Surgery in Tonj

On Wednesday I joined the surgical team over at the government hospital to how they did things.  Improvisation is the name of the game here. Since certain items are either not available or too expensive you have to so what you have to do. Let's follow this step by step.

The IDAT ambulance brings the patient to the government hospital. It's less than a mile away. The patient is brought into the operating room after the consent is signed a they have had some IV medicine to sedate them.

 The O.R. is the room with the shiny glass window to the right of the steps. If you get close to the window and cup your hands around your face you can see in. I gave a few young boys a fright by putting my face up close to the window on the inside.

Meet Margaret who is a nurse midwife from Sierra Leone. She makes sure the patient remains sedated and is comfortable during the procedure. She is standing in the small ante room outside the O.R. It is highly unusual but you may notice there is only one door ! The other broke and can't be fixed. Oh well , what's a door?

Getting ready for the incision. It's a bit hard to tell but the light over the patient is tied onto a rod with a bandage. It flickered off and on a few times.

The doctor on the right is wearing a sterilized man's shirt ,worn backwards. Remember you have to do what you have to do.

The patient did well and no longer has a hernia. Yeah for doctors who are willing to give it their all despite the difficulties.