Migori Kenya Update

By -
Migori Kenya Update

I completed my first segment of the trip in Migori and have arrived at Tenwek.  There was virtually no internet in Migori so I have been unable to update.  We were incredibly busy in Migori but the Lord was in control of all the details.  We arrived after 3 full days of travel.  The last leg was a 10 hour drive to the remote town of Migori.  The main tribe is Luo.  They are farmers and practice polygamy and wife inheritance.  I found the people as God fearing, stoic, and thankful for all we could do.  We arrived Friday night and were received by almost 100 orphans.  I got the biggest hug from Faith, a darling 8 year old girl.  I think she thought I was an angel with my blonde hair.  


Saturday was recovery day, seeing the compound, orphanage and visiting a home in the community.  We also set up the clinic in the afternoon.  Work started Sunday and we had long, full days.  I know that God brought ordained patients for me to see. Below is one of the cases we took care of at Brace Clinic in Migori.  The clinic has 2 operating rooms with 4 beds.  We kept them full all week.

50 year old female with plunging ranula from blocked salivary gland in the oral cavity, plunging into the neck.  required an external and intramural exposure.  Fairly rare occurrence.


 I am so grateful for the Lord’s protection.  We had several complications but He was in charge and the patients are improving.  We shipped 2 patients to Tenwek so they were here when I arrived.  I know my part in the first week was to reveal the importance of prayer and to bring Him glory through it all. 

I have arrived at Tenwek and have been busy already.  Please pray for Enock, a 13 year old male with meningitis from an ear infection.  I did ear surgery on him Saturday but he is still very ill and needs our prayers.

Thank you for your continued prayers,


Chase

Popular posts from this blog

First Week

By -
Image
 I arrived safely after an arduous journey.  I did get questioned at customs again and needed to pay a Tarif but it was a reasonable rate this time.  I have been without internet until yesterday so I apologize for a late update. My first week was quite busy in clinic as I screened patients for upcoming surgeries.  We has some late nights but it is great to be back serving the Kenyans.  I have performed multiple biopsies on various tumors.  Unfortunately there is no pathologist here so the biopsies can take up to 3 weeks for results.  We will make daily calls to try to move up the cases urgently. This patient was ecstatic!  He was diagnosed with severe hearing loss in both ears.  I fit him with a digital hearing aid and he was able to hear clear for the first time in years!  They live 5 hours away and were so blessed! This is a typical thyroid goiter for this region.  She underwent evaluation of her vocal cords in preparation for upc...
Read more

First Week October 2024

By -
Image
Continued political battles in Kenya are monopolizing politician's time rather than more pressing issues of the economy and healthy care.  The impeachment process of the depute passed in the parliament and will  be voted on in the Senate this week.  In the meantime, the economy continues to struggle with high cost of living leaving the poor to struggle to afford basic necessities.  The hospitals have been left struggling due to slow release of funds from the Government.  Tenwek is in a state of major strain from loss of back payments and now reduced daily income as patients are uninsured and lack funds to pay for services.  Its a mess! Somehow God has continued to provide for the needy and this last week I saw many ENT patients and operated for 2.5 days.  The patients have heart breaking stories of delayed care.  So many suffering of treatable diseases.  This week I performed several tonsillectomies, endoscopic sinus surgery, and several biop...
Read more

Second week March 2024

By -
Image
 This has been a different kind of trip so far.  I have taken many biopsies of obvious tumors and I am still waiting for results.  The national health insurance NHIF has also been more difficult to work with on this trip.  In the past we would have approvals for surgeries within 48 hrs but now we are waiting weeks.  They are refusing coverage many times requiring us to resubmit and wait again.  Despite these hurdles I know God is in everything and we have been working at a steady pace.  I operated 3 days this week performing a number of small cases including repair of an ear drum, tonsillectomies, ear tubes, tracheostomies, removal of a nasal mass and endoscopic nasal polyp removal.  Everyone has done well which is a blessing from the Lord in this environment.    My general surgery resident in ENT clinic         Preparing for tonsillectomy                       ...
Read more