Say Good-bye and Go

So my time here has come to an end. My bags are packed (and not as heavy as I anticipated!) I am avoiding good-byes in my typical fashion. The last two times I left this ship were very different than this time. The first time I was leaving but didn't feel ready. The second I knew I was leaving with a date to return. This time I am leaving with no plans to return, but I am ok with it. I feel ready. I feel as if this season is coming to a close.

I will miss this place and these people fiercely but I will take so much with me. I know that God has used this time to prepare me for what lays ahead.

I know my transition back into life in the states will be tough, it is just so different and it's hard for me to switch my brain back to life there. So please pray for me as I have a whirlwind transition ahead, from life here to life as a graduate student in downtown Chicago in under 1 month.

As I go I just wanted to share with you one last look back and give a quick summary of what the VVF program accomplished. I like the numbers because they make me feel like we really did something, but they mean nothing without the stories and the faces. I have shared many of those so now here are some numbers.

6 weeks of surgery

120 surgical procedures on 99 women.

2 VVF surgeons

4 African surgeons trained in VVF surgery (2 Benin, 1 Rwanda, 1 Nigeria)

4 African nurses trained in care of the VVF patient (2 Rwanda, 2 Nigeria)

80-90% successful (success rates in VVF are debatable, so let me explain this a little. 90% of our surgeries were successful in that we closed the hole in the bladder. Many women leak some after surgery because of weak muscles or any other number of causes, to these women the surgery was not completely "successful" so if you include those women in the numbers than about 80% went home dry!)

Here is a collage of all of their faces. It was an honor to care for every one.

If you were praying for a specific women I should have emailed you with an individual update on them. If by chance I didn't and you want to know what happened with your lady, please email me or comment and I will try to get back to you.