Bamacounda Monday Clinic

So we started clinic on Monday.  As always huge lines of people waiting to get in.  It's hard for us to imagine in America only really having a chance for healthcare, one week out if the year, and not being for sure they will come back next year.  There is a lot of fighting and squabbling for a "ticket/wrist band" that gets you in the door.  The Gendarime (National Guard) are here again this year, M-16 and all to help keep order...

Amy has fit right in, she's in her zone here...loving on little babies, getting to assist on dental procedures, she's throwing around dental terms left and right again like she use to, she might as well be speaking Manjuck the local tribal language to me.

Yes, that a whole tooth and part of the maxillary sinus floor that come with it!!!

Ouch!

So Terry Vogt (TeVo) my physician assistant and I have been having lump & bump clinic all week.  It's great because we have three other Dr's here this week to take care of all the general medical issues which I hate.  Dr Woodmanse, ER Dr from Branson, Dr Soh from northern Senegal and Dr Steve who is also from Senegal is helping as well.

The bumps are coming in droves, and getting bigger.  I've been concerned several times about pushing the toxic dose on local anesthetics because of how much it takes on some of these things..

I've said it before about the Cameroonian people, and now about the Senegaleese, but Africans are tough!! Little local and grit their teeth, barely a wince and take softballs out of their arm pit..

He came back today to have even bigger one taken off his arm.

TeVo is even getting quick with the knife.  I had to leave clinic today and came back and he had found one bigger than mine he was taking out without me just so he could claim to be Lipoma King!!

Found a boy with severe kyphoscoliosis that I hope to get to mission hospital in Ghana.  He will need major spine surgery sooner than later or he will most likely die.  It's crazy, been progressive for years but this was his mother's first chance to get him seen by a medical person. We pray that we can get everything to go well to get him the care he needs.

I've been working TeVo hard here too. He was fighting with Pastor Jetta to get the last of the good eats at the common bowl last night.

Terry and Pastor Jetta at dinner.

The place we are staying is nice, beautiful setting on the Cassamance River, a four star hotel with grass roofed villas...but also intermittent electricity, cold showers and misquotes in the rooms to remind you that your still in Africa.  Still, probably the best accommodations thus far in Africa.

Lastly we came home from dinner at the church to find one of the trees just outside of the property completely on fire all the way up, it was sooo cool for a pyro guy like me.

More to come, need to get some rest, another clinic/surgery day in Bamacounda tomorrow..

-B