Keloids, hernias, tumours, equipment challenges, punctures and a dodgy clutch. A week in the life of our MMS team
Our team of 16 returned to Ambatolahy once again for the fifth MMS of the year. Unfortunately ophthalmologist Dr. Jacky has not yet recovered after his motorcycle accident, so we were not able to carry out eye tests and treatment.
The long journey of 2 days by “road” via Antsirabe and Miandrivazo was eventful as ever, this time partly due to a dodgy clutch on the vehicle carrying supplies.
Many patients were already waiting for us at the venue and had come from up to 100km away from places like Begidro, Malaimbandy, Miandrivazo, Morafeno, Ambalakininina. Many said that HoverAid has given a lot of hope to the villagers in the enclave areas.
After unloading, preparation of rooms, sterilization of equipment, we began with a religious service, presentation of the team and the progress of the mission.
There were still around ten patients that we had been unable to operate on during our previous visit to Ambatolahy in March, these were the ones we planned to operate on first.
Like every mission in Ambatolahy, we divided surgery into 2 operating blocks, one intended for general anaesthesia and the other for spinal and local anaesthesia. There was great collaboration with the head of Ambatolahy Town Hall after the activity room that we always used for general consultation was renovated and we were not able to use it, so they installed a very large tent and that was where we held the consultation.
Story – Woman with Keloids
A young woman around 25 years old had large keloids on the tips of both of her ears like earrings. She has been carrying these for years and they are very heavy for her. The surgeons studied the feasibility of the operation and after the anaesthetist’s diagnosis, the team proceeded to remove the keloids. The operation lasted almost 2 hours but everything went well. The keloids were removed and the woman was very happy
The age range for surgery was from 4 months to 78 years; most were suffering from appendicitis, hydroceles, hernias, lipoma, cyst, bladder stones, bilateral keloid. For ultrasound, most cases are urinary infections, appendicitis, abdominal pain. For the medical consultation, many patients had genital infections; others had hypertension. The children mainly had coughs, diarrhoea, deparasitasis, bilharzia.
The post-operative room was constantly full and most of the patients had to sleep on the hospital veranda. The surgical team worked very late due to the numerous surgical operations
On the way home the minibus transporting the team had two punctures, which delayed our arrival in Antsirabe because we were stuck for almost an hour and a half in Dabolava to find a tyre repairer. We arrived in Antisirabe around 11:30 p.m. Everyone was very tired and the next day, we decided to leave a little late for Tana, we went to get some fresh air by a small waterfall not far from Antsirabe after breakfast before leaving for Tana. We left Antsirabe around 12 p.m. and arrived in Tana at 6:30 p.m.
In general, MMS Ambatolahy went well despite the scalpel problem which limited surgical activities a little. 5 new nurses and doctors have just joined the MMS team from this month and were at this MMS.
Statistics
Medical consultation 304; Ultrasound 108; Dental extraction 70; Surgery: major 25, minor 8. Total: 515
