It has been three weeks since we arrived back in Papua New
Guinea. Sorry I have been silent, but things have been busy and we have been
settling in. The weather here has been much the same as before, warm days and
cool nights. Hope the snow and ice has not been too bad for the rest of you.
It is avocado season here and I have been busy getting them
down for us as well as for the other missionaries. A long bamboo pole with a
loop of surgical tubing duct-taped to one end seems to be the ideal tool. Fresh
avocado right off the tree is very nice. I had also forgotten how good the
pineapple and bananas were. Tyronza has recently discovered a particularly
tasty PNG version of plantain. She makes a plantain crumble that tastes like
fresh apples and really goes down well. Needless to say, I have not lost any
weight, you get the picture. (With Tyronza’s encouragement, I am trying to walk
in the mornings for exercise.)
The clinic is similar to last year. I am kept very busy by
my PNG nurse, Judy. She has one child age 6 and tells me she has gotten
remarried since our last trip over. Judy speaks very good English and tries to
keep me out of trouble the best she can. She and her new husband live off
station, about a half mile up the national highway. They live in a bamboo hut
with a grass roof. They have no electricity, no indoor plumbing or running
water. They cook over an open fire pit. She does have a cellphone, but no TV or
radio. Each day she charges her cellphone at the clinic. The patients are also
similar to those I have seen before. I am always dismayed at how far advanced
infections and cancers seem to get before the patients will seek medical help.
PID, pelvic inflammatory disease, is a real staple, and cervical cancer is one
of the most common clinical problems. In the past three weeks, I have seen 11
inoperable cases. There is only one linear accelerator in this country and the
likelihood of getting timely irradiation care when there are so many to treat
is slim. Please pray for my PNG patients.
Surgery is going well. The most common surgery is a caesarian
section, followed closely by pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and
cancer surgery. So far I have had 21 major surgeries plus a number of minor
cases, deliveries and episiotomy repairs. There has been only one disaster so
far. I had a full-blown emergency for fetal
distress, but the time-lapse-to-cut is so slow around here that the baby was
dead at birth. I did get a heart rate back and eventually some spontaneous
respirations, but without a ventilator the baby expired two days later.
Thanks for listening to the Stork Tale. Hope you are all
healthy and enjoying the last gasps of winter. You are never far from our
thoughts and prayers. Please hold us close in yours.
Dr. P and Tyronza
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