SMILE Network story from Puebla

OK, here goes:

Emma Keiski, Becca Mattson and I are in Puebla, Mexico with the SMILE NETWORK, assisting a strong medical team as they repair cleft palates and harelips on about 50 children.  There is a heavy incidence of this condition in the Puebla area, and several cases are hereditary.  Our team includes two plastic surgeons from Montana, one anesthesiologist, two anesthetists, one general nurse, two medical records keepers (all from MN), one local doctor, and a group of volunteer students from the Universidad del Valle de Mexico.  A wonderful group of people.  As of this writing (only one day in), Emma has been weighing and measuring the children for the local doctor taking their medical histories, and Becca has been writing the biographies of the children, all of which will help in determining exactly which children are operated on during this trip (the surgeries begin Monday).  The girls started the day giving out the order numbers to the children, so they could be called up in a designated order.  I'm doing some interpretation for the doctors and nurses.

We learned some interesting things yesterday.  The cleft palate/harelip conditions are often heredity, which is observed by seeing so many of the parents with repaired lips.  Also, there is a heavy concentration of the conditions here in the Puebla area, which some on the team are talking about researching.  We also learned that in really tiny infants (we have seen three 1-month-olds), the lip can be repaired but it is not advisable to do the palate surgery, as the tissues are too tender; they prefer to wait some months until the tissues are stronger.  So if a tiny one ONLY needs the harelip repair he is a candidate for surgery, but if the palate is involved he is deferred until later.

Some of these families travel many hours or days to get here.  And occasionally someone wanders into the clinic with an issue that we can't help.  One lady asked me for help with her young son who had a very large abdominal tumor.  She had she had been coming to the hospital many times, but no one seemed willing to help her.  I was able to put her in contact with the local doctor who is doing all of our medical histories.  Hopefully something good can come for this youngster.

We are working in a children's hospital (Puebla Children's I suppose you could call it), and the place can be cold.  There is a sign in the main lobby (I photographed it) asking for donations of blankets, sweaters, socks, jackets, etc. for the parents waiting for so many hours in the lobby while their children are in intensive care or therapy.

More later.  Have a good weekend, everyone.  Yes, I'll print some pix for the front gallery when I get back.

Stephanie Wegner