Puff Adder

Tuesday, July 12

It was late when Doug, Andrea and Cindy arrived back at our rooms last night so we’ve just been able to catch up with them and the results of the last surgery. It appeared there was a power surge during Andrea’s procedure but, as it turns out, TANESCO’s power went off and the generator kicked in almost immediately. That is great news, to know that it will work as intended. But we found out the cautery machine doesn’t work correctly under generator power. Doug said it is almost as if the AC and DC are reversed. Andrea was able to finish, but the lack of cautery meant that the procedure took much longer than expected.

We had hoped to get started earlier today, but it was still about 9 am before the staff in the theatre took Rosemary, our first patient back. Rosemary is someone we met last year, also, so the team was glad that we were able to help her. The plan was to remove fibroid tumors, but once the surgery was underway, Andrea realized the problem was uterine cancer so she performed a hysterectomy. We are all praying that all cancer has been removed and that we will, again, see Rosemary’s smiling face next year.

There was a bit of drama after our lunch break yesterday. Walking back to resume our work stations, we saw a crowd of very excited Tanzanians gathered looking at something on the walkway. As we drew near to join the crowd, a snake slithered off into the corner. It had coloring similar to a rattlesnake with the addition of beautiful golden arrow shaped markings on the back and its head bore the distinctive arrow shape of a viper. One of the guards killed it with a push broom and, on closer look, we learned it was a puff adder—very deadly. We think it is not common here because all of the Tanzanians were taking pictures of it using their cell phones.

Cancer has reared its ugly head several times since the weekend. In addition to Rosemary, Andrea had a patient with cervical cancer and another one, Zainabu, with a very advanced case of breast cancer. And Doug was consulted by the Mazimbu doctors for a second opinion on one of their patients; he thinks it is probably colon cancer. We are working with Zainabu on some testing and treatment to lower her blood pressure. If we are able to bring it into an acceptable range, Andrea and Doug plan to do a simple mastectomy on Friday. Although her cancer is very advanced, the procedure will give her a better quality of life; the tumor is large enough that it is presenting externally, so this surgery is palliative.

The doctors worked later than any other night tonight, returning to the rooms after 11pm. The rest of the team had dinner with Barbara at The Morogoro Hotel and we ordered take-out meals for the surgical crew.

So far, seventeen surgeries have been performed and there are twelve more scheduled. We have almost 200 patients in clinic and have two more full days of work at Mazimbu. We ask for all of our families, churches and friends back home to remember the team and our patients in your prayers.