This was the best thing I did last week. I spent about an hour in our fistula room, talking with the patients there. We have six beds for women who have been diagnosed with having a fistula (a hole between either the rectum and vagina or between the bladder and vagina). This condition can occur after severe childbirth when adequate medical care is not available. The women who have a fistula can experience a lot of social isolation and it will significantly reduce the quality of their life. It was in our fistula room that I met Gulsum. She is 25 years old and lives in a rural village about eight hours outside of Kabul.
After having her second child, she noticed that she was leaking urine. Over the next four months her husband took her to see several village doctors. One of the doctors recommended a hysterectomy and her husband approved (typically a husband or a woman’s father will give consent for surgery). Gulsum had the surgery but the problem didn’t go away. She thought she was "finished for life."
Gulsum was taken to see one more doctor. This village doctor had recently returned from spending one month training at my hospital. He saw Gulsum and explained to her about a surgery that we offer that will fix her problem. She was so excited but told him she didn’t know how she would be able to afford the surgery. Then the doctor explained that our program would cover the cost of the surgery and the cost of her transportation back and forth to the hospital.
She is recovering, the surgery seems to be a success and she should be going home soon. While her and I spoke, she was beaming. Her excitement was contagious as she explained that she was now “dry” and how "this hospital gave me life again." It's stories like this that remind me why I am here.
