Accident victims, sick and hard of hearing children in Africa

Upon returning from leave, there were six children with aspirations or ingestion of foreign bodies which were successfully removed with endoscopes donated by Karl Storz Endoscopy.
Three weeks ago, two buses collided head on resulting in twenty six immediate deaths with a total of thirty. Speed, alcohol, drugs, reckless driving and fatigue are the causes of these preventable accidents which occur once every three months. We were able to save 25 victims. A bride of three weeks died within minutes of arriving at the hospital.
In November, the Starkey Hearing Foundation distributed 1,000 pairs of hearing aids to the children at the four northern schools for the deaf and to 200 Tamale Teaching Hospital patients. However, a follow up visit to two of the schools found five percent of the children with the wrong or broken aids, feedback problems, or with dead batteries.  A person will be properly trained and hired to visit these deaf children every two weeks to ensure that the aids are working properly. Some of the students are now exhibiting better speech.
Thanks to the generosity of many individuals, we are able to help those who are truly in need.
Today, 7 December, is Ghana’s election day, a holiday, and all Ghanaians are praying for a peaceful transfer of power.

 Foreign Bodies removed from the Lungs or Esophagus.

  Bus accident victims. A woman with bilateral rib fractures and frail chest in foreground.

Starkey Hearing Foundation distributing hearing aids to deaf children in Tamale.

New Tamale Teaching Hospital Building.

New Surgical Tamale Teaching Hospital Building.

Medical leave from Ghana, West Africa to New Jersey via Istanbul, Turkey

 Preoperative photo of a child with a congenital herniation of brain through nasal defect who did well with surgery.

 A malnourished child whose infection destroyed the side of her face two years ago and will need extensive surgery now that she is nourished.

 The friendly Ear, Nose and Throat staff of Marmara University Hospital who taught me while visiting Istanbul.

 Turkish desserts in Istanbul.

 Turkish desserts in Istanbul.

 Mosque, Istanbul at night.

Istanbul, Turkey from the Bosphorus Strait.

 Istanbul, Turkey from the Bosphorus Strait.
 
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I am currently home in the US to spend time with my family and to attend an ear, nose and throat meeting at which I intend to procure critical medical equipment for Tamale Teaching Hospital. On route, I flew Turkish Airlines and had an interesting two-day layover in Istanbul. My work in Ghana is rewarding - teaching medical students, treating infections, saving the lives of children choking from inhaled foreign bodies and repairing facial lacerations and fractures resulting from road traffic accidents. It is also stressful. There are cultural conflicts, more work than can be accomplished and a lack of laboratory, pathology, radiology and anesthesia support. Although medical care is available in the southern part of the country, the majority of patients we see in the Northern Region cannot afford even the cost of travel to get to those facilities. Hopefully, I will return to Tamale with renewed enthusiasm and strength to both overcome the challenges and continue to provide care to those in need.

New Hospital Building in Africa

After three years in construction, Tamale Teaching Hospital’s new building was opened and our patients were transferred. The move has been stressful, with arguments and flared tempers. Over the last few days, new linen was stained, paint was spilled and the floors were damaged when alcohol was used to remove it.

There is also a serious problem with the water supply to the hospital. Prior to signing the contract to build, the Ghana and Dutch governments agreed to a dedicated water line to the hospital. On the day of the opening ceremonies there was water; the very next day there was none. The “dedicated water line” evidently utilized two kilometers of an old line which also supplies the football stadium. When the pump was turned on to supply the hospital, the old stadium pipes could not handle the pressure and water leaked all over the stadium. The pump had to be turned off and the hospital is presently without water. Toilets will not flush, steam sterilization will not work and dirty sheets cannot be washed. A new two-kilometer water pipe will now have to be laid bypassing the old segment. However, this proposed solution has to be first approved by the water commission and then will take three weeks to install.

Eleven Years Old

Happy Birthday Maggie McGarrity

A Rough Day for Cattle Boys

A warm feeling of happiness came over me when six sick children smiled and squealed with delight when given clean attractive stuffed animals donated by Loving Hugs, Incorporated. My heart broke when one three-year old was too sick to appreciate or respond to a toy. Another child was frightened of his large Teddy Bear and it was quickly exchanged for something else. The day before, this young boy, a member of the cattle rearing Fulani tribe, was taken at dawn from his compound by an intruder and his throat was cut.  When the child cried, the intruder ran away and escaped. The laceration severed the trachea and thyroid gland and barely missed major blood vessels. After surgery he is doing well. Another teenage Fulani male was gored in the face, resulting in palatal and facial fractures, lacerations of nose and lips, and loss of upper and lower teeth. He is also better after surgery, but still needs his fractures fixed. It was a rough day for cattle boys.