Irene

For those of you who follow my blog, you have read about Irene before, even seen pictures of her giant wound, in the place where her right leg used to be. 

Irene was my first challenge. When I arrived in Chad, she still had her leg, but it was so infected, she was getting septic. The day after my arrival, she had an above-knee amputation. She still had a pocket of pus tracking even further up her thigh, so every morning, my job was to literally stick my entire index finger all the way up that pocket of pus, dig around in it, clean it out, irrigate, and dress the wound. With absolutely no anaesthetic. You can imagine the amount of pain that caused her. You can imagine how hard it was for me to do it, hearing her saying the then unfamiliar words that sound like "Ma cuilliao".* I didn't know what they meant, but I could guess... 

Day 1 post-op:

Every day, I would start the day with her dressing change... and I could see the progress: 

You can still see the layer of subcutaneous fat, but granulating tissue is starting to form. 

Here you can't see the fat layer anymore, and the wound is just starting to fold in the middle. Notice that the pocket of pus on the left is still there...

This was the first time she ever smiled at me, the first time we got her up and walking (already 3 weeks ago). 

This was the wound last week, already much smaller, and the pocket had no pus in it and was only about 3-4cm deep. 

This was Irene and I yesterday, when we were out practicing with her new crutches. 

Today, she is getting her leg sutured shut. The wound is clean, and small enough that we can join the skin on both sides. 

It is incredible, the healing power of the human body, and the resilience and strength of the human race. It is exactly 1 month since her amputation. She will be going home soon. 

I will miss her, but I'm glad she is healthy and even happy, as you can see from the big smile above. 

She might forget me. I will certainly never forget her. 

Right before closing...

Closed!!!! 

It's a happy day for me. And for her. :) 

*"Ma Cuillao" is an expression of extreme suffering in Ngambaye, there is no exact translation. I have become quite familiar with those words...