My Tho, Vietnam - Tina Cerruti, PACU nurse: Repairing a cleft lip has such an immediate and lasting impact on a child’s life. Here in Vietnam, a child born with such a deformity is often times shunned by their community and destined to a life of shame and hardship.
My Tho, Vietnam - Devon Watts, Interplast staff: Here is one of our patients, a little girl with ptosis, using Ronald McDonald crayons and coloring sheets to pass the time while she waits for her surgery. Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is one of Interplast’s greatest financial supporters, having given more than $3 million in grants over the years. Thank you, RMHC! Our work would not be possible without this support.
My Tho, Vietnam - Devon Watts, Interplast staff: In this picture, I am working with one of our team’s translator / coordinators, Lan, to enter patient data into our handheld Palm Zire computer. Palm, Inc. donated these devices to Interplast to use as part of our patient care improvement project. The Palms make it possible for us to track all of our cases as we work and then download the information into a database upon return from each trip. Our sincerest thanks go out to Palm!
My Tho, Vietnam - Devon Watts, Interplast staff: This little boy had his bilateral cleft lip repaired by the Interplast team in My Tho last year. You can see how well it has healed and how great he looks. He came in this year for his cleft palate repair, which was a complete success. It’s always so rewarding when we can finish the care we started and make a child completely functional.
Cusco, Peru - Sheila Wolfson, coordinator / translator: The nearest hospital where he could be treated was over two hours away. In 2006, David and his father came to Hospital Regional to have the Interplast team release some of his burn contractures so he would have more movement in his head. This year, he was back again, looking much better than he had in the posts on the blog from the year before. In the photo he is shown trying to lift his arms above his head. As you can see, he still has a way to go. Hopefully, David will gain more and more flexibility after each skin graft.
Cusco, Peru - Sheila Wolfson, coordinator / translator: In David’s case, the breakfast room was quite busy and no one saw him when the boiling pot of water fell on him and then somehow he managed to fall in the fire. Not only was he badly burned from the water, he was also burned on his face, chest and arms by the fire.
