Day 11 - Last Surgical Day

Five days of surgery, 10 operating rooms, and an average of 5 cases per OR. 212 changed lives and new smiles were created this week! What an amazing feat.

Today I was able to follow a family from start to finish. Little Bora, an 18 month old boy, was born with a severe cleft lip that also affected the nasal structure. His father travelled 12 hours by foot to bring him to Guwahati for screening and surgery. Bora was such a happy little guy. We were able to play together for a few minutes before it was time of surgery. When it was time to go back, we said goodbye to dad and headed back to the OR. Anesthesiologist Liz Bales of Los Angeles, CA and Dr. Dan Pyo of Morristown, NJ utilized their skillful hands to forever change Bora’s life. After 2 hours of surgery, Bora’s surgery was completed and I was able to take him to the recovery (PACU) room to work off the anesthesia. It was here that dad was reintroduced to his son. He looked at Bora and then at the name band – he couldn’t believe this was his son. The expression on his face was indescribable and priceless. He curled up on the bed with his little boy and just stared at him for his hour stay in the PACU. When I went to visit him in post-op later in the day, his father greeted me with hands in the traditional prayer form and said “Namaste” and thank you over and over. The nurse then held a mirror in front of Bora, who just continued to look in the mirror. We would catch a little smile every so often, despite his being tired from the anesthesia.

This story is only one of 211 similar stories. I am so proud to have been a member of such an impactful mission.

Our team worked together so well. Everyone put their differences aside and we successfully and safely accomplished our goal. A fresh team of anesthesiologists, nurses and surgeons arrives tomorrow as we depart. A few have stayed back to help the new team. They hope to accomplish over 250 surgeries next week. This mission was slightly different from previous missions in that the government of Assam did not provide a refuge for families during the mission. Therefore, families had to go home and then come back the night before surgery. Because of the financial abilities of several families, we experienced quite a few no-shows during our week of surgery (approximately 50 no-shows). Operation Smile was working hard to contact those families and provide them with the means to reschedule the surgery for the coming week. Therefore, we hope to see even more surgeries the 2nd week than was accomplished in the first. The overall goal is 500 successful surgeries over the 2 week period.

Tonight we have our final party to celebrate the accomplishments!

My life has been forever changed through this experience. Although I miss home and my family, if I could stay on for the 2nd week of surgery, I would do it without a second thought. To experience the impact this mission has had on the 212 families this week was humbling. Words and pictures can’t accurately describe it – it’s something you have do experience firsthand.