The May operations campaign has ended with our last patients leaving on July the 1st to return to their homes. We started with 213 women who entered the operating theatre, 205 who received anaesthesia for fistula repair operations, and 199 who did receive fistula repair surgery (the other women received exploratory or other procedures). Of these 199 women roughly 80% are cured. Dry! That is 159 women who are now free to live their lives without the pain and indignity of obstetric fistula. Approximately 5.5% of those women operated on had their fistula successfully closed, but still suffer from some incontinence. This may or may not clear up as their bodies adjust and they relearn how to use their muscles to control that area. Some may have too much scarring and may suffer lifelong incontinence. About 14.5% of the women (29 women to be exact) did not have their fistula closed. They remain in need of further operations.
We work very closely with all the women, and especially with those who still have incontinence or who did not have their fistula closed, to give them hope and also strength to face their future. Many will have to undergo the surgery again, maybe even multiple times. Some may never be cured. This is a stark truth. Our Trauma and Reintegration team help prepare these women to face this truth - with courage, determination, and self-worth. Beside is a photo of Isabel. Look at her smile. Her confidence. She isn't cured. But she said, "Take my photo. Look at me. I am happy. I am well. And I will come back for another operation." What a blessing to see such confidence in her!
All the women who suffer the indignity of obstetric fistula, even those who have been cured, still have years of trauma to process. In early 2024 we interviewed women who had been cured of their obstetric fistula years earlier, but one woman said, "Down below, I'm cured. But in my heart, I'm not well. I don't sleep well, I feel rage, I don't know what to do. There's an ache in my chest." Our hope is that our work helps women to be healed holistically. To help cure the emotional pain and suffering that no surgery can repair.
Our Trauma program aims to help all the women who pass through the fistula repair surgery to also begin the long and hard road of spiritual and emotional healing. This begins in recovery, and our team does their best to give follow up and further support after patients have returned home. Follow up is essential. For their physical and emotional wellbeing. Patients recovering from fistula repair surgery cannot carry heavy loads for several months. This is a difficult burden to carry when women are mostly responsible for carting water! If families are not supportive, the woman can easily damage the repair work and re-open her fistula. Home visits also reinforce the bond between our team and our patients (our survivors, our "warriors", as we call them), and give the women a chance to continue their journey of emotional healing.
Below we share a photo of our Trauma and Reintegration Coordinator (Elisa) and team member (Vidal) visiting a patient from the May campaign.
留言