Palliative Care

A couple of weeks ago now I had an opportunity to work with one of our writers on a story about Mercy Ships' palliative care team and the work they do on a daily basis. They give what support they can to patients that Mercy Ships is unable to help through surgery. We visited four cancer patients, two very young boys at St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital, one teenage boy in his home, and an older woman in her home.
The hospital was a very somber place. There were more than one occasion while we were there that we heard loud wailing in the corridors. Also, in the room with the boys we were there to see, there was an infant girl who had recently had malaria which had left her conscious, but basically unresponsive for the week since. While we were there there were two Christian men praying at her bedside. I know that scenes similar to these are not particularly uncommon in Western hospitals (although malaria is rare in the West), but I think perhaps it is the rustic nature of the place and the knowledge of the vast difference in the level of care that is available in Liberia as opposed to Western hospitals that is a bit difficult to swallow.
The homes we visited were very basic shelters with little to keep the elements out, let alone pests like mosquitoes and larger varmints. The people we found inside, however, were always a joy. I felt very privileged to be able to see what palliative care does here and to see more of what things are really like for the sick in Liberia.

John