My Life in Guinea / Burkina Faso: August 2010

I have been thinking about what to title this blog for hours. So many titles seemed to fit what has happened to me and my family in the last week, but most were sad and depressing, not hopeful and inspiring. But after seeing my mother tear up in front of her doctor 5 minutes before being medically evacuated to Paris, I saw the power of people firsthand, and why we should never stop believing in the human soul. No photos of beautiful scenery or elephants this week. No stories about travels in exotic places this week. Just an experience, and one that I do not wish upon anyone.

On the last night of my parent's voyage, my mother came down with a violent stomach ache. 12 hours later, mom was in a private medical clinic in Ouagadougou, unable to catch her flight to Paris. She was diagnosed with two tropical deadly diseases at the same time, malaria and typhoid. But those actually, as we found out later, were not the cause of this stomach ache, nor did they actually ever happen. Two days after we took her to the clinic, the doctors brought in a surgeon (one of the best in the world I might add), who told us some of the most intense news I have ever received: a piece of her intestine had died and became infected with gangrene.

We were told that she had no choice but to have an operation done to remove that piece of her intestine. I have never been so scared. And I could understand what was being said. I can't imagine what was going on in the head of my dad as I translated this information to my him, or my mom, the true hero in all of this. It's not everyday one is told that they must have an operation to save one's life--especially in Burkina Faso.

It was the most intense moment of my entire life, and I had to do all the translating. 15 minutes before surgery I had to translate a conversation between an American surgeon in the USA and the surgeon here in Burkina. That kind of pressure is not something that I signed up for when joining the Peace Corps.

And then, as if doing emergency surgery in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso wasn't hard enough on us, the power cut out in the middle of surgery. I swear at that very moment I thought I would lose not only my mom that night, but my dad to a heart attack. At least that was one thing I could handle. If there is one thing a surgeon here understands, it's to have a backup plan for the inevitable rainy season power outage in Ouagadougou.

As it turned out, the surgery was a complete success and mom is safely back recuperating in the USA. My parents were both Medivaced (thank medical insurance) 5 days after the operation to the American Hospital of Paris before getting back Saturday night. Turns out that this particular surgeon is one of the best on the planet operating in some of the most extreme conditions in the world. The best doctors on Earth are on this continent, and never has that rang more true than after all of this. If he had not done what he did that night, my mom may not have made it through the night. I still shudder as to that thought. This doctor deserves praise, he saved my mom's life. Nothing I can do can repay someone for that.

I can tell you know though, two weeks after the fact, that it was almost surreal. You hear of horror stories in medicine, but none have ever affected me personally. Yet my family has grown closer than ever through all of this. I was worried that my parents would leave hating Burkina Faso, but the result is the opposite. What happened to my mom could have happened anywhere at any moment. The quick response from friends, family, and doctors--Burkinabé and American--showed me the power of people in its truest form. When somebody's life is on the line, people will drop everything to see to it that that one person is ok. I saw a different side of Burkina, one that makes me love this place even more. From all walks of like, people will do whatever is in their power to help.

-I want to thank my sister Hannah for her courage. She held strong despite being half a world removed.
-The two doctors, Dr. Baro for originally taking mom in, and of course Dr. Sanou for doing the obvious, saving mom's life.
-Dan, Jeff, Aicha, Dr. Pierre, Dr. Jean-Luc, and the rest of the Peace Corps staff for helping. You guys are amazing and there is nobody else I would rather have in an emergency situation helping me than you.
-Aunt Judy and Uncle Mark for doing countless hours of research stateside and informing everyone of the situation, you guys were tremendous.
-*Phil! I forgot you like we were forgotten at MSC. Thanks my Guinea brother for helping with us that first night, you were awewome.
-Kirstin, I can't thank you enough. No words I can type on this page will do justice for how much you helped my family during that week.
-Dad, I don't know how you put up with all of that. No French, yet trying everything to understand the situation. Without your relentess 24/7 watch of the situation and partnering me, who knows what may have passed.
-Mom, you I thank most of all. I cannot imagine how you coped with it all internally, but you stayed strong and defiant. You never shed one tear through all of it until the goodbye to Dr. Sanou. I hope you passed me down some of that strength.

I love you mom.