Bravery

Okay, so this may be a little too much for some but this is a story that I want to share. Imagine this ... you have lived for many years with a horrible disfigurement caused by an infection that takes most people's lives. Instead of a nose and normal mouth this infection has left you with a gaping hole in your face. You come to the the Africa Mercy screening day and are chosen to have an operation with the amazing Dr. Parker. The operation day comes and everything goes as planned, but when you awaken you realize just how drastic and "inventive" this operation was. The doctor has taken a flap of your scalp and twisted it around to form you the beginnings of a nose and your tongue is now sutured to the roof of your mouth where there once was a hole. In the next three weeks this will be how you live, receiving your feeding through a tube that travels from your nose to your stomach. After these three weeks you will have the next stage of your operation. Okay, okay I know it is very graphic, but I was touched so much by this patient. He isn't even my assigned patient, but I just think he is so brave. To have gone through so much over not only the past days, but the past years and he is still hanging in there. I feel so blessed to be even a small part of his transformation ... I can't wait to see what the future holds for him!