I was amazed to get a bit of news this afternoon from another Africa Mercy crew member. Her husband has an online subscription to the Liberian Observer, the Monrovian (capital city) newspaper. Yesterday, he noted that I made the newspaper. Do not believe everything that is in print! I refer the reader to Laura's blog as well for the story entitled "Rumors"
Relieved Fistula Victim Narrates Ordeal By Fatoumata Fofana
Published: 01 October, 2008
Mrs. Gbango Sumo with one of the surgeons (yes that is what the caption for the photo says)from MercyShips
to see, please go to: http://www.liberianobserver.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/13655/Relieved_Fistula_Victim_Narrates_Ordeal.html
then so that one does not have to purchase a subscription to read the whole story, I include its copy here.
MONROVIA, Fistula remains one of life-threatening diseases for women. It makes a woman to be completely isolated from others. Worst of all, most victims of fistula are often abandoned by their husbands, relatives and other community members.
Fistula in a woman and/or girl may be caused by injury, abscess, or infection with penetration deep enough to reach the skin.
When open at only one end in a female victim, it is called an incomplete fistula or sinus.
Experts say an obstetric fistula develops when blood supply to the tissues of the vagina and the bladder (and/or rectum) is cut off during prolonged obstructed labor.
During this process, the tissues die and form a hole through which urine and/or feces pass uncontrollably.
Medical practitioners characterize it as a dreadful aftermath of neglected childbirth. The most common sites of fistula in a woman are the rectum and the urinary organs.
However, almost any part of the female body may be affected by the dreadful disease.
Rectal fistulas are often associated with colitis, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases and other disorders. Usually, treatment for fistula requires surgery, doctors say.
Women and Family (W&F) has decided to take you down to the true life story of Madam Gbango Sumo, a 36-year-old Liberian petty trader who had severely suffered obstetric fistula for nearly two decades.
Narrating her ordeal to W&F at the McDonald Street offices of the Daily Observer on Tuesday, September 30, 2008, Madam Sumo, with a sign of relief on her face, recalled that she became a fistula victim during the Liberian war (1990).
A surgery was successfully performed on Madam Sumo recently by the global Christian charity, the MercyShips, in Monrovia.
Madam Gbango and her underprivileged husband lived in one of the remote villages before and during the 14-year Liberian civil war. During the climax of the war, in 1990, Gbango got pregnant for her husband. Unfortunately, she had no access to any pre-natal care simply because no hospital or health center was operating in her village.
When this woman began to experience labor pains, she was assisted by some local traditional birth attendants. Gbango never had a smooth delivery as she suffered obstructed labor that could not be professionally handled by the birth attendants. After days of obstructed labor, Madam Gbango was taken by her husband to Phebe Hospital in Gbarnga, Bong County.
Before Madam Gbango could reach Phebe, it was too late; the unborn baby was already dead and pressure exerted by the fetal head in the pelvis during obstructed labor, a force that interrupted the blood flow to nearby tissues in the Gbango's pelvis, resulted in a fistula in her.
“After this situation, my urine and feces came uncontrollably. I mean I could mess myself up at any time. As a result, I started wearing pieces of towels. I also smelled. But, you know, I thank God for giving me a loving husband. He never abandoned me. He took the lead in seeing to it that I get the proper medical treatment. In cases where he had limited or no money to pay my hospital bills, he fetched water in galloons for sale and also pushed wheelbarrow just to get little funds for me to go to hospital for treatment.”
Feeling for her husband after years of fruitless efforts in trying to cure her sickness, coupled with the fact that she could not as a result of her condition meet his social and other marital needs, Madam Gbango said she suggested to her husband to marry her younger sister as his second wife.
Gbango: “He didn't want to do it, but I encouraged him to do it. Actually, I felt very bad because I couldn't go to bed with my husband. In fact, there was nothing like sharing sexual intimacy anymore owing to my sick condition. But he was still there for me! He gave me comfort and care as a true and loving husband.”
According to her, she asked her husband to marry her sister because “I felt he desired someone badly after nearly 18 years. I couldn't satisfy that desire so I asked him to marry my sister. I did that because she's my sister and she will not behave rudely to me and to him. She will respect, support, tolerate and encourage me unlike another woman from a different family with a different background. My sister understood my situation and was always there to help me. Although, I went through emotional trauma, but my sister, too, was there for me. When I couldn't go to the market owing to my condition, she went. When I couldn't fetch water for our home owing to my sickness, she did.”
Mrs. Sumo further told W&F that she spent three months on the MercyShip. She expressed overwhelming thanks and appreciation to Almighty God and to MercyShip for relieving her of her trauma. She also thanked her dear and loving husband for taking her to the Ship for treatment.
“I say thank you and may God bless you,” she said.
What to Do After the Surgery
According to a MercyShips Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) discharge instruction, the following are to be seriously considered as post-fistula care. Fistula victims are advised to eat healthy diets with plenty of fruits and vegetables to prevent constipation; drink water to flush the urine and prevent infection.
They should walk short distances and gradually increase the distance as tolerated; they are not to lift anything very heavy for at least six weeks; no sexual intercourse for at least three months and if you get pregnant after that, you must have a Caesarean section to deliver your baby healthy and not cause another fistula. Therefore, seek pre-natal care.
©2008 LiberianObserver.com
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