# 31 Cameroon
3-17-06
So what do you get when you pray for more patents in
the hospital and more operations. Well you get what
you pray for. Over January and Feb. we had had a
decrease in patients down to about 25. While this is
great for our family time and other interests it is
not good for paying salaries (still a month behind).
So last week we prayed for more patients and more
operations. God heard us and we now are averaging 48
inpatients and I have done 5 surgeries this past week.
We do not want more people sick, just that when they
are they come here. So yesterday I did three
surgeries. First was a woman who had broken her water
about 48 hours before being referred here by a local
dispensary. She had meconium coming out (a sign of
fetal distress). And when I listened to the baby’s
heart rate it was not normal. So we took her for an
urgent Cesarean section. Fortunately Audrey was able
to be there to revive the child. Both mom and baby
are doing well.
The second one was one planned for a couple days. He
has had stool coming out with his urine. I know all
you non-medical people also know this is not good. So
I took him to the operating room. He had a large mass
in his pelvis and it was unresectable. So I diverted
his colon to his abdomen. This allows him to have a
more quality life rather than having obstruction in
the near future. But this causes one new problem. We
have no ostomy supplies. We have a few OLD sacs but
they fall off before leaving the operating room. So I
modify a glove and tape it in place. Not real
effective either.
Finally Audrey and I make it home about 6PM. I then
get a call at 10:30PM for someone who was stabbed.
(our third like this). I feel fortunate there are not
many guns around here. So not many gunshot wounds.
So he has a stab wound in his left upper abdomen. No
other injuries found. So I take him to the OR. I
explore his abdomen and find two holes in his colon
near his spleen. Stool is everywhere inside. He is
also hypotensive (low blood pressure). So I decide to
make him a diverting ostomy and resect the contused
and injured area. He remains hypotensive in spite of
fluid and not much blood loss. So normally in the US
there are a number of medication drips that are
possible to deal with situations like this. Here we
have one medication that can help. Epinephrine! So I
give him some that helps for about 5 minutes.
Fortunately we have received our donated stuff in the
container. We have dynamaps 2 that were donated to
us. So I know have one in the OR. So I can get
regular BPs and Heart rates. And I can see the
result. No more asking the nurse constantly. I
cannot leave the decisions up to him because he does
not know enough. They just accept SBP 60 as
acceptable and chalk it up to him being tired or meds
received. Well with the hypotension we are getting
frequent BP’s and all of a sudden there is an
“electrical burning” smell and the Dynamap quits. So
we are back to manual. So I had started a “drip” of
epinephrine on this patient while I finished the
operation. We did manual BP’s to adjust the drip.
Also the power went out. But just as the nurse was
getting my flashlight it came back on. Wow,
electricity makes such a difference. Fortunately when
our last student missionary was here she gave me her
headlamp that works better, so I use that now. So
when the operation was done we sat there for about 2
hours until he woke up enough and his BP rose. He is
doing well today.
God answers prayers! We are busy and doing surgeries
again. We now pray for a slow Sabbath to rest. We
are slowly installing monitors and equipment donations
we received before leaving the US. It all arrived in
our container. We are very blessed. We also hear
that we have more donation money and a dermatome,
arriving with the next student missionary. Thank you
all so much for all of your prayers and help to the
people of Koza. We pray God’s blessing on you for
your help to His children here.
In His Service, the Shanks

Please remember we are UNABLE to check our email
regularly. It’s usually about every 2-4 weeks,
sometimes longer. Please be patient or plan in
advance!

www.missiondocs.org our website by a friend
Phone from USA 011-237-522-0278 www.viapin.com has
best rates 15c/min
Hopital Adventiste de Koza
BP 53
Koza, Extreme Nord
Cameroun

US contact:
Greg Shank
C/o Steve Shank
Box F
Summersville, WV 26651

Shanksteps #31

Leave a Reply