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Sitting in his mother’s lap after his surgery, he reached for a cup and then motioned to Carla, the pediatrician, to fill it. He was very thirsty---or just working us---because for the next 15-20 minutes he would drink, turn to one of us in the PACU with his cup and want it filled. It really made us laugh.
This humorous boy give us a needed tension release after a slight scare in the morning. Earlier, a team member was pricked by a needle used on a young child. We pack HIV testing kits on every trip, just for such accidents. Following our HIV protocol, the pediatrician immediately tested the team member and patient; the results were negative. What could have been a very serious situation thankfully turned out to be benign.
Sara pulling a funny face and Stevie-Louise laughing.
Inside Las Iguanas Birmingham.
Hard to believe they are both 24, lol.
Nhan Thi’s husband devotedly cared for her before and after her operation. He told us that 30 years ago his mother had asked him not to marry her because of her cleft. However, he did not care and loved her anyway. He continued telling us that they are very happy together and have three beautiful daughters. Everyone in the ward noticed and admired his love and devotion. What a good guy and a great love story.
For the last seven years, Thuyle Hope Dinh has spent her vacations volunteering as a translator for Interplast. Originally from Vietnam, Thuyle and her siblings were as she calls it, “boat people.” Her father was imprisoned in a concentration camp and her mother needed to stay behind; therefore, like thousands of other children in the late 1970s, Thuyle, at age 13, fled by boat with some of her siblings but with no adults to help them. For days, the unaccompanied children drifted lost at sea and did not have any food or water, but fortunately another boat came along, saved them and helped them to Malaysia where she and her siblings lived for six months until coming to the United States, joining an older brother. Today, Thuyle is a nurse with Valley Medical Center in San Jose and has two children of her own. After eight years in the concentration camp, her father was released and her parents now live in Sacramento. It is amazing the hardships this beautiful woman has overcome and how she continues to give. Here Thuyle explains Bao-Ngoc’s mother how to give her child iron supplements so that she may be healthier next year.
All of the Interplast anesthesiologists hail from New England. Two are from Dartmouth, New Hampshire and one is from South Hero, Vermont. Dr. Joe Kreutz, from Vermont, is an Interplast veteran and has been on seven trips thus far. It is amazing how Interplast volunteers devote their vacation time to Interplast year after year. Joe helped out with clinic, examining patients making sure they were healthy enough to undergo anesthesia and surgery. This little one was very curious, reaching for Joe’s stethescope and glasses.
Amongst the sleeplessness and long cramped flights, it is easy to question why one would come some 6,000+ miles to travel another four hours on dusty, bumpy roads to then sleep with geckos at a foreign hotel. Tired, jet-lagged, surrounded by 80 percent humidity with the only relief being lukewarm showers coming out of a small spout in the wall, even I found myself wondering why am I doing this underneath my professional smile.
But then you wake up the next day slightly refreshed and head to the hospital. Seeing thatch dwellings with tarps for roofs and child street vendors nestled among the modern buildings on an “adventuresome” van ride in a sea of motor bikes, the mission starts to come back to you in eureka fashion.
By the time we reach the Dong Thap General Hospital in Cao Lanh, the 13 members and I are completely clear and excited about the work we have been given to do. And it is a gift. More than 150 families have come to give Interplast medical professionals their most beloved treasures, their children, for a couple of days. So desperate is their need for help that they are willing to completely trust these medical strangers in a hospital that is even foreign to the locals. And it is with humbling knowledge, this gift, that these volunteer doctors and nurses work tirelessly examining small patients.
Nine-year-old Duc has an adorable smile. He came to the Interplast team visiting Cao Lanh, Vietnam to have his eyelid repaired. Duc suffers from ptosis, a disease that causes drooping of the eyelid and can lead to loss of sight. He said that it was already getting difficult to see with that eye. When asked what he liked to do, he at first replied only schoolwork, only studying. But when pressed, we learned that he loves math and soccer and hopes to be a professional goalie someday. Now he won’t have trouble seeing those balls heading for the goal.
Nhan Thi has lived with her cleft lip for 45 years. Unlike many with clefts, Nhan Thi has not been stigmatized by her villagers; but when she heard that
Interplast would be in Cao Lanh, she decided she wanted her cleft repaired. Nhan Thi and her husband of nearly 30 years travelled for a full day by bus. In
previous years, Nhan Thi had been too poor to even consider the travel, even though the surgery would be free of charge. They both are stonecutters, very difficult manual labor with very little pay, in An Giang province.
