God's Timing

"Rachel, I had this baby born yesterday............. " This was the start of my day on Monday.

But before this story, let me bring you back a week to last Monday. I was in the middle of the biggest screening of the year. General. We can do 6 general surgeries in a day, as opposed to 3 with most surgeries. So, we need more general patients to fill the schedule. So about midway through the 98 patients a member of the crew came to me and said, Hey, Rachel we have this lady here getting a CT, she has a large abdominal tumor. Can Frank (the surgeon) take a look? My response, " Sure, he can look, we won't do it. We don't do abdominal tumors" I put it out of my mind and went on with my morning. My screening team and I got through all 98 patients in 3.5 hours. Very excited that everything went so well, I was finishing up details and Joy (my boss) came to me and said, " So, the lady with the tumor, she is being admitted to the ward. Frank wants to do her" I could not believe it. Her tumor was huge. She looked like 12 months pregnant. But, it was one of those times, where God gave me peace and said, " This is Me" So, I got excited about what was going to happen. On the 9th of July, we removed a 37 pound tumor from this women. It was a fibroid that had been growing for 12 years. As I looked at amazement at her in her bed recovering and praising God I though back on the events that brought her here. First, she is from Benin. Her husband knew a few crew members. They came to visit on the day of a general screening. She was able to be fit into the CT schedule despite the huge numbers CT's being done that day. Frank was the surgeon here. The surgeon who was supposed to be here ended up incredibly sick and did not come, so Frank agreed to stay and do our General surgeries. (Frank had been here doing VVF surgeries, but is a general surgeon). But, God orchestrated everything to have her here at the right time with the right people to change her life. She was discharged today, healing well. (See pictures at the end. Warning: They are graphic)

This past Monday started with a phone call from Russ, a American Baptist missionary in Togo. He is a pediatrician that runs a hospital about 3 hours north of Lome. We have been in regular contact with him and have seen and done surgery on many of his patients. He called Monday to tell me about a baby, born on Sunday with a large cystic lesion (fluid filled mass) on his tongue. He could not breastfeed . In Africa, that is instant death. If they cannot nurse, formula is not available. Mom's don't really pump or express milk to feed the baby. Russ was taking a stab in the dark. Our surgery schedule was full. He knew it, but tried anyway. I went to speak to the OR, to see if there was a remote possibility that the baby could receive surgery. Leo, one of the Max fax surgeons, happened to be in the office. I presented the case to the OR supervisor hoping the surgeon coming next week might be able to see him. The OR then said that the surgeon next week was only 50/50 that he would do a baby so young. But, Leo............ So, we ran it by Leo who was very happy to look at the baby and though he should probably be able to do it as long as anesthesia was OK with anesthetizing a baby that young. Everyone seemed in agreement and the baby arrived yesterday (Wednesday) A strong healthy baby boy. The plan is to do surgery tomorrow, because one of Leo's cases did not come, so we have room in the schedule. God is good and this baby should be able to get surgery, be able to feed and grow up strong and healthy. Weeks like these remind me who is in control, both of the world and my life. As I look toward home and the prospects of finding a job, apartment, church, car etc, I am reminded that God is in control, that his timing is perfect.

Before After