Today is the first day of surgery and surveying for Kelly & Minh. Most of the surgical team woke up at 6am to get started on the operations. The girls revised their survey and arrived later at noon. I sat in and listened to some of their surveying and then spent the rest of the day roaming around the MMC hospital. There were enclaves of families outside under a tent that were walk-ins for screening, children awaiting surgery, vital sign screening room, a few OR tables, a post-op section, child life area. I took on the role of sticker lady slash photographer and thoroughly enjoyed my job. I roamed around the different rooms and asked kids if they wanted one my silly rainbow stickers and occasionally took pictures of the cutest kids. It was so amazing seeing one little girl that I had played with yesterday post-op. Her cleft lip was fixed and her mother was glowing today. We are also making great friends with the translators that are our age. They are teaching us Assamese and joking around all day. The translators are all college students that volunteer their time 12 hours at a time to help Operation Smile.
It’s so interesting listening in on the surveys and learning about what people believe the etiology of cleft lips and palates are…either from a past sin, lunar eclipse or reason, or another non-medical cause. The families are also resilient. It is not uncommon to hear of families selling possessions or raising a large sum of money just to be able to transport their children with clefts to Operation Smile. Then after arriving to the hospital, they patiently sit in plastic chairs for hours waiting to be screened and possibly turned away. If the families are housed overnight at the hospital, the entire family shares one hospital bed that is within 2 feet of another family’s bed. In the end, after surgery, you see the most rewarding responses. Some of the kids are in disbelief as they look at themselves in the mirror while mothers are crying happy tears at the sight of their kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment