Surgery

Josh is nearly 3 months into his internship at Tenwek mission hospital. It hasn’t always been easy but it has definitely been a learning and growing experience for the whole family as well as for Josh medically. The interns have 4 rotations to cover in 1 year. That allows for 3 months in Surgical, Obstetrics, Pediatrics and the medical ward. Josh has started in the surgical rotation and is nearly finishing.

The experiences have been truly amazing and awful. With stories from stitching machete wounds in the ER extending from the front to the back of the skull to stitching up Lion and hippo attack victims. A bucket full of worms was surgically removed from a boys intestines and regularly applying skin grafts to cover babies burnt tissues due to fires or boiling milk.

Though these memories will stick in our minds forever we only have a few actual pictures. Here is Josh trying his hand at orthopedics. With a little instruction and close supervision he was able to sink some screws into this tibia to hold a severe fracture together. The best thing about orthopedic surgery is all the great tools you get to use. (saws, hammers, drills, screws, nails, metal plates, etc.)

The orthopedic surgeon has been a great testimony. He never fails to pray with the patients before and after surgery. One man who was a drunkard came with terrible injuries. Open tibia-fibula fractures on both legs, 3 rib fractures, an open humorous fracture and a head injury. I treated him in the ER and he was conscious but so drunk I could extract his broken leg bone outside the skin and move it in all directions with him telling me he had no serious problems and he hadn’t been drinking that night. A few days after surgery the surgeon and I were able to lead him to the Lord. Rarely have I ever seen such a continence change in an individual as he personally called out to Jesus. Those are the stories that make it all worthwhile. It’s great to see body, mind and spirit being healed.