Its hard to believe another week is nearly over.... we finished up adult orthopedic surgeries on Friday but still have some of the patients in the ward. The new PT arrived yesterday and will be treating most of the patients who remain on the ward and I will be working with Liv in post-ops for these last 2 weeks. It will be just like old times- casting together, giving each other a hard time constantly, kids screaming the majority of the day as we come at them with a cast saw!

Here are a few pictures of the last week here in Sierra Leone....

Dr. Johannes Bernbeck, from California, preparing for surgery

This patient has a severe genu valgus deformity. This is thought to be caused by a nutritional deficiency and is treated in several different ways surgically. This girl had a femoral osteotomy, which requires a wedge be taken out of her long bone and pinned in place- after about 6 weeks of casting, she will hopefully have a nice straight leg permanently.

After surgery and casting- looks pretty good, huh?

We also treated many unhealed broken bones. Many that we saw had been walking around with a broken leg for years.
This surgery required a rod and screws to allow the bones to be a position that allows healing and weight bearing without pain.

One of the anesthesiologists getting his hair braided. This has become extremely popular over the last few weeks! A little 4 year old girl braided my bangs in about 2 minutes with her Barbie Doll's comb.... I won't be coming home with a weave- somehow, I don't think that would look good with my Derby dress!

This little squirt is one of my favorite patients of this outreach. Her name is Isanta and she has a bit of a developmental delay and cerebral palsy. She had surgery to place 8 plates (which over time will hopefully help her legs to straighten) and additional surgery to lengthen her hamstrings in hopes that she would be able to walk. She and her mom came here from Guinea and it has been amazing to watch her progress over the last 5 weeks. I was getting her prepared for discharge this morning and was trying to figure out which walker to give her to take home. I had a choice between a pediatric rolling walker, which fit her perfectly, but was very rickety or a geriatric rollator walker with a seat and fancy basket. Not sure why these were sent to Africa, but I'm glad they were! Its too tall for her, but its so sturdy, which will be perfect for the hilly, rocky village she is returning to. We also received a donation of Skechers yesterday and I gave her a pair too. Her mom was in tears. She told me through the translator that this was one of the happiest days of her life. Her friends in the village had told her to "throw this child in the forest". They said she "was evil" and "from the devil". Now, she says "I am so happy because I get to take my little girl home and I have what I need for her to walk. God will bless everyone here for helping us".
I haven't mentioned many of the other services here on Mercy Ships and will try to do a better job of that next week. Here you can see a patient being checked in line at the dental clinic.

John is now walking! I have changed his shoes 5 times, as he was unhappy with each pair I fashioned for him.... I finally found a crew member's son (Noah Peet) who was willing to give up a pair of Crocs for him this morning. John is elated with his worn-out, but functional Crocs. Thanks Noah!

Delivery of barracuda in the reception area. All of our food gets delivered here, but the staff was expecting that the fish was going to be gutted and cut into portions before it arrived....

Using abusive language in this area will cost you $12. Not sure how it is enforced....
We had a severe water shortage over the past week- things are beginning to return to normal. I was able to wash a load of laundry this morning. I had to get up at 5 am to get the spot, but Liv and I now have clean stuff!

I went diving last weekend with Olly and Dan. The visibility was about 5 feet and we saw pretty much nothing but our fins.... very strong current and undertow made it a real challenge, but its always fun to get out there anyway!

Man digging through the trash looking for treasure in the streets of downtown.

Sign at the bottom of the gangway as we leave

This sign at the local free emergency hospital is a little difficult to read- it says "No Money transactions for blood transfusions. Please bring donors". Blood here is only typed, but not checked for disease before tranfusing into someone else.
Surgeons making a fashion statement in their new african shirts

Thanks for taking the time to read! I'll be home soon- Jana