Much Thanks to Dr. Doug Myers

Dr. Doug Myers left today. He is a practicing ear, nose, throat, surgeon in our hometown of Vancouver. He was here for almost the entire month of February. He was a great help and had some great outcomes with his ear surgery. He operated on one woman with severe hearing loss in both ears. She could only hear people if they would shout. The morning after the surgery she could hear whispers. Another gentleman jubilantly proclaimed that he could now get rid of his hearing aid. His assistance and advice were most appreciated.

Doug assisting me on a "jaw wiring"

I also enjoyed getting to know Doug better. It has also been fun to relate some of the rewards and challenges of our service here. In other words, it is nice to be able to talk “shop” with someone who can appreciate what I am saying. We have a growing number of family and friends who can totally relate to the transition from Vancouver to Nigeria.

Doug and I on a hike near Miango.

I also enjoyed getting to know Doug better. It has also been fun to relate some of the rewards and challenges of our service here. In other words, it is nice to be able to talk “shop” with someone who can appreciate what I am saying. We have a growing number of family and friends who can totally relate to the transition from Vancouver to Nigeria.

Michael Mitchell, MD

Medical Outreach to Kamrum

Kamrum Outreach Team

Emily and I celebrated her 20th birthday on Thursday, February 19th in a very special way: by going on a medical outreach to Kamrum with our neighbor Dr. Don Sampson. (Michael and the other kids stayed at home.) Emily and I were prepared to tent camp at our destination along with our other 20+ team members. We were actually spared of that though. In fact, we shared a bedroom and had a bed and a toilet down the hall. (Mind you though, there was no running water in the whole house!) A well-off retired man in town graciously opened up his home and hosted us.

It was a big deal that foreigners were coming to the village (people from another place), much less that some of the foreigners were white! The whole village turned out the first night; the women and children danced for us to the drums. The children were especially ecstatic when Emily and I got up and allowed them to coach us on how to dance their way. One boy was so excited about how I danced that he told me I couldn’t leave the village; I belonged with them!

Dancing welcome was warming up

The next morning and again on Saturday, Emily and I participated in the outreach by filling prescriptions. Medical care is the honey that draws the villagers from all around. They come to see the doctor and get medicine. Before they can get their prescription filled, however, they must meet with a counselor. The pastors that came along were very friendly and talked and prayed with each individual about their spiritual health as well as their physical.

The "pharmacy"

In addition to the medical care that was offered, another team came and provided a live worship band, outdoor movie, and guest speaker. The soccer field was packed with people dancing and singing and laughing. We learned later that the village does not usually turnout like that for locally sponsored events.

Emily and I both had special friends that we made on the trip; mine was a young Fulani woman. I looked up the first day from the pills I was counting to find two young mothers with their babies strapped on their backs gazing at me intently and openly gawking at me. I looked up and smiled and they giggled to each other and continued to look at me in wonder. (Many Nigerians we encountered on the trip had not seen a white person before.) One of the ladies was bold enough to come up to me and signal for medicine for her head that was hurting. (Later she started walking down the road with a 30+ pound sack of grain on her head and a baby strapped on her back so fast that I couldn’t catch up to her - - no wonder she had a headache!) We weren’t taking anymore patients that day (we’d already seen over 200), so we told her to come back the next day. We actually ended up seeing more than 500 patients over the course of the two days we were there. Patients waiting at 8:30 am

I woke up and prayed in the night specifically for this one girl. She touched me for some reason. Fulani keep to themselves and are very resistant to hearing the Gospel. I was very excited when she came back alone the next day to me specifically. We had stopped seeing patients already again, but I was able to get one of the doctors to see her. My friend agreed to be counseled and hear about Jesus. She promptly came back to me and just pulled up a chair and sat next to me for a long time just watching me. It was precious. Only the Lord knows what seeds were planted that day; I would love to find out one day!

Our trip concluded with a visit to the village chiefs and important men. The village musicians, this time horn players, turned out to send us off. Especially touching were the village women that gathered around our vehicles and began singing and wouldn’t stop until we finally drove away. Nigerians really know how to make you feel welcome and very special!

Lisa

Chiefs and our gracious host

Farewell send-off by the musicians

The women singing for our farewell

Best Teacher Gift Ever!

Just last week, a student came up to me and asked if I would like a local bred chicken. I was amused by the fact that in America, students show their appreciation with apples; in Africa, they show their appreciation with chickens. My mouth just watered at the thought of receiving a nice plump, hormone-free frozen hen ready to cook. I told the student they could just bring the chicken and put it on the concrete floor because I would take it home right after my last class. I don’t think the student got that part . . .

I was quite surprised at the end of my last class to turn around and see a student holding a living chicken, upside-down by its feet in my doorway! The chicken calmly sat on the floor of my Toyota Sienna van for the ride home while I pondered what to do with this fine gift. . .

My driver knew just what to do with it! He got his pick of the chicken pieces, and the rest of us, workers and all, enjoyed some tasty fried chicken. Alphonsus got a good laugh first though when Hannah suggested that we make a pet out of the chicken and name it Sally.

I am jealous of all the cool, dramatic before and after pictures my husband has from the O.R. I decided to take my own before and after pictures . . .

