Cusco, Peru - Amy Laden, Interplast staff:Though I found myself under the weather and having to remain at the hotel, the rest of the team was back in the hospital before 8:00am, prepared for another full day of surgery. Here’s one very interesting case story:
Sheila Wolfson, coordinator / translator: Sitting in the rather dark and damp waiting area outside the operating room today was a family of four. Mom and Dad were on the young side and looked rather nervous as Amy and I greeted them. Grandma was carrying her 2-month-old grandson inside her native colorful shawl that was tied over her shoulder. At first we had heard that the family had come to Cusco from Bolivia, but when we spoke with them we were told they traveled many hours by bus from Ayaveri, a town near Puno, Peru to seek help for Jharol. A friend of theirs from Cusco had called them on their cell phone the day before to inform them that the Interplast team was in Cusco. Rather than bring the entire family on the long journey and possibly experience disappointment, grandma traveled ahead to confirm that Interplast was in fact in Cusco. The adorable baby had a unilateral cleft lip and tended to choke when he drank from a bottle, a typical side effect of having a cleft lip. This was the young couple’s first child and they were still questioning the reasons for the cleft lip. Much to the delight of the family and our team, we were able to schedule Jharol for surgery that very same day and he did beautifully.
One of the goals of Interplast is to train surgeons and set up outreach centers in various locations around the world so the local surgeons can treat their own people. In Puno, Peru that has become a reality and we have a wonderful outreach surgeon, Percy Rossell, who will be available to provide follow up care for this family as we obtained contact and internet access information for them.
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