Lovely Lovelace

This past weekend Jane and I traveled a little over two hours to Ho, Ghana to visit Lovelace and her family. She lives in a small home with her father Michael, Esther her mother and younger brother Bright. Lovelace is five. She was a patient on the ship for six weeks or so. She has two tumors that cannot go unnoticed. One growing out of the right side of her mouth and the other out of the top of her head. It's impossible not to notice them. It's impossible not to notice how her bottom teeth are folding back on themselves, pushing her tongue to the left side of her mouth and how her top teeth are biting into the tumor. Impossible not to notice the large bandage on top of her head from where the tumor popped open, leaving a large gaping hole. Impossible not to notice her thin frame, arms and legs thin as sticks. How she walks, almost like an old woman who has had a lifetime to build her body up to the aches and pains in her hips.

I remember the day she was admitted to A-ward. Someone had mentioned there was a little girl coming in with a large tumor. I didn't imagine there was more than one tumor. The one in her mouth has been growing about three years now. The one on her head, only a year. Yes. I said only a year. This fast growing tumor is taking over. A scan was done and showed there is no bone where the tumor is growing. It has eaten it away.

Lovelace and her father came to the ship to have a biopsy done to see if there was anything any surgeons on the ship could do for her. The biopsy was taken after treating her for malaria, and although the lab had what they needed from the biopsy, the tissue had to be sent to another lab to be processed. This is not uncommon. Tissues are frequently sent overseas to labs in the states or Europe. They waited on the ship for the results. They waited and waited and waited. The results were taking weeks to get back to the ship so they decided the best option was to go home until the results came back. If they needed to, they could easily be back to the ship in a day. The results came back finally and the tumors are not something that can be treated here on the ship. She has been to numerous doctors to seek help. Lovelace and her father traveled to the states a year ago in December to seek treatment there, but she was too sick at the time. Her father showed us pictures of her standing in the snow in Baltimore. Quite the contrast of sitting in her home and thinking of her standing in the snow. If you ask her if she likes the snow, she answers with a quick NO!

We had wanted to take their whole family to Wli Falls, the tallest waterfall in West Africa on Sunday. We met them at the tro-tro station but only Michael, her father, was there. She wasn't feeling up to the two hour trip. The three of us went but I couldn't help but think of Lovelace the whole day, wondering how she was doing. After the trip to the falls we went back to their home and Esther made us banku and fish. Esther is a wonderful cook. She had made us fufu with a sauce with chicken the day before. Amazing dishes! To watch Lovelace eat is amazing. This girl has adapted to having over half her mouth filled with an invader. When she closes her mouth, her teeth don't touch. She shoves her food into the corner of her mouth and use her tongue to grind any meat. It takes awhile, but she manages.

I think of her daily and wonder how she is. To look at her now, since she has left the ship, two more growths have started on her face. Once above her right eye and another by her left ear. The life of this beautiful girl is in the hands of God. Please pray for her. Pray for her daily that she will be without pain and that God will do a miracle.