62: OP#8/Malawi: day 12

Postmenopausal bleeding can be a sign of uterine cancer or a precancer condition called hyperplasia.  At 71, the concern increases, so a hysterectomy was planned and accomplished.  In the U.S. a pathologist would perform a microscopic examination of the uterus and any lymph nodes that we might have removed (cancer cells found in the lymph nodes would prompt chemotherapy).  But pathology (and for that matter chemotherapy) is not available, so we'll just hope either that there was no cancer or that any cancer present had not extended beyond the uterus, making the hysterectomy definitive therapy.

A 31-year old in her first pregnancy underwent a cesarean delivery for severe preeclampsia, a pregnancy condition that probably has it roots in the very beginning of pregnancy when the placenta fails to adequately penetrate the uterine lining.  Found worldwide, the only cure is delivery.

And then a 30-yr old who had a cesarean delivery, with neonatal demise and then a serious wound infection.  For the next several days, I will removing the packing, clean the wound and repack.  She's on the open postpartum ward with healthy newborns all around her.