A Day At Work

I have been working inside A6 this week. A6 is one of the many fresh water tanks onboard the ship and holds 68 metric tons of water. We are cleaning out all the rust and then we are going to put a new layer of cement on the inside. To get inside the tank is the most challenging part. I had to climb up behind the door crawl through the tank top and then down a rope ladder into the tank. We have had 5 people woking at a time inside it most of the week. Notice the emergency air tank, and portable gas dectector, very important for our safety, since it takes about five minutes for us all to get out of the tank.

Patient Story - Bawa

I first met Bawa at Screening day. Bawa had been to the ship before to have his keloids removed but it was about ten years ago. Unfortunately, Keloids can and do sometimes reappear bigger than before. Bawa was one of the first patients to have surgery here in Ghana this outreach.




















The second time I saw Bawa, I was carrying him from the OR to the Ward(I am part of the Patient Transport Team). Bawa had his three biggest Keloids removed, combined they weighed over 8 pounds.

If you would like to know more about Bawa and his story please e-mail me and I will send you more info.

All photos are Property Mercy Ships Int'l. and should not be redistrubuted in any way.

For more detailed information about Keloids read below.

Keloids
Alternative names: Hypertrophic scar; Keloid scar; Scar - hypertrophic

Definition:
Keloids are an overgrowth of scar tissue at the site of a healed skin injury.
Keloidosis is a term used when multiple or repeated keloids are produced.

How can you get it:
Keloids occur from such skin injuries as surgical incisions, traumatic wounds, vaccination sites, burns, chickenpox acne, or even minor scratches. They are fairly common in young women and African Americans. Most keloids will flatten and become less noticeable over a period of several years. They may become irritated from rubbing on clothing or other forms of friction. Extensive keloids may become binding, limiting mobility. They may cause cosmetic changes and affect the appearance. Exposure to the sun during the first year of the keloid's formation will cause the keloid to tan darker than surrounding skin. This dark coloration may become permanent.

Symptoms:
A skin lesion that is:
Flesh-colored, red, or pink
Located over the site of a wound, injury, or other lesion
Nodular or ridged
The lesion may itch during formation and growth

Diagnosis:
Diagnosis is made on the basis of the appearance of the skin or scar. A skin biopsy may be needed to rule out other skin growths (tumors)

Treatment:
Keloids often require no treatment. Keloids may be reduced in size by freezing (cryotherapy), external pressure, corticosteroid injections, laser treatments, radiation, or surgical removal. It is not unusual for keloids to reappear (sometimes larger than before) after they have been removed.
Discoloration from sun exposure can be prevented by covering the forming keloid with a patch or Band-Aid, and by using sun block when spending time in the sun. These extras protection measures should be continued for at least 6 months after injury or surgery for an adult, up to 18 months for a child.

Expectations (prognosis):
Keloids usually are not medically dangerous, but they may affect the cosmetic appearance. In some cases, they may spontaneously reduce in size over time. Removal or reduction may not be permanent, and surgical removal may result in a larger keloid scar.

Complications:
Psychological distress if keloid is large or disfiguring
Recurrence of keloid
Discomfort, tenderness, irritation of the keloid

Information was found at Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia

Arriel

She has arrived. My newest and youngest niece, Arreil Renee Keesler. Arreil was born on Tues. July 11th at 7:37 am EST. She was 8 pounds 11 1/2 ounces (about 4 Kg) and was 20 inches long (about 51 cm).

Sunrise in Tema

The one Benefit I found to working night patrol all week. While on night patrol I am responsible for keeping the ship safe from fire, flood, and any other thing that threatens the crews safety...

Deckies Say Goodbye

I am still trying to catch up on things that happened while I had malaria. Here is a picture of our deck administrator as she was leaving to go back to NC.

Screening Days

Monday and Tuesday, June 26th and 27th, were screening days in Tema, for surgeries and Friday June 30th, was the screening day in Takoradi. My job was to provide security and make sure that all the people in line were doing well. There were approximately 2000 people at the first screening day. Over 700 patients received surgery cards . That is more than 700 lives that will be changed while the Anastasis is here in Ghana. Some of those lives have already been changed, since surgeries started the following Monday. Most of the photos taken by ships photographers Ashley Pitt and Sarah Fuhrer.

Katelynne and Abbie

Here is a picture of my Nieces
















Katelynne is 2 months old, and Abbie is 2 and 1/2 years old.

To read more about Katelynne and Abbie go HERE

Malaria Strikes Again

Ok, So, I had Malaria Again. It is becoming a little to common. My symptoms started on last Sunday, Monday I was fine, but it came back Tuesday and stayed for a while. I am doing ok now but, I still have a headache.

Below is some information from The WHO (World Health Organization).

Symptoms of malaria I have had include fever, shivering, arthralgia (joint pain), intense headaches, and convulsions. There may be tingling in the skin, particularly with malaria caused by P. falciparum.


Symptoms I have not had but are possible include vomiting, anemia, Splenomegaly (enlarged spleen) and cerebral ischemia and hemoglobinuria with renal failure may occur. Complications of malaria include coma and death if untreated.

Malaria is an infectious disease which in humans causes about 350-500 million infections and approximately 1.3 million deaths annually. It occurs mainly in the tropics, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 85% of these fatalities. Malaria is caused by the protozoan parasite, Plasmodium (one of the Apicomplexa) and the transmission vector for human malarial parasite is the Anopheles mosquito. The P. falciparum variety(I have had it both times) of the parasite accounts for 80% of cases and 90% of deaths.