Yeama

Meet Yeama. Yeama says she is 60, but I am willing to bet she is a little more than that. She no longer is a patient here but she always made me laugh. She spoke Mende so a few nurses could communicate with her. When she arrived here it looked as though she had scoliosis. She was very very hunched over. As time went on and Yeama spent more time here she stood straighter. She finally told us that she had her fistula for so long that she became hunched in a way to protect herself from humiliation. She left last week not yet completely healed. She says she will come back in three months and I hope she does. On rounds in the mornings you could tell what mood she was in by the glare in her eyes or the pursing of her lips. The day her catheter came out, even though we had explained what was going to happen, about five minutes after it came out you could see the fear in her eyes as she looked around for this tube and bag which had become her constant companion for twenty-one days. She had forgotten we had removed it after she had done such a great job taking care of it.