Moving Mountains

Moving Mountains

Let me tell you a story…. About a month ago, a little girl, Afi, came to see me. She is 4 month old and a very happy little girl. Her mother and grandmother brought her in. She was born with a mass near her sacrum, and it had grown significantly. As soon as she was born, her father left the family and said that he wanted nothing to do with her. The family spent 4 months scrounging enough money together to come see us in clinic. 

When I saw her, I honestly didn’t know exactly what I was looking at. I had a few guesses, but as many of my medical colleagues who know me have found out in the last year, I pooled my resources and sent photos and the story to some pediatric surgeons I know. They responded that we needed further imaging but likely this would be a very complicated surgery to do, too complicated for me to do. 

I sent the patient with instructions to get a CT scan and come back to clinic, not knowing that they had barely enough money to get here, let alone enough to get further imaging. 

One of the pediatric surgeons I had contacted continued to ask me about how she was doing and I had said I was waiting on a CT. She, the peds surgeon, then happened to see that a specialist pediatric surgeon she met was on a Mercy Ship in Sierra Leone, down the coast and a 3 hour flight from me here in Togo. We were put in contact and the specialist had said he would be willing to do the operation if I could get the patient to him in Sierra Leone.

At that point I felt like this was unlikely to happen. To get this baby and mom passports, visas, etc… seemed completely insurmountable. Worse… we had lost contact with the family and their phone was shut off. We had no way to find them or contact them. 

As this pediatric surgeon was nearing the end of his stint on Mercy Ship, he contacts me again to try and get the child to him. I reply with all of the problems and the unlikelihood of getting passports etc…. in almost a complete joke, I float the idea that if we could get someone here, that would be much easier. He responded that he would look into making a “pit stop” on his way home from Sierra Leone to Montreal. I was speechless. Anyone who knows me, knows how rare that is. I was dancing around the room. 

But now…. I REALLY need to find the patient. So I contact my Togolese colleagues and rally the forces to find this child. The next day, I get the news that we found her and she is. coming to clinic on  Monday (2 days ago). I see the patient and confirm that the mother would be agreeable to surgery. She agrees with tears in her eyes. 

I informed the pediatric surgeon who I had initially contacted and she immediately sent me the money to cover this child’s complete surgery, hospital bill and imaging. 

When I tell you the the Lord was opening doors, man did I feel it. I kept thinking “this cannot be possible” but God kept opening the next door and I just kept walking forward.

Long story long., the surgery will be this Saturday, the day before Easter. The surgeon is flying in on Friday, operating Saturday, and flying out on Sunday. Can you even believe this? I only can because I know how much God loves this little girl. Please pray for me and the team as we operate on Saturday, pray that they feel cared for, loved, and that they matter in the eyes of the Kingdom of God.