VVF Screening

Hello there.

A busy time here on the Anastasis, as Monday was our VVF screening day. This screening was separate from the main screening day because the surgeon Dr Steven Arrowsmith only arrived on the ship on Sunday! Three nurses from the ward - myself included, spent the day seeing about 20 women with Vesico-Vaginal-Fistulas. This is a hole that has formed between the Vagina and the bladder/urethra - usually occurring after obstructed labour (sometimes a labour lasting 3-5 days!)

These women most likely loose the baby somewhere through the labour because they are not able to access a cesarean section. THe pressure of the baby on the bladder and internal organs is too prolonged, and these organs necrose (die). As a result these women (and girls) become permanently incontinent of urine. Think of the implications in rural Africa. You can imagine that this usually means the women are outcast from society, their husbands leave them, and they are basically emotionally, physically and spiritually scarred for life.

It was a hard day - on questioning these women it turned out that most of them had lost many children, one woman had 4 out of 10 children still alive. There is so much pain for them, the least we can do is help them out. In most cases we are able to repair the fistula (hole) and restore their continence and of course their dignity. It is a very exciting time, and it has been encouraging to work alonside Dr Steve - who has a real passion for caring for these women. He trained in fistula repair alongside Catherine Hamlin (The famous gynaecologist who has worked in this field in Ethiopia for the last 40 years) and I really reccomend you check out this website to fully appreciate how lucky you are to live in the west.

http://www.fistulafoundation.org/hospital/

On a brighter note, today we were able to take some of our many patients up to aft deck to have some fresh air and join in with some worship African Style! One of the most amamzing patients - a woman called Peace danced up a storm, despite having had a massive tumour removed from the side of her face only 3 days ago. What an inspiration and blessing to us all. I will post some photo's of the event soon!

Thanks for your prayers,
Soph:)