Quy Nhon, Vietnam 2009

Star Sticker!

Originally uploaded by interplast

Quy Nhon, Vietnam-Fran Cunniffe, Interplast medical education and outreach coordinator.

Today we were supposed to operate on a brother and sister, both with polydactyly (extra fingers). When we did our morning rounds, we discovered that only Manh, the 3-year-old boy, had shown up with his parents. His older sister could not bear the thought of missing even a day of school, and her parents decided to put off the surgery. Manh was excited for his surgery though, especially after our translator Emma told him she would give him star stickers after his surgery. We successfully removed his extra thumb, and the very first thing he said when he woke up from anesthesia was "star sticker!" Here he is proudly displaying his stickers.

Alice

Originally uploaded by interplast

Quy Nhon, Vietnam-Fran Cunniffe, Interplast medical education and outreach coordinator.

Alice, our fabulous pediatrician, unfortunately broke her ankle over the weekend. Our chief surgeon Ben sprung into action and performed a reduction on the spot, and made a temporary splint with his backpack. He was able to put a cast on her foot as soon as we got back to the hotel on Saturday, and the hotel lent us a wheelchair so she can still get around. All this has not stopped her from taking care of our patients though!

Transforming boxes into an operating room

Quy Nhon, Vietnam- Karina Rando, Interplast volunteer anesthesiologist.

On every trip Interplast provides the necessary equipment and supplies to offer excellent quality service to its patients. All the equipment and supplies are transported by plane from San Francisco in nearly 30 big boxes.  After the team arrived in Saigon, the boxes were taken to Quy Nhon by truck.

The local Hospital in Quy Nhon generously let us use some of their operating rooms.  Even though we were provided with the two operating tables, oxygen and lights, most of the equipment was transported (as on every trip) in the boxes.

After many hour s of hard work, the empty operating room was transformed into a safe and fully functional operating room where we performed all our surgeries.  All the equipment and supplies we needed to provide high quality anesthesia and surgeries were available.  

At the end of these two weeks all our equipment was carefully packed back into the boxes. Every team member helps in this process and watches after our precious boxes until each one is safe back to San Francisco, so that they are available for the next trip!

Coloring Stress Away

Originally uploaded by interplast

Quy Nhon, Vietnam-Fran Cunniffe, Interplast medical education and outreach coordinator.

Many of the children we operate on are very nervous before surgery. Imagine how they feel - they are taken away from their parents by people they do not know, and are not sure what to expect. Ronald McDonald House Charities helps us not only by supporting many of our programs, but also by providing us with coloring books and crayons to send on trips. The kids love to draw, and it definitely calms them before surgery. Karina, one of our anesthesiologists, (shown above) treats every child like her own. The kids love her!

Nga’s Center

Quy Nhon, Vietnam-Mark Friedlander, Interplast volunteer chief anesthesiologist.

The city of Quy Nhon is fortunate to have as one of its citizens a woman by the name of Nga. Nga, without any funding or support, started a centre for disabled children in Quy Nhon. Over many years she has developed a centre for vocational skills training where deaf, mute, blind and other disabled children learn to function and earn a living in ways that would otherwise be an impossibility for them in Vietnam.

Nga has also assisted and referred patients to Interplast trips. The Interplast team visited the centre where we learned about its history, were entertained by the musical and dancing skills of deaf, mute and blind children. We purchased garments, hats and bags skillfully made by Nga’s centre. Nga also arranged the custom production of OR scrubs embroidered with the Interplast logo, a popular item for the team.

Assisting the centre is an excellent way of promoting Interplast in the local community, and at the same time assisting these children in a small yet impactful way.

One Brave Little Girl

One Brave Little Girl
Originally uploaded by interplast

Quy Nhon, Vietnam-Fran Cunniffe, Interplast medical education and outreach coordinator.

Today we had a lot of cleft palate cases on the schedule. Consequently, the PACU nurses definitely got more than their fair share of crying children. However, this little girl impressed everyone by not crying or fussing after her palate surgery. She was so calm and brave. When she woke up in the PACU bed, she just gave everyone a little bow. Our translator explained that in her culture, that was a thank you to us. It was so touching and sweet, she had a lot of us in tears.

Clinic Day

Originally uploaded by interplast

Quy Nhon, Vietnam-Fran Cunniffe, Interplast medical education and outreach coordinator.

The team woke up at 3:30am on clinic day, to take an early morning flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Quy Nhon. We started clinic around 9:30am, and evaluated 106 patients throughout the day. Our hosts at Binh Dinh General Hospital were very organized and helpful, and it made the day go very smoothly. We saw so many hopeful and excited faces, and it was an instant reminder to me why I love working at Interplast. The father in this picture was so elated that his son was accepted for cleft palate surgery that he could not stop grinning. We also saw two sets of siblings, and scheduled all of them for surgery. I will post more about them on their surgery days. It was a long but productive day, and the team is looking forward to getting some rest before our first surgery day tomorrow.