Dai Yu

Dai Yu
Originally uploaded by interplast.

One of the most interesting cases that we came across in clinic last week was Dai Yu. As Janet explained to me at clinic, Dai Yu was abandoned by her parents on the steps of an orphanage when she was around two-years-old. Dai Yu had a terrible burn, and since we don't know her parents, we don't know how it happened. She had some operations done, but needed quite a bit more work. As much as we would like to give her a nose, fix some of the skin grafts, and complete the rest of her facial reconstruction, due to equipment, time and expertise limitations, we can only fix her left eye socket so it will no longer hang limp (potentially causing blindness) and do some revision work around her lips.
Dai Yu is really a sweet girl. She did everything that was asked of her quietly and politely, obliging the doctors with many "aaaaaahhhhhs" and answers to their questions. It is always a challenge because the children think that we can fix anything and everything, and sometimes it is just not so simple. I hope that she is not upset that we can't repair her nose, we just simply do not have the expertise or equipment here to handle that complex a procedure.