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 biopsies of the voice box for cancer.
This is an 18 year old boy presenting with difficulty in breathing. He has had symptoms for months and now finds it difficult to lay flat. He is unable to eat any solid foods and has lost significant weight. Despite these struggles he continues to attend school. He was brought to clinic by a teacher. Exam reveals a large mass originating behind the nose and growing into the mouth. It is encroaching on his airway and he struggles to speak. A biopsy was taken in clinic but the diagnosis is obvious cancer of the nasopharynx. Ct scan reveals advanced stage 4 disease. He will need chemotherapy and radiation therapy. He has no health insurance and no funds. We will be using the compassion fund to pay for his biopsy. Results will take 2 weeks and in the meantime he struggles to breath. Please join me in prayers for this precious boy who is really suffering.
This 6 year old girl has had hoarseness and more recent difficulty breathing with exertion. Examination in the office revealed vocal cord lesions suggestive of Human papilloma virus. In the US we see very little of this now due to the HPV vaccine. Unfortunately, in Kenya this vaccine is not readily available and we still see a fair amount of this disease. The papillomas form nodules of the vocal cords causing airway issues and hoarseness. they can spread down the trachea to the lungs and the disease can be lethal at that stage. These children need repetitive treatments to remove the papillomas and maintain an airway. She underwent laryngoscopy and removal of papillomas on Wednesday. We are searching for a hospital in the region that has the vaccine in stock. Vaccination will greatly reduce her recurrence rate.
We are working on multiple cases to prepare for the Operating room over the next several weeks. One 38 year old male has a very large tumor called a Carotid Body Tumor. He is suffering terribly from effects of the tumor and hormonal secretions causing episodes of fainting, headache and hypertension. This will be a very difficult surgery and we will be utilizing several other surgeons to help us resect this safely. Please pray for him. below are several other patients awaiting surgery.
This patient has a large mass of the salivary gland that we will be removing this Thursday.
This is a 4 month old with bilateral cleft lip that we are working on Smile Train coverage for her surgery.
Thank you for your prayer coverage as I navigate the difficult problems both with the health system and the advanced diseases.
To God be all the Glory!
