Cusco, Peru Surgical Trip

Maureen Cox: Andres and Papa Before Interplast

  Andres and Papa Before Interplast 
  Originally uploaded by interplast.

I’m Maureen Cox, one of the operating room nurses on this trip. I am so excited to be a part of this Interplast team to Cusco. Even though there is such variety in the ages of our team members, we are all bonding so well and have really come to appreciate one another.

Maureen: Andres and Papa (and Julito) After Interplast

  Andres and Papa (and Julito) After Interplast 
  Originally uploaded by interplast.

I’ve been so impressed by the love and concern of the fathers of our patients. They often travel alone for long distances to seek out Interplast’s help. It is so heartwarming how carefully they entrust their children to us. At first, I was surprised to see what we are used to labeling as “maternal” love coming from the fathers – they show such open affection for their children. I remember a patient from last week, Andres, who received surgery for his cleft lip. His father was so sweet in the recovery room, carefully stroking Andres’s face with tears in his eyes.  In this picture, Andres' father and Julito the Dragon try to cheer him up.

Maureen: Jose Luis

  Jose Luis 
  Originally uploaded by interplast.

Today, another father brought his four year old son, Jose Luis, to see Interplast. Jose Luis needed surgery to repair his cleft palate, and had received surgery from Interplast for his cleft lip in the past. At four years old, it is crucial that Jose Luis’s palate is repaired soon so that he can learn to speak normally. Father and son had traveled almost two days from the district of Quillabamba to Cusco. Jose Luis was such a sweet boy today, and I was just so happy that we could accommodate them because of the long distance they had traveled.