MissionDocs.org

Shanksteps #41

So we are back in Cameroon. We will tell you about
our journey next time.

So what do you think of babies being born in taxies
on the way to the hospital, in ambulances…? Where do
you think a hospital workers wife would deliver?
I was at the front of the hospital when one of the
nurses pushed in a poos-poos. (this is a hand
pushed/pulled cart with two wheels used to carry
anything heavy) He headed for maternity. I called
after him to see if he needed me there. (Normally the
nurses here deliver all children in the hospital
unless there is a complication) He said no things
were fine. I questioned further as I saw a woman in
the cart. This normally means a very, very ill person
because they cannot walk, thus the poos-poos. He
said, no, it was one of the workers wives and she
already delivered. She had gone to visit his home and
the baby “came out”! I guess the cord and placenta
were still there so he was taking her to maternity to
wait for the rest to be done.
After being gone for nearly 2 months Koza is still
the same. Other than coming back to one MAJOR
personnel issue it is nice to be back. We are very
grateful for the octogenarian couple, Drs. Ketting,
who covered the hospital while we were away. All the
staff and population have great respect for both of
them and very much appreciated the work they did here.
Also we are very grateful that the generator is
really fixed this time. Dr. Ketting made it possible
while they were here to obtain a good mechanic from
Maroua and got it fixed. So our generator need is
fixed. He also started a “fuel fund” so that we do
not need to operate or work in the dark. As diesel
fuel is expensive $4/gal. I’m sure we will have many
more dark nights but at least when we need the lab
working or the OR running we will be able to start it
up. I am also very grateful for a gift that was given
to me from my previous surgical director. It is a
rechargeable headlamp that is really bright. If you
surgeons are interested check out www.enovamedical.com
Very good for the mission field. We also want to
thank each of you that have sent donations to my
father or our church. I was able to bring it back to
Koza with me. We have started with replenishing
medications that were low and have started measuring
broken glass windows so as to replace them. This will
diminish risk to patients and us… We thank you so
much for your help to the people of Koza.
For those of you who plan far ahead, we plan on being
back in the US in July and August again next year. We
were very happy to see those of you that we could and
hope to see more next year. Please continue to keep
us in your prayers as we work here for HIM (Christ).
In His Service, Shanks

Dear Friends,
We have now been back in the states a number of weeks
and have acouple left. What a blessing to have
physicians covering our hosptial while we are gone. A
doctor couple that has had many years of medical
experience and are now retired decided to brave Koza
and cover the hosptial while we are away. we are very
blessed for their help. It is nice to know that we
left the hosptial in compitent hands. They were there
about three days before we left. They were struggling
with jet lag when we left and we have heard they are
doing well.
While here in the US we have visited each of our
families and been able to see a few friends along the
way. It is wonderfull being stress free and just live
life carelessly for a few weeks. we also just spent
some time in the Adirondacks canoe camping on Raquette
Lake. We had great weather and a wonderful time
together. We plan on attending ASI (Adventist
Laymen-Services Internatinal) in Dallas before heading
back to Cameroon. The few times we have been able to
attend ASI have been a real spiritual lift, and we
always have interest in the mission organizations
represented.
We thank you for all of your continued prayers and
support for “our” hospital in Koza. We have been
blessed with more medical equipment and donations to
take back with us or send. We also hope to collect
sufficient larger donations to have the need to send a
container in a couple years. that would be an
expensive venture but greatly help the hospital in
things that are not able to be purchased in country.
While here I have had a number of people ask me what
kind of things we still need for the hospital so here
is an emerging list
New Generator
microscope
voltage convertors for donated equipment usage
infant nebulizer
surgical mesh for various hernia repairs
blood culture setup – eventually
extra stethoscopes
digital thermometers for each ward
more variety of antibiotics
rewire entire hospital – part of the funds for this
have been raised, still need quite a bit though
finally, would love to get a hosptial in the US that
wants to help finantially support our hospital in
Cameroon. I think it would overall be a good tax and
publicity for the hosptial here and a huge benifit for
our hospital there.

So there is the evolving list of needs for Koza
Hospital.

