My Life as an African Gypsy

Some days it seems like too much...

The lady whose tumor has taken over her neck and cheek, perhaps worse than I've ever seen. Her skin looks ready to burst, tight, shiny and red. There is no 'comfortable' for her. She cannot talk or eat. Because she cannot eat, she is starving. She is like a skeleton with a thin layer of skin and remnant of deflated breasts.

There is the lady whose legs are so swollen, I don't believe she can walk. She wants to sit, but her body doesn't have the strength, so she shakes until she falls over... and then sits up again. Her breathing is labored, as she comes in and out of sleeping, without much awareness. There is blood on the sheets, but I'm not sure from where. Her husband died two days ago, but no one has told her. They want to wait until she gets home, if she ever does.

Then there is the lady whose breast is now an open gaping wound, swollen and leaking, causing constant pain. No one in the hospital speaks her first language so she tries to communicate in Portuguese, leaving her quite confused and alone.

Moving to the men...

Marcelino, who is only 13, seems to have taken a turn for the worse. He moaned from stomach pains, and his tumor on his eye seems like it grew over the weekend. This was supposed to be his final treatment. His usual sweet face was so swollen.

And then there was the albino man who couldn't easily talk, but began crying loudly because of his pain. His wails could be heard down the halls.


That is only the worst of today. Like I said, some days seem like too much.

Lord come quickly.