Dec. 12, 2013

We have been busy and I did not realize it had been so long since I have written anything. Since the beginning of the month the surgeries have suddenly increased markedly now up to 6-8 per day. We have done two brachial cleft cysts this week and saw yet another one to be done when they pay something for it. These were all very large
cysts in the neck under the mandible but involving the whole left side of neck. They were all three left sided.

This past Sunday I did a fracture tibia SIGN nail that had been fractured 6 months before
and very scarred and also a fracture femur that was in three pieces with two pieces stuck together that involved about 4 cm below the greater trochanter and the 2nd break about 10 cm below that. It was quite difficult but I think we got good results with the SIGN nail
system and no x-ray, but of course it was an open reduction. The man’s other fracture femur (just a short distance above the knee) we had done the previous Sunday in Moundou. Also did a 12 yr boy fracture of femur through the growth plate and almost through the skin the previous Sunday. I had to plate it then immobilize it.

Most of our volume of surgeries involves hernias and hydroceles but a few ovarian cysts, hysterectomies, and prostatectomies. I just assist Danae on the GYN cases. We work well together. She has been doing some of the surgery rounds while I do surgery on the days when we have so many to do. OPEN FOR SUGGESTIONS.

The little baby that had severe burns of hands and chest that lost his fingers of one hand is doing well otherwise. We did a pilonidal cyst today.

We have all three been busy lately with the hospital stuff and now we have visitors which makes it more interesting. We have a couple from France here for a month. She is a “midwife” and homeopathy and he is a mountain rescue and ski person. He is helping Jamie some with construction.

We have Mason McDowell here now with two of his anesthesia students.  Mason will be moving here long term next May or June to be teaching anesthesia to students out here so that more Africans can have good anesthesia care. His wife and two children ages 8 and 10 have not been here yet. They are very nice and a joy to have around. The
brachial cleft cysts went much better with their help for anesthesia. His students that came with him from the USA are learning some things about anesthesia in not so ideal conditions.

It is not supposed to rain in December but the past two weekends we have had some showers around in fact Dec 1 it rained hard in Moundou while I was there. It is about 70 at night and about 90 in day so pretty nice.

Last Sunday Dec 8 it was dark on the way back from Moundou and the road from Moundou to Kelo (about 60 miles) is paved good road but lots of pedestrians, goats, cows, ox carts, stalled vehicles, dogs, etc on the roadway so it is very stressfull driving after dark. Especially one time a woman and child ran across the road and we just missed them
by inches as we swerved the car and the guardian angel helped I am sure so that we missed.

Dirk Wunderlich a neurosurgeon is here from Hamburg, Germany for 10 days. He was here last Dec also. He brought some surgical instruments with him especially orthopedic.

Our emails are drbland@sbcglobal.net and dfbland01@gmail.com
Our phones are 235-90627822 and 235-62674586
Rom. 8:28 and Phil 4:13
Love Rollin and Dolores