With a Smile

        M has been at Karanda for about 3 weeks now.  She is 26 years old and came to our outpatient clinic after delivering a baby boy at a small local clinic.  After delivery she had a postpartum hemorrhage with subsequent hemoglobin of 3.8 (normal 12-15 for women) and was transfused 2 units of blood.  When she arrived, all of the fingers on her left hand were black from dry gangrene.  As we waited for the necrotic tissue to demarcate in hope of saving as much of her hand as possible, her new son died unexpectedly.  Despite the pain of losing her newborn infant and watching more and more of her left hand turn black, M always had a smile on her face (except when being photographed because that is serious).

M

Her gangrenous hand before surgery

        Even after the painful process of debriding all the dead skin and subsequent amputation of most of her left hand, her smile remained.  She is a shining example of being joyful in all circumstances and I love seeing her inspiring spirit each day.

We saved as much of her left hand as possible

"Everyone smiles in the same language."

      Thank goodness, especially for people like myself who lack a natural ability to easily learn new languages!