Outside My "Comfort Zone"

A view of Mukinge Mission Hospital, Mukinge,Zambia.

 It was with much apprehension that my wife, a retired pediatrician and I, a retired general surgeon, went to Mukinge for a four weeks of medical mission there. Very limited resources, limited staffing and many limitations made it tough to diagnose and treat all those who came to Mukinge with various medical needs. For me dealing with issues outside “my comfort zone” was a serious concern. I had to deal with a lot of simple fractures and dislocations. Though outside my “comfort zone”, I could manage them.

(a severely malnourished girl in the Pediatrics ward)

 This was a different story. A seventeen years old young man was brought to the hospital with a trans condylar fracture of his right femur. the distal fragment was much displaced and the swollen knee was in 90 degree flexion. instances like these always calls for consulting the Great Physician and that is exactly what I did. With the patient under general anesthesia, I attempted to reduce the fracture and placed the lower limb in a long leg cast with knee in almost full extension. I was pleasantly surprised at the alignment of fragments I saw in the post reduction x ray.

A thirty years old male was brought to the hospital in shock and a lot of pain after falling off from the bicycle, hitting his anterior chest and abdomen on the ground. He had much tender abdomen and very tender right anterior chest. Ultra sound scanning of the abdomen showed free fluid in the belly. He was kept under close observation with the provisional diagnosis of liver laceration and internal bleeding. He required a unit of blood transfusion, but recovered very well without need for surgery. After being discharged from the hospital, he returned to the surgery clinic for follow up, very happy and thankful. Jokingly I told him that now he should give back that unit of blood to the blood bank. I think he took it as a serious challenge and said that he will!





















This was not the first time that I was Doing abdominal hysterectomy for large uterine fibroids ; the last one was in 1982 ! Another lady with a complex mass in her right lower abdomen turned out to have an old ectopic pregnancy producing a right tubo ovarian mass and that too needed surgery.

 When we realize our limitations and are aware of our limited resources, Great Physician with His limitless resources will be there to help; if only you ask.

 K.E and Leya Mathew