The mission was nearing its end; today was my last day of operating. For me, it was a full day of working hard to piece together both revisions and a "fresh" cleft lip.This gentleman was 20 years old, and he just wanted whatever could be done to make his lip look a little better. His initial bilateral cleft lip repair was done some time ago and looked fairly good - just a few minor adjustments needed.
He seemed pleased by the results - realignment of his upper lip border, and a tiny little flap of tissue tucked to give him a little more fullness where a notch had existed before.
This six year old girl had also had a bilateral cleft lip repair done previously. She had extremely wide "train-track" scars, and as you might be able to tell in the photo above, she had some bulkiness on either side of her upper lip.The orbicularis is a muscle that circles the lip and allows us to do things like pucker and whistle. In children with cleft lips, that muscle is discontinuous and misaligned. If at surgery, the muscle edges aren't approximated well, things can look a bit off.
After surgery. Her wide scars have been excised, and the muscle aligned properly.
My last patient of the mission was perhaps the most remarkable of the trip. You can see the little 7 year old guy in the photo above (courtesy of my new friend, William Zhao), sandwiched merrily between his parents. In Tibet.This incredible story (and the photos shared above and below) was told to me by William, whose kindness and dedication will become evident shortly.
Word of the Chinese Agape mission in Changde had somehow made it to this little boy's family. With a lot of help and planning (and William, who lives in an entirely different city in China far from Tibet, was instrumental as guide, translator, and friend), the little boy and his father made the fourteen day trek - mostly on foot, but also via donkey, bus, and train - from their village in the mountains of Tibet to our hospital in Changde.
The brave little fellow, before surgery. I was only allowed to repair his bilateral cleft lip; despite the team's pleas, the hospital would not allow us to perform the repair of his palate as well.
Resting the next morning after surgery. When he was shown pictures after the repair, it took him a long while before he seemed to recognize himself.
With William and the patient's father at his bedside. His father was so happy. And I'm happy to report that everyone made the long journey home safely from the hospital.
Another day ends with dinner. This night, our graceful translator, Anita, organized an outing to a more "homestyle" restaurant that her family has enjoyed frequenting.
Just a few of the many dishes we enjoyed. Left: a bowl of cold fermented rice soup. Refreshing with effervescent rice grains, this dessert-like soup was about two steps away from becoming shochu. Right: flavorful fish soup. The girls were so sweet and insisted on finding the big chunks of meat to serve us.
