I've realized that I never gave an update on my last adopt-a-patient Betty. She is the 21-year-old who came in for a VVF repair. As I said in my first posting about her, the surgery was unsuccessful, and so she is still leaking urine uncontrollably. The strength of this woman amazes me. She gave birth when she was 17, and she was in labor for 7 days to deliver her stillborn child. She has never been married, and, from what I can gather, her family sent her away to live with her aunt in Monrovia after "the problem" started. (That's how she refers to her incontinence - it's "the problem.") Betty told me that she doesn't have any friends, which I find hard to believe because she has such a spunky, congenial personality. In addition to causing social isolation, the problem also prevents her from going to school. As she describes it, to be in school she needs to be able to sit and stay dry for five hours, and this isn't possible in her current state. But she is still hopeful. Betty told me that she is praying to God to heal her so that she can go to school. During the war the Liberians schools shut down for about 7 years, which means that Betty probably has the education of and 11-year-old. I told Betty that I would join her in prayer for her healing. She was told that she could get another surgery when the ship returns. We exchanged phone numbers because she wants to call me once she's healed so that we can say "praise God!" together.
Betty and I had a lot of good times together while she was here. I would usually go and visit her in the evening after work and spend about an hour chatting, braiding hair, painting nails, etc. One night when I came in she had her short hair unbraided and standing on end, and she had a pick stuck in it. She said that she had been waiting for me and wanted me to comb out and braid her hair. I was so touched that she wanted me, the white gal will little to no African hairstyling experience, to experiment on her head. Betty patiently taught me how to work the comb against her scalp one section at a time to loosen the "dirt" (dandruff) and choose sections for each braid. The finished product was... well, let's just say that the braids were probably removed promptly after I left. Regardless, it was a sweet time of sisterhood.
Here is a picture of Betty and me:
(hmmm more technical difficulties. stay tuned)
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This is such a sweet story. Sorry I'm a little behind on reading the blogs, but still thought I should comment. I'm not sure if I ever told you this, but I told my friend Rhonda at UoP that you had been working on Mercy Ships. Low and behold she says " that's one of the programs I give money too!"
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