The following is a guest post from my sister-in-law, Dr. Therese Duane, a trauma surgeon who is blogging about her medical mission in Uganda. You can read more about the essential work she and her colleagues have been doing at Mercy Trips Healthcare Outreach.
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As a little girl growing up in a big family, there were few things that I could actually call my own. Not only did I share a room, but for a long time my sisters and I even shared a twin bed. Going clothes shopping meant venturing into another sister’s closet for hand-me-downs, and toys belonged to whomever could run away fast enough without tripping and getting tackled by the rest of us. But there was one thing we could call our own, and that was our birthday—although I did share mine with an uncle and George Washington.Still yet, in our home, my mother made an effort for each of her seven children to have a special birthday. I have fond recollections of sleepovers filled with giggles, scary movies, and not enough sleep that always culminated in Mickey Mouse pancakes my mother would prepare especially for me. I knew I was loved.
If someone had told me 40 years ago that I would have spent my birthdays in Uganda doing medical mission work, I am not sure I would have believed them. And yet, here I am turning 54 years old and instead of giggles with my girlfriends, I am getting chuckles from children who—despite being far from home undergoing painful procedures—still manage to share their smiles with strangers.
Caring for all these families, many of which are large, reminds me how the gift of family is universal. I see many women struggling with fertility with few options. One 42-year-old with only one child came to have her fibroids removed so she could carry another pregnancy to term, as she had previous miscarriages. Sadly, her evaluation demonstrated enormous tumors that were compressing her pelvic organs and causing significant pain. After explaining that her only option was removal of her uterus and more biological children weren’t possible regardless of surgery, I could see the devastation. She left clinic having been informed of the risks of delaying surgery and never returned, choosing instead to be in pain than accept the inevitable. Other women come in with many children, and want more, but need surgery for another complaint. Hence, fertility awareness education is incredibly important for this impoverished country so that couples can make healthy decisions for themselves as they cherish their gift of family.
So, as this birthday comes to a close, I have already been privileged to bring a baby boy into this world through a c-section for one patient and remove a diseased ovary of a different woman, preserving her other, healthy ovary in the hopes that this will help her future fertility. In Uganda, general surgery is certainly general as we provide a wide array of service to the best of our ability. We strive to ensure that the gift of family is embraced, preserved, and expanded based on God’s will and that every person knows they are loved.
