On call for emergencies one evening, I cared for a elderly man with acute bleeding into his bladder. This caused obstruction of urine outflow, a huge bladder, and extreme pain. Simply placing a Foley catheter thru the penis or directly through the abdominal into the bladder was no solution, since the clots obstructed any hope […]
Rapid-fire rifle shots grew closer, echoing from each direction. The cadence of explosions increased, accompanied by shouting just outside in the streets. Inside Dr. Steve Foster, keynote speaker at the 2012 INMED Exploring Medical Missions Conference, and his colleague Darrel Hockersmith barred the metal door and grappled in the darkness for protection from flying
JOPLIN, MO — The warning “Execute Condition Gray!” blared through the halls of St. John’s Regional Medical Center. Personnel per protocol began rolling patients’ beds into the hallways. However, this was no drill. Near the ER’s glass doors Kevin Kikta, an emergency physician on duty, looked up to see a stunned security guard tearing
“You cast a spell on my babies, Doctor. Surely my babies are going to die! Your envious, evil eye, it discloses the wickedness of your heart!” She pulled her twins tight against her chest. “You are an agent of the Devil,” she spewed. I was stunned at the young Hispanic mother. We were
One very early morning I heard a quite thump at the door. Opening it, I gazed out on to the little courtyard of my home in Huambo, Angola. Edwardo, a young pastor, stood clutching his four-year old son. The child was gasping and drooling, his little black body darker from cyanosis – insufficient oxygen.
Since returning from Angola, I’ve been caring for patients at Research Medical Center, here in Kansas City. Very often, they present with fever. Here, the causes I first think of are influenza, bronchitis, and the common cold. But in Angola, I’d first be concerned about malaria, typhoid and pneumonia. Knowing what’s common in a given community
This Christmas Day I am thinking of INMED’s faculty living and serving in some of the world’s most marginal communities: Tim Myrick (Middle East), Earl Hewett (Ghana), Steve Foster (Angola), Dennis Palmer (Cameroon), Paul Gray (Ethiopia), Jean Young (Ghana), Charlie Besley (Kenya), Victor Fredlund (South Africa), Bob Matthews (Tanzania), Rory Wilson (Uganda), John Spurrier (Zambia),
This morning I’m listening to NPR describe the work of CURE Hospitals. They are primarily providing orthopedic care to physically disabled children in the poorest nations. I was just about moved to tears as I reflected on the fact that INMED students are studying at one of the CURE hospitals. About the same moment, was
When I first moved to the city of Huambo in central Angola I myself developed a severe case of dysentery, as did my family. Solution? I had a well dug in my front yard – pictured here with the concert cap over the opening. None of us every became similarly ill again. Several readers have written
Last night, October 29, 2009, I was honored on behalf of INMED to receive the World Citizen of the Year award from Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser and the International Relationship Council. This is a remarkable acknowledgement of the devotion of hundreds of INMED partners serving people on the very margins of society in Papua New