Doing a little good

 A Thankful Woman. There was weakness in the lower lip after the operation.

 Preoperative: Parotid Salivary Tumor.

 A Grateful young woman.

Preoperative electrical burn of nose and lips.

   Arrival of forty foot container with needed medical equipment.
 
Needed incubators for the newborns.

     Some good is accomplished here at Tamale Teaching Hospital and for many individuals, it can be life changing. The good accomplished is only possible through the help of many generous, caring people and companies.  In the following blog, are preoperative and postoperative photos of an elderly woman with a large parotid tumor and of a young lady with a destroyed nose caused by an electical high wire. Because these graphic photos may be upsetting to some, only those who wish to look at the next blog can do so if they wish. When the young woman presented, she would not look at us or speak to us. After four operations, with the help of two visiting British maxillofacial surgeons, she is happy and friendly with a nice smile and now has the possibility of being married, which was unlikely prior to her reconstruction.
     The donated Anspach Synthes drill system and Stryker Leibinger plating systems have enabled us to correct many facial fractures and do intricate ear operations. Next week, we will use the Medtronics microdebrider for nasal polypectomies. This equipment places us at a higher level of care and does a world of good. We cannot  adequately thank all those responsible for these generous donations. The scrubs and operating gowns from the nurses at New York Medical Center now enable us to do surgery daily which in the past had to be cancelled due to lack of clean scrubs.
People ask if one is afraid of catching tropical diseases. The threat to a surgeon is the same the world over, that of being infected with HIV and hepatitis from a sharp puncture during surgery. And that, of course, can happen anywhere.