My friend Marilyn is off on another
Mercy Ship adventure in Africa. Those who followed her story before on the
Africa Mercy know that Marilyn is a
volunteer nurse on a hospital ship that
sails the African coast in search of patients.
She emails me and I share her post with you.
I hope you enjoy!
Winding Down 04/04/17
We finished the children's surgeries last Friday. On Monday they were all checked again, and then we had the Celebration of Sight. All the children seem to see well, even those who left the ship not seeming to see well immediately after surgery. Remember Sophie, the second patient? She acted quite blind the day after surgery, but now, two weeks later, she was running around and obviously could see! My heart had been sad for her, so I was very happy to see such improvement in the eye-brain connection so quickly.
Today, we are doing adult cataracts again. One grandpa had his granddaughter as his escort and caregiver. She appears to be about 10 years old, but she hasn't been able to go to school because she takes care of grandpa. We thought it best to bring her onto the ship with him rather than leave her on the dock with no adult. That was a scary thought to her! It is a big ship...even if you can see, it is pretty daunting, going up 41 wobbly gangway steps just to get to the doorway.
Once inside, she was fine...in fact, I think she rather enjoyed her time with us. Hopefully, grandpa will be able to see, and she can be free to attend school in the future.
I have only two more days of cataract surgeries, then a day in the clinic, and then I go home. I remember when my son was in kindergarten and I was visiting his class. His teacher needed to get something out of the file cabinet, so to keep the kids occupied while she searched, she had them all stand up and turn around twice while patting their heads. I sort of feel like that just happened to me. Stand up, turn around twice, pat my head...and it's time to go home. Sigh.
Marilyn
Sharon M. Himsl
Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011.
Published with Evernight Teen:
~~The Shells of Mersing
I must say Sharon these nurse's stories were wonderful and heart warn=ming to read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing with us. It's good to know what is happening in other parts of the world.
Yvonne.
I'm so glad you've enjoyed Marilyn's stories. I've never seen stories like this online and knew immediately they were a treasure. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of this - how wonderful! I have been donating to the Fred Hollows Foundation, which gives care to adults and children with fixable blindness. It's amazing how little it costs to change someone's life. I hadn't heard of the Mercy Ships, but your friend sounds like a terrific lady.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very worthy cause, but there are others too as you have discovered. Yes, a terrific lady! We have been friends since our children were babes. She pursued a nursing degree after her children grew up. Thanks, Sue!
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