Scanning the VVF records

Before I begin my duties as Assistant Biomedical Technician each day, I spend a couple of hours in the morning as the Health Care Secretary. As secretary, I have recently been scanning patient records so that we have electronic files of everything. I am currently scanning in records from our VVF patients. VVF stands for Vesico-Vaginal Fistula, and it is a devastating condition that affects thousands of women here and in other underdeveloped countries. A Vesico-Vaginal Fistula is a rupture in the wall separating the vagina and (often) urethra which causes the woman to constantly leak urine. The course of the condition is so sad. In many cases it is something like this: a young pregnant woman who is not fully physically developed or a pregnant woman who has had many children runs into severe birth complications without proper medical care. The labor lasts for days and the baby invariably dies. The excessive pressure on the birth canal causes the rupture between the vaginal wall and urethra, causing the woman to leak urine without control. In many cases the husband leaves, and the woman is rejected from her community because of her condition. So basically, this woman who has undergone unimaginable physical pain loses her child, her husband, and her community and is left with an embarrassing and painful condition. As I glance through the files of these women each morning, the pre-op patient questionnaires almost bring me to tears. Here are some exemplary cases:

Age?
18
Number of pregnancies?
1
Number of living children?
0
Days in labor?
3
Age at delivery?
15
Age at marriage?
13
Did husband leave after fistula?
yes


Age?
38
Number of pregnancies?
8
Number of living children?
2
Days in labor?
7
Age at delivery?
32
Age at marriage?
young
Did husband leave after fistula?
yes


Praise the Lord, doctors on the Mercy Ship are able to perform surgeries that can often correct this condition. Not that the procedure will bring back a woman's child or her husband, but it can restore her dignity and femininity and be a powerful witness of Christ's redeeming love for her. After a number of these surgeries are performed, Mercy Ships holds a celebration where all successfully repaired women are presented with a new dress, a mirror, and a Bible to take back to their communities. The Lord is good and eager to heal. Please keep these women in your prayers.