27 SEPTEMBER 2008

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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IT'S OFFICIAL, CELESTINE SUMBA IS NO LONGER A WOMAN DEFINED BY A MASSIVE TUMOR GROWING FROM HER MOUTH.
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Today has really been amazing and it's unbelievable how hard work has paid off. As scheduled, I called Dr. Chinga at 5pm today but the network connection was poor so all I could make out was that it had gone well. Later on in the evening I was able to contact him again and get the full story. He explained that he was able to remove the ENTIRE tumor with ZERO complications. Incredible. It was originating from inside of her mouth and had pushed her front teeth outward with it, so unfortunately they were lost. But, she still has her back teeth for chewing and will be fitted with prosthetic teeth after her mouth has completely healed. Is this really happening? It sounds so surreal. She's going to end up with a better smile than all of us who have had braces in the end!
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Amazingly, even her lips were saved and other than the fact that they are a little sunken as she has no front teeth to support them, Dr. Chindia assures me that you would never know she ever had this massive growth on her face. Tomorrow he will be checking on her and by Monday he will be telling me when she can leave the hospital which will likely be as soon as Wednesday.
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The next question I asked was when we would have the results of what had caused the tumors growth in the first place. EVEN BETTER NEWS. It was a benign tumor, and Dr. Chindia's exact words were "I've seen many tumors, and this one does not worry me at all". She's going to live a normal, healthy life... without the negative social stigma's that were placed on her before. I told the project manager Maurice all about the wonderful news, and he could not believe his ears. He said that there will be one heck of a party when I return next month, and the people in the village are going to go crazy when Celestine makes it back home. I wish I could be there for the grand entrance!
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This is all truly unbelievable. I was prepared to fight till the death of me to get her passport and Liberian visa secured - and never ever expected that just sending her for the simple biopsy would be the end of it after all. The best part is that I'm going to be back in Kenya in just two weeks and will be able to see it all for myself - and you can bet that there will be a ton of pictures to support it in all it's incredibleness!
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Now, for that house...