The guy who needs the bladder reconstructive surgery came back this morning. Steve had promised to help him with half of the money he needed to have the surgery. The guy was actually able to raise more than half of the money; he was happy when we gave him the portion of the money we had promised. We have been confused about this case because he said that he was in a motor vehicle accident and that my parents, Royce and Cindy, had helped him with the first surgery. I decided to ask him about the accident and what exactly happened. He said that the accident happened in 1998. He said that he was driving a loaded dump truck, he got off of the road and the truck started slipping down off the road; he was thrown from the truck and then the truck rolled over on top of him. He said that he spent the night in the morgue with 3 other people who had died in the accident. The hospital attendant thought he was dead. The next morning when they came in to attend to the corpses, they found out that he was still breathing and rushed him to Tamale hospital. He said that he did not wake up in the morgue but he woke up while they were doing x-rays on him. The hospital was a-buzz with the story of him being presumed dead! He spent the next 2 ½ years in the hospital recovering from all of his injuries! He said that his bladder was damaged in the accident and finally a doctor came that was able to do surgery and put in a catheter. After he was discharged, he came home with the catheter and has had one ever since. He goes to Tamale every month to have it changed. The problem now is that evidently the scar tissue from the original surgery is causing a blockage and he is retaining fluid. A new urologist is working in Tamale now and he thinks that he is going to be able to do surgery and fix the problem. He said that he even thinks that after the surgery he will no longer need a catheter. Wouldn’t that be wonderful! He is going tomorrow to Tamale for a re-check and hopefully surgery! Our thanks go out to all of those who help us with money for “whatever comes up”!
The masons have replaced about ½ of the wall; it looks good and much stronger than it originally was. We hope that in a few days it will be completed.
We spent the afternoon matching ties with dress shirts. Of course, the job of tying all those ties always falls to Steve. The men like to wear a tie but most of them do not know how to tie one, so Steve ties the ties and leaves them tied so it is easier for them to put them on. All the men that attend the monthly class will have a new shirt to wear to the seminar next month.
Dauda, the mason, woke us up at 5:30 this morning to tell us to call Mr. Iddrisu and tell him to come to work early so they could start pulling blocks from Red’s house. The problem with pulling them from Red’s house is that it is almost all the way into town. It takes them a long time to go get a load and bring it back. We told Dauda just to pull blocks for the mission house today and we would replace them later.
Take care and have a great day!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
I got tangled in the big mango tree again today; this time Dad had to pull out the big ladder to be able to reach me! I thought I was a goner when I saw that big ladder snaking its way up into the branches! I do not like the ladder! I was happy to see Dad climbing up to rescue me! Dad cut the offending branch! Mom says that eventually they will have trimmed all the branches I can get tangled in and I will be free!
There is a stray grey and white tom cat that has been hanging around the house! Every once in a while, it slinks past my condo! Well, while I was outside playing on the back veranda that cat ran up the stairs where I was tied too. There is an outside metal staircase that is used to access the gutters that surround the roof. The parents made a run for me outside that is attached to the steps. That cat scared me! I do not like it; it looks sickly and has a terrible case of mange! I hope that one day it will run away and find other cats to play with!
Dad cut a huge dead branch out of one of the trees in the backyard. It made a terrible noise when it fell to the ground! I tried to warn them of the danger; I screamed and screamed at the top of my voice but it did not make any difference! Dad went right back out to that tree and started cutting on it again. Meri, Amama, and Zorash were happy when they saw it fall down because they needed the firewood. Dad cut the pieces into manageable sizes and they loaded them in the truck and Mom carried the wood to their houses. They got 1 ½ truckloads of firewood!
Nobody ever listens to me when I holler “Danger”!
Love, Skeeter
Leave a Reply