Thank you again for all of your prayers. Sincerely,
Shank’s

Shanksteps of Faith
6-8-06
There is often more to the story than you expect.
Such is the case with Matakon (his name in Mafa means
sickness). He is a 15 year old boy who was brought in
to the hospital by his parents 3 days ago with
abdominal pain. He was found to have a partial bowel
obstruction and placed on IV antibiotics and told not
to take any food or drink by mouth. He was doing okay
until yesterday when he started having increasing
episodic pain. An X-ray showed many air-fluid levels
indicating that he now had a full bowel obstruction
and needed surgery to correct it. Straight forward?
NO! The nurses and Greg have spent the past 2 days
trying to convince the father that the child needed
surgery. He has completely refused. He initially
told the staff that he would go home and discuss this
with family, and perform some traditional sacrifices.
Here is the real story.
Someone in Matakon’s family did something very bad in
the past. The spirits punished severly and first took
the life of his mother several years ago (with bloated
abdomen as well). His mother’s eldest brother was
next, followed by her other brother. All died of the
same “illness” that plagues Matakon. The village
Chiefs: the Blama, the Lamido, and other elders of the
village told the family that they needed to do
something (sacrifice) for full pardon from the
spirits. The were also told that if anyone else
becomes ill within 6 months to 1 year that their
action wasn’t sufficient enough and another death
would be the punishment. Thus, the intestinal
obstruction of our patient Matakon. To this family,
this is NOT an illness needing a doctor and surgery.
This is retribution by the spirits for something done
in the past. No wonder they don’t understand our plea
for surgery to save his live. No wonder they don’t
want to hear about the pathophysiology of bowel
obstruction. No wonder they don’t want to pay for
medications. This is a VERY real spiritual battle for
the life of this child. Several of the nurses have
seen this type of thing before and when the surgeon
did a laparotomy to release the bowel obstruction,
they found nothing wrong. Don’t for one minute think
that the Devil can’t imitate (or create) a bowel
obstruction. Don’t for one minute think that there
isn’t a perpetual battle between good and evil going
on. This is the Great Controversy. There is a battle,
not only for the life of this child, but more
importantly for his soul.
So, what do we do as medical professionals??? We cry
and we PRAY. We Pray as never before. We pray for
miraculous healings. We pray for the soul and life of
this child. We pray for the understanding of the
family. We pray for God to remove the evil that
plagues this family. We are unable to do anything
medically, but spritually we have all the army of
heaven for support.
I finish this story several days later and wish with
all my heart that I could tell you about a miracle,
but the truth is, I don’t really know what happened.
As I wrote the first part of the story, our chaplain
and several nurses were talking with the boy, teaching
him about the love of God. We were also trying to
convince him that even though he was unable to choose
his own medical care, that he could make the choice to
follow a God who loves him enough to send His Son to
die so that this child could spend eternity in heaven.
His family took him home and I suspect that he died.
But… you never know what the power of the word of God
can do to change someone’s life.
Please pray that we will God can use us to win these
spiritual battles. This stuff is VERY real.
In battle for HIM, The Shanks

Shanksteps #36
So what do you do when you get a broken arm? If you lived here you would go to the local bonesetter and get it put in small wood splints like the Chinese did of old. If it is an open fracture, sometimes the local bonesetter sends the patient our way. So we had a gentleman who came here just that way. We only see the open fractures because all the others are done locally. So he arrived with his radius and ulna poking through the skin near the wrist. We were able to get an x-ray to see that that was the only place broken. Then I took him to the OR and debreded all the dead tissue and junk out of the end of the bone. Then I casted him from fingers up to his upper bicep. He came back in two days complaining of significant pain and wanting the cast off. I refused after looking him over. Every couple days there after he said I needed to take it off. I continued to refuse. After weeks of beratement I at 6 weeks shortened his cast to the forearm so he could exercise the elbow. He regained full movement in the next two weeks. He again requested it be removed. He refused any x-rays, “not having any money”. So I took off his cast finally when I thought he was healed sufficiently. I would feel much better about subsequent x-rays but can never convince anyone to get them because of the cost. Up front they want them but not later. So when I examined him without the cast I saw that he had a little deformity of one of the bones on physical exam but his function was very good at the wrist and hand. I put him in a splint and sent him home with the precautions to not fall with it or ride a bike… or it could refracture as was not completely healed. Well the interesting part is a week later he returns to return the brace. He had gone to the bonesetter and had it rebroken to change the deformity and had it in wood splints all around. The mentality is sooo different. Some don’t care at all of appearance and walk around with huge umbilical hernias and others like him seem to be bothered by slight imperfections. I guess that mentality is all over the world.
Well we sit at home without electricity for 4 days now. Another small rainstorm blew through and knocked down some power poles. They are usually weakened by termites then finished off by the wind. Things have started to green up again and starting to get pretty. The rains bring beauty and cooler weather but also the mosquitoes and worse roads. But I like this season overall.
I’ll make this short, as the generator will not be on long. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and thoughts. In His Service, Shanks