Today is a day of preparation. The 70 or more new arrivals are being assessed for the surgery "camp" which begins tomorrow. It is essential that their ulcerations are free of all infection if the reconstructive surgery can go ahead so patients are highly motivated to clean their hands and feet thoroughly. Here is a young man cleaning what is actually quite a deep ulceration on his heel with a piece of roof tiling. We are privileged tomorrow to gown up and be observers of the operations. They will include work on the tendons of hands to rescue the facility to grasp, and to reduce 'clawing'; work on the tendons in the foot to avoid foot-drop and consequent lameness ; and work on patients' eyes to restore the ability to blink. Leprosy attacks the nerves which control this and sufferers, unable to fully cover the eye with each blink become prey to eye ulceration and infection and ultimately blindness. Apparently it's all hands on deck as the camp only comes around about quarterly. We were in physio this morning watching them assess people to see if surgery is actually required. There was a young boy who had been on medication for a year whose hands have not clawed and whose overall condition is such that he will not need sugery, just ongoing medication and diligent care of himself. We couldn't tell if he and his father were pleased or not with this news.
Hi Andrew and Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteSorry we have not been in touch recently, but you have been in our thoughts and prayers.
Fascinating reading about your progress and experiences and seeing the photos, they seem to help to bring it all to life for us.
It is our next Bring and Share tomorrow - so we will bring everyone up to date.
Love from Carol and Peter
Dear Andrew and Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your updates, what a cruel disease leprosy is - excuse my ignorance but can leprosy be cured or is the medication used mainly to halt progress and manage symptoms?
Praying for you,
Tina (SCCS)
Hi A&E, This reminds me of something I read a long time ago about a man (can't remember the name) who worked with leprosy cases and he said it was when he was working to try to re-construct the thumb that he actually began to believe in the existence of God the creator. How else, who else, could get that minute intricacy so powerfully exact?
ReplyDeleteWe have not abandoned you but some of us older ones prbably still find it hard to get onto the blogg! Sorry. I am in awe of what you are doing in India and pray that God will use you both to heal these poor people. The 12 hour train journey you talked of sounded terrible but at least your got one decent boook read!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the photo's which speak of the vastness of the place and the poverty of some of the people.
I would like to be at the Hindu gathering of 30,000 you mentioned, it would be great to be apart of something so vast...all worshipping together. Keep safe and God Bless your every move. Love Julie
I think I've cracked it!! (We'll see!!)
ReplyDeleteYour blog is fascinating, full of insights into the work of TLM and life in India. May God bless you, keep you well and safe and use you in special ways.
Anne
PS Looking forward to your next blog!