Painful Thoughts

     Pain is such a relative idea.  For some people a simple needle prick practically requires a trip to the hospital while for some it takes a piece of bone sticking out for them to start to be concerned...  There have been many studies done on a person's pain threshold (the amount of discomfort it takes for a person to admit pain)  and people vary a lot.  Yet there seems to be one major factor in play.  It is so easy for a person in a well-developed country to admit pain and seek treatment.  Yet in many third-world countries where medical treatment is not readily available people are forced to ignore the pain and continue on as best they can.

    Recently I have experienced a lot of self-inflicted injuries to my arms, the left one in particular, and I have been down in the wards so my nurse friends can fix me up.  But I look around at the patients in the beds with tubes and wires connected to them, or large bandages around their legs or faces or jaws, and I cannot compare.  They have had to live with serious problems, most of their lives. 



So far during the field service in Togo, Mercy Ships has done:

430  Cataract Surgeries

64  Pterygium Surgeries

151  Maxillofacial Surgeries

16  Cleft Palate/Lip Repairs

66  Plastic Reconstructive Surgeries

134   Specialized Surgical Solutions/General Surgeries

(i.e. hernias and goiters)

5  VVF Surgeries

12  Patients in Palliative Care

88  Dentures provided

261  Clinical Dental Hygiene Services

5,117  Dental Care - tooth infections/decay procedures

Bringing Hope and Healing...