medical assistants. They ended up having to turn away over 100 people because of […]
Foreign Body Removal
When Heidi was here five years ago, she logged seven different procedures in which she removed foreign bodies from patients. Typically children are the subject and random rocks, seeds and bugs are what are removed from their ears, nose, and throat. This week I observed Santo, one of the surgical techs, very gently and calmly […]
Do No Harm
This past week Heidi has been very busy both in clinic and the OR. One case was a patient with symptoms of an enlarged prostate that did not improve with medical treatment. Dr. Lisa Mohrman and Heidi intended to remove his prostate but once he was opened it had more of the appearance and feel […]
Heidi studies up before a case
I went by the OR today to shoot a case Heidi was doing and caught her studying up before the procedure. These patients have no idea how lucky they are to have such a diligent and faithful doctor.