Dr. Nel warned that there will be scar tissue from the grafting which
might be corrected with reconstructive surgery and pressure garments, six
months to a year down the line. He also said that the last person that had
Kechi's kind of burns needed more than seventeen surgeries! This seemed so much to me at the time. Little did
I know that Kechi was going to have almost fifty surgeries before we left South
Africa!
Also, Kechi's face would likely need debridement
and require grafting. At this point, I was praying that her face would be
spared.
I was very grateful that Dr. Nel took the time to
explain in detail what was going on with Kechi. He did not make any promises,
indeed he stressed that Kechi was a very, very sick girl and that they were all
praying that she pulled through.
After my session with him, I sought out Dr. Plani,
the trauma surgeon. In his gruff, but kind manner, he assured me that Kechi was
doing well so far, and in response to my questions, said that she would be on
the respirator and sedated for a while.
I then retired to the visiting room to wait for
visiting time and also used the opportunity to ruminate over the reports I had
got from the doctors. Then I began to pray. It was beginning to dawn on me that
this was not going to be a short hospital stay...
To Be Continued...
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