VVF

I had a very challenging experience last week as, unbeknowns to me, a new group of VVF ladies arrived, a week in advance of their operations. As I walked down the corridor to the hospital wards, I was struck by a phenomenol smell, one I had never smelt before. It took my breath away. A little later I had the same thought again as I was walking down the corridor. I mentioned it to someone, and she said, 'the new VVF ladies have arrived'. The bottom seemed to fall out of my stomach. I felt sick. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. It was then that I had a new appreciation for what the ladies experience every day. The disgust of others, their judgement and the reason that they are belittled in their society. Believe me, at that moment I felt hideous. It took me a few days to really take stock and try and process that event, trying to use it to make sense of so much going on in my mind.
A little later that day, I went along to D ward (currently closed) where the new VVF ladies had been admitted to from another hospital, a week prior to their surgery. I went along to help with the mountain of admission paperwork. I was only there for an hour but it was a great time. I didn't notice the smell that had earlier been so intense. As I pottered around filling in papers and putting on wristbands, I chatted to the ladies. They were all curled up in their beds with their blankets tight up around their necks. Quiet, and looking a little apprehensive. Clearly they were very cold with the airconditioning! So I did a round of giving out blankets. As I did so, I asked how each lady was and their smiles grew as we talked. Some giggled nervously, others needed new pads, and others snuck off to the bathroom. The tension in the room became less and less.
A few hours later I returned to put on the televisions in the ward with the afternoon movie for them to watch. I popped my head in later and each one had rearranged their pilow and their bed so they could see the screen well. There was much giggling as they laughed at the 'muppets' (cartoons!) in the movie Madagascar.
It was such a beautiful sight to see these ladies that had felt so alone in their plight, surrounded bythose in the same situation as them. Their emotional healing begins just by meeting eachother, and it is such a privelage to be a small part of that.