May 17, 2015

We finally got our first good rain of this rainy season. It was a good soaker perhaps 25 mm (about 1 inch). I think it is enough so that everyone can start plowing with their oxen etc and get ready to plant their crops. We should have about 5 months before next dry season. The humidity is very high like being in a sauna. Maybe it will start to green up a little before we leave on annual leave June 3. At least now we don't have the dust like before.   But now we have the flying termites and ants attracted to the lights at night and can get through almost anywhere. Locals like them as a delicacy to eat.

Dolores is making a lot of baby clothes as we are out of little things to give to the babies born here in Bere Hospital. She is tired of doing mangoes.

Today I had a well dressed grateful patient drive down from NDJ to give me and surgery crew a goat and a bag of rice (75kg or 175lbs). I had done a surgery in Dec on him a bowel resection for intussisseption and he is fine now. I gave the gift to Ndilbe our head of OR and who is getting married in 3 weeks.

Today we had a term pregnant lady brought in that a "house wall fell in on her" Was referred here for her large vaginal "hematoma" she also had some head injuries The vaginal injury was an avulsion of her bladder so must have had a full bladder when the wall fell on her pushing her fetus down very hard or something. She delivered normally here although she was being prepared for a c-section because of her "hematoma" then Danae did a repair of the vaginal wall and bladder injury. Did not believe the story at first as we thought it was another case of vaginal violence but with the other injuries maybe it was true???

This past week we had another strangulated internal hernia with about 2.5 m (about 8 ft) of dead upper intestine which had to be resected. So far he is doing well. Also a perforated gastric ulcer that was almost moribund on arrival to OR. We cleaned out large amount gastric contents and repaired the ulcer but he died 2 days later.

May is supposed to be slower but so far about same as Feb and Mar.

We are all healthy now.

Our emails are drbland@sbcobal.net and dfbland01@gmail.com
Love. Rollin and Dolores

Rollin and Dolores Bland
Hopital Adventiste de Bere
Boite Postal 52
Kelo, Tandjile, Chad, Afrique