Martin: A Difficult Task

  Boy With Rare Bone Cancer 
  Originally uploaded by interplast.

Mary (the pediatrician) and I were assigned the task of triaging the patients waiting in the lobby and out the door into the parking lot. Our job was to select patients who we thought our team could make a major difference or change in their lives. We went one by one and interviewed and screened these people, and we had the difficult task of turning many of the prospective patients away. Even though they could benefit from hand surgery, we simply did not have the time to accommodate them. The process was heart breaking.