They were three little girls in a row for their entire hospital stay. All close to the same age. All burn contracture cases during our plastic surgeries.

One had a severe burn on her foot when she was a baby. The scarred tissue froze in place. Now at age 8, her small toes were on the top of her foot stretching the short length of scarred skin. It didn’t stop her from dancing and playing, but as she grew it would become even more of an issue.

Our other two girls had burn contractures like the one I’ve shown in previous posts. Their arms, backs, and elbows were frozen in place or to one another. They were not able to fully bend or extend their arms. They couldn’t lift their hands  above their heads.

While on the ward, the girls went through the tough first days after surgery together. We played with balloons and bubbles and coloring pages together. They watched Disney songs in French together. They moved to our step-down ward together. Almost always you could find them laughing (and sometimes arguing) together.

They were all discharged at about the same time and I was so excited to visit them at the HOPE Center. Most of the patients in our outpatient center at the time were former patients. I was in heaven.

But these girls snuggled up next to me… and started looking very intently at my arms. Their sudden fascination felt sort of strange. We spent countless hours together on the wards. But after weeks of me taking their vital signs, feeding them mana, and checking their dressings… the tables had turned. They were the examiners now.

They traced my veins from my hand up my forearm. They pressed my palm and watched my skin turn white. They squeezed my hand and gaped as my fingers turned red. One rubbed my freckle and looked at me concerned, “Ça fai mal?” (Does it hurt you?)

I was amazed at their observational acuity. I wondered if any of them would one day become a nurse or doctor… how many of our kids would find a passion for medicine in our hospital corridors? I hope at least a few… and maybe some would be  sailors or engineers too. There is plenty of good work to do.