Lisa

Sally - Before

Sally - After

Another Life Saved

At 9 pm last night Dr. Aboiyar called and said there was an 18 month old boy who had probably aspirated a bean and was in respiratory distress. He needed to go to the operating room as soon as possible. I happened to be coming home from picking up Emily and I was driving by the pediatric ward just as I was talking to him. I stopped the car and sent Emily home with the car.
The boy was in the intensive care unit and struggling to breathe. His chest collapsed with every effort to inhale. He was clearly getting tired. Two days prior to this, he was at his grandmothers’ home in Lantana, a four hour drive away. He coughed and had difficulty that night, but they waited to take the boy to Jos on the next day. He was initially admitted and observed in another hospital here in town. He was not improving, so they recommended that he be evaluated at Evangel Hospital, recognizing that we had the necessary equipment to manage airway problems. Thus he arrived 48 hours after choking on what was presumed to be a bean.
Dr. Aboiyar and I quickly set up the operating room and broke out the very specialized scopes, which were supplied by Dr. Joel Anthis when he was here 2003-2006. With careful coaching of our anesthetist, we were able to get the child asleep and get a good look. Something like a fishbone was lodged between the vocal cords. The vocal cords were now red and swollen. The voice box was starting to get infected by the foreign body that was lodged there. The airway was truly in jeopardy.
Dr. Aboiyar was able to deftly remove the barbed fish spine and then visualize the windpipe and make sure there was no other fishbones lodged deeper in the airway. After removing the fishbone, the child was breathing slightly better, though he still had to struggle with a swollen airway. In the US, we would have left a breathing tube in place overnight, but our pediatric intensive care unit at Evangel cannot take care of intubated patients. We simply gave him oxygen, antibiotics, and medication to relieve the swelling.
By this morning our patient, whose name is “Godswill”, was breathing comfortably. It was clear that it was God’s will that the parents have a young boy. It was also apparent that it was God’s will that Godswill survived this life-threatening event. We pray that Godswill will live up to his name and go on to do great things for God.
It has been a good day. We don’t often get to see such dramatic events in our specialty. It is a special bonus when I can see such immediate results. It is especially pleasing to me to know that we have equipped a Nigerian doctor to make a such a great difference in this community.

Godswill is bathed by his grandmother in front of his bed in the pediatric intensive care unit.


Left to right: Dr. Aboiyar, father, Godswill, mother, grandmother, me
Michael Mitchell, MD

Evangel Hospital is 50

Evangel Hospital is 50 years old now.

We have been celebrating Nigerian style. There have been three days of festivities. The music has been remarkable. The speeches have been long. The memories have been wonderful and encouraging. We have had many guests from the past. Dr. Glenn Verbrugge, who was a surgeon here from 1974 – 1984 has come for the festivities. Dr. Phil Andrew of Australia was here from 1979 to 1994. He is a family practitioner who started the training program in 1989. It has been encouraging to see how far the hospital has come over the years, knowing that it will continue to progress with time and the dedication of so many people. Back when it started, Evangel had two doctors from the United States and for many years it remained a two doctor hospital. It took off in 1989 when the residency program started.

Now there are only five American doctors and nine Nigerian consultants who are graduates of the training program at this hospital. We have 18 resident doctors in training. Over 100 doctors have been trained at Evangel. Evangel is soon to be a teaching hospital for 23 medical students as well. We have many other nursing students and pharmacy students passing through. Though it is a humble hospital by western standards, this a greatly respected hospital in the region and people travel hours to receive care here that they know will be better than they can get anywhere else.

Adventures in the Classroom, Part II: Fun with Vocabulary

Every week on Tuesdays, I assign my students 10 vocabulary words. These words are from a well-known list in the ESL (English as a Second Language) world. We go over pronunciation of the words and then the students are responsible for defining the word, writing the part of speech, listing other forms of the word, etc. in hopes that they will truly retain the word. Their vocabulary is an area that needs great improvement, particularly learning academic words that they will encounter throughout the remainder of their time in seminary. The only part of the exercise that I grade for errors is the 10 original sentences they must write using the assigned words. Grading 720 sentences a week is no small task!

The students eagerly flip through their notebooks as soon as they get them back. Using actual sentences from their notebooks, I target and address areas that I see need some work. It might be usage of the actual vocabulary words, commonly misspelled words, or writing tips in general. An area that I am especially targeting this semester is using the correct form of the word. (“He emphasized the importance of industry”, not “He emphasized the important of industry.”)

As you can imagine, I get some pretty interesting sentences and some lively discussions in class about them. My favorite story of the week involves the word “magnetic.” Many of the students used this word incorrectly in their exercise. At the board I had to tell them that “magnetic” does indeed involve two objects that are attracted to one another. However, care must be taken when the two objects are humans! Somehow

“A husband should be magnetized to his wife.”

just doesn’t quite work!

It amused me that though many students wrote this very sentence, the class as a whole instantly burst into laughter when I brought the matter up! They realized how funny it sounded out loud, but didn’t seem to think it was so funny on paper.

We have a lot of fun! It’s a joy to help the students in their struggle to understand the English language better.

Lisa

Tres Amigos (the three friends)

Here are two of Camille's closest friends in Nigeria. Hopefully, I can get Camille to add to the blog and tell you about them . . .