Waterboy, as we affectionately called the toddler who kept PACU busy filling his cup, left this morning with his lip repair. With his cleft lip repaired this early in life, we certainly hope he will live a normal, happy life---and continue to keep others laughing.
While still heavily bandaged, it is hard to imagine—but within a couple of weeks, Tu Van will have the ability to close his mouth and move freely---really for the first time in his life.
Interplast could not do the work it does without its local hosts. They open the doors to their hospitals and send word village by village, neighborhood by neighborhood, so that children who suffer from a congenital deformity or disabling injury can have a second chance at life. Dr. Diep, the director of the Dong Thap General Hospital, welcomed Dr. Carter Dodge, team leader and volunteer anesthesiologist, and other members of the teams. He noted that he wanted Interplast to do more than just help the children. He wanted his surgeons and nurses to learn from the Interplast team. It is Interplast’s mission to not only provide life-changing surgeries but to partner with local doctors like Dr. Diep so that the surgeries can happen year-round and for generations to come.
I am Sara Anderson-Hsiao, communications director for Interplast, shown here with a cleft palate patient from Cao Lanh, Vietnam who loved to run and give hugs to the team. I have just left this sweet 5-year-old and the Interplast surgical team in Cao Lanh to join another tam headed to Ganzhou City, China. Interplast is deeply grateful to the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) for sponsoring the Ganzhou City trip. Interplast depends on generous donors like RMHC and volunteers who give their time to provide life-changing surgeries to children in developing countries.
Thuan Trung, 18 months old, came with his mother to have his cleft lip repaired. He is a very happy and precocious little one.
Unfortunately, not all of the children Interplast’s sees in clinic are health enough for surgery. Two-year old Bao-Tgoc has a cleft palate, but she also is anemic and cannot undergo surgery this year. As Interplast has found that anemia is a barrier to surgery for many children, it now supplies families with iron supplements, with the hope that their children will be healthier for surgery another year.
Nine-year old Duc has an adorable smile. He has come to Interplast to have his eyelid repair. Duc suffers from ptosis, a disease which effects the eyelid and can lead to lose of sight. He said that it was already getting difficult to see with that eye. When asked what he liked to do, he at first said only schoolwork, only studying. But when pressed, we learned that he loves math and soccer and hopes to be a professional goalie someday.
Taken on Bob's disposable camera.
Sara, Jacob, Sarah and Greg at the campsite at T in the Park 2007.
When burns are not treated properly at the time of injury, they cause burn contractures, which can make a child disabled and limited in movement. Tu Van cannot use one of his hands, cannot raise his arm and is not able to close his mouth. Interplast surgeons will release his scars tomorrow.
Experimental of the original which was not good as I was laughing so much at this dog running down a path with a log in its mouth and its owner shouting "Watch your Legs", and Sara trying to run away from it. Hilarious
The original. Not good as I was laughing so much at this dog running down a path with a log in its mouth and its owner shouting "Watch your Legs", and Sara trying to run away from it. Hilarious
MX: Vorbereitungsrennen in AXEL der MXGP-Stars / Preparatory race in AXEL of the MXGP stars – Pictures/Video/Results! 💪💪💪
#ArminasJasikonis #Axel #BenWatson #Bilder #Duchtmasers2020 #DutchinternationalMX2020 #Ergebnisse #GasGas #GautierPaulin #GlennColdenhoff #HenriJacobi #JagoGeerts #JedBeaton #JeffreyHerlings #JeremySeewer #LiamEverts #pictures #Results #RomainFebvre #SaraAnderson #ThomasKjerOlsen offroadcracks.com/mx-vorbereitungsrennen-in-axel-der-mxgp...
MX: Dutch Masters Arnhem 2020 - Ergebnisse / Results + Bilder / pictures + VIDEOs! 💪👍👍
#ArminasJasikonis #Arnhem #BenWatson #Bilder #Duchtmasers2020 #DutchinternationalMX2020 #Ergebnisse #GasGas #GautierPaulin #GlennColdenhoff #HenriJacobi #JagoGeerts #JedBeaton #LiamEverts #pictures #Results #RomainFebvre #SaraAnderson #ThomasKjerOlsen offroadcracks.com/mx-dutch-masters-arnhem-2020-ergebnisse...