Joseph

Anxious to see how Joseph had done the previous day, I had no problems being at the bus station at seven the next morning. Like a worried mother, I couldn’t sleep the night before and just wanted to know that he was okay. Juliet, Caroline and I, along with Mama Lydia, got onto the bus and went to see our baby. We met Eamon in Moshi, grabbed something quick to eat, and went in to see him.

Juliet had gotten to the hospital before us, and as I walked into the room all I could see was a large lump on the bed where Joseph was supposed to be. Juliet looked at me with her beautiful brown eyes and asked me to give her my hand. My heart has never beaten so fast. I had no idea what she was going to tell me.

Much to my relief, she said, “our baby is okay, Joseph is fine”. The lump was a cage that they had placed over the majority of his body so the blankets wouldn’t touch the wounds. He was very sedated, but he was still my baby and he was still okay.

The surgery had taken 2.5 hours, but was successful. They had cut into his lower abdomen and found that only the head of his penis had been cut off; the rest had simply retracted into his abdomen. They were able to bring it outside and took a piece of skin from his thigh to create a new head. The doctors said they weren’t sure the penis would function at 100%, but he would still have sensations there and he should go through a normal puberty. Success! The only downside was that Joseph would have to stay at KCMC for at least 14 more days to recover as he still experienced great amounts of pain while he urinated.

Happy about our brilliant day, the trip home didn’t seem nearly as long. Even though I had to leave my baby in Moshi, I knew he was going to be okay.