Friday, November 15, 2013

Nov. 12, 2013

    We have about finished moving all our stuff out of the apartment and
to our “new house." There are some other volunteers coming that will
need to stay in the apartment in a few days. It seems we have
accumulated more stuff in the last two years. Of course we have put
some stuff that we are not using right now back into the container.
   Friday we had a strangulated inguinal hernia but the intestine was
still viable so no problem.
   Sabbath was busy as I taught English Sabbath School class then
preached a sermon that was translated into French and Ngere. In the
evening we had two maternity cases with one that was dead baby before
she arrived that delivered and then had to have a manual removal of
the placenta and the other was a very difficult forceps delivery with
baby that had a heart beat but never responded otherwise to
resusitation. Then about midnight a man presented with a
strangulated inguinal hernia but when we operated he had about 10 feet
of dead small intestine from a strangulated volvulus which we removed
and reanastamosed to about 6 inches of terminal ileum . The
strangulated hernia had also necrosed his cord and testicle on that
side so had to remove that but that made his hernia repair easier
His hernia incision had to be extended cephalad quite a way to get
enough exposure to figure out the problem. 
   Sun we had what appeared to be a perforated ulcer but turned out to 
be acuteappendicitis. Also saw lady that had burns on her face and arms 
from boiling oil thrown on her by her husband then he would not let her
come in for treatment for two days but she finally got away and he is
in jail. Often times when a husband abuses his wife nothing will
happen to him. Also saw a girl with edema, ascites, shortness of
breath, pulsating neck veins, and a severe systolic heart murmur heard
over most of chest but more in left mid axillary line. Also on
Sunday put in a chest tube for empyema. We had another cancer of
cervix and uterus (not sure which was primary) that we debulked but
not cured.
   As we think of this holiday season time of year we turn to
thankfulness. We are thankful for the plan of salvation that Jesus
has provided for us with his perfect life and sacrifice. We are are
thankful for the friends and relatives that think of us and continue
to pray for us. We are thankful for the emails and notes that some
send us. We are thankful for the donations that have been provided
so that various projects can continue. We are thankful for the
Adventist Service Industries, Maranatha, and Adventist Health
International that have provided many new building shells but now we
need to finish them up on the inside with interior walls and plumbing
and electric wiring, etc. We are thankful for the large and small
donations that have been made to help provide equipment and interior
necessities such as sinks and stoves. More are needed. We are
thankful for the volunteers that have come and that will come to work
to make this place a better place with their various talents. We are
thankful for the Parkers that have done so much to direct the
construction and help with the school. We are thankful to be able
to work with Olen and Danae in the mission hospital work and of course
to be with the grandkids here (now three). Much more is needed to
make everything useable. We are thankful that Bere Adventist
Hospital is one of the better hospitals in the country (but still has
lots of room for improvement). We do more surgical procedures than
any other hospital in the country (will be over 1200 this year). We
are thankful for your prayers for each patient and employee. We are
thankful for the buildings that have the shells for the volunteers
that will come. They need to be finished with walls, plumbing, sinks,
toilets, stoves for cooking meals, etc. For instance a cook stove
for each place is over $300 plus $150 for gas tanks, gas and hook ups
need about 12. We need interior walls for the private wards,
maternity and OR areas. We need fans for each of the volunteer
buildings, as well as the private wards and other places. The new
buildings are designed with lots of ventilation so that air
conditioning is not really an option except hopefully in the OR.
Besides air conditioning takes lots of electricity which we have only
so much generation capacity. There is not and will not be any
public power available in the forseeable future. I am amazed at how
much is done with so little to work with. I am thankful for how
much the Lord has blessed the work here in Bere, Chad.
   Be sure to read the blogs on www.missionarydoctors.blogspot.com
Keep looking up "for our redemption draweth nigh" but there are still
many people in the world that do not know the love of Jesus. God
is waiting for all of us to let them know Do your neighbors and
friends know Him?
Our emails are drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland01@gmail.com
Love, Rollin and Dolores

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