Medical Mission -Zimbabwe: First Day of Surgeries

Mission trip to Zimbabwe

I have been invited to be a member of a medical team sponsored by Operation of Hope. This is a family run foundation started by a plastic surgeon from Longview, WA. I depart from Portland, OR Oct 6, 2010. The first leg of my journey takes me to NY. My friends Philip and Periuza Wegner will meet me and send me onto Johannesburg, South Africa. A 15 + hour flight UGH...compression hose here I come. I have a short layover then a final flight to Harare.
Once in Harare we will be setting up at Harare Central a large government hospital. We hope to complete 70 cleft lip and palate surgeries over a 2-week span. Children will travel from all over Zimbabwe to have these surgeries performed for free by an American medical team. Apparently there are no plastic surgeons trained to perform these surgeries in Zimbabwe
My last week in Zimbabwe will be spent 60 miles away in Makumbi a Jesuit run orphanage and school. I get to do my favorite thing hug babies and children! My travels home bound take me to Ethiopia, Amsterdam, and then finally back in the Pacific N.W.

Monday, October 11, 2010

First Day of Surgeries

We slogged our way thru 6 cleft lip surgeries today. Our first case start time was 9:30 vs 7:30. All and all things went well. The highlight was the last case. A HUGE cleft lip deformity on a 12 yr old boy. His mom came into recovery and just fell into m arms crying... we didn't want her to cry alone so we all joined in. So this is why we come.