We had a pretty grueling journey here to Jalandhar. After about 37 hours of airplanes, airports, delays, reroutings, customs officials and bus rides, we arrived late on Sunday night.
The next day we held clinic, where we screened and scheduled patients for surgery. About 50 or 60 patients came on Monday, and another 40 or so on Tuesday. We accepted about half of the patients.
Unlike most Interplast trips, there are very few patients here with primary cleft lips. The operation to repair these types of clefts are easier and shorter than burn reconstructions. The patients we scheduled need advanced surgery that will take a long time. So while we may not operate on as many patients as we would on a normal Interplast surgical trip, we will certainly be busy here in Jalandhar.
In the photo, local anesthesiologist Pankaj Poonj teams up with Interplast team leader/anesthesiologist Richard Gillerman and pediatrician David Gillerman to evaluate Nisha.
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