I was able to observe multiple surgeries up
close and personal the other day. I am still in shock at what wonderful work
they do and what amazing miracles are done in those rooms. They don't just
repair their physical brokenness, and remove disfigurements. In doing these
surgeries, they lift spirits and help in repairing hearts.
I met in the OR office with my scrubs on
and was taken to my first room. I went to an OR where Dr. Gary was operating on
a 6 year old boy who had a cleft pallet. I've never actually seen a cleft
pallet in person before coming here, because this is something that's fixed
very quickly in the states. Dr. Gary explained to me what he was doing, let me
stand right next to him and see what he was working on and kindly explained
everything. Many times cleft pallet surgeries are done when they are babies.
When they are done later in life this can cause more serious issues. This sweet
boy, because he never had surgery, hasn't been able to really speak. Another
problem with cleft pallet is the increase of hearing issues. Children have ear
problems and infections and things like that, but children with cleft pallet
have it much more often, causing loss of hearing over time. They look somewhat
disfigured, have speaking problems, slowly go deaf and are pushed further and
further out of society. This surgery will change that. Now he'll go through
therapy and relearn how to speak and be able to live a better life than
before.
The second room I went into was
the eye room. I was able to watch the removal or Ptyerigyums. Ptyerigyums
are a growth of pink, fleshy tissue on the
white of the eye. It is a noncancerous lesion that usually grows slowly
throughout life. A pterygium can continue growing until it covers the pupil of
the eye and interferes with vision. The environment here (sun, sand, dust)
increase the risk for this to happen. I was about too look under a microscope
to cut/sand off (using a tool made from diamonds) the growth, and then cut out
tissue from the healthy part of the eye and basically sew it onto the area
where the growth had been renewed. This was a relatively short
procedure and I was shocked to know the patients are completely awake during
this. They just numb the area. The procedures were quick
and fascinating to watch. Another common procedure here is cataract
removal which is done very quickly. They've even created their own method
especially for procedures here on ship that's even quicker than the normal
method. People come in blind or nearly blind and leave being able to see.
The last procedure I was able to see was a tumor removal. This woman had a mass larger than a grapefruit near her right ear and cheek/jaw line. Again, this is something that would have been removed in the states early on. I came into the room while the tumor was still attached and watched the removal process. Before I knew it the large mass was removed, sitting on a table, and her cheek was being stitched up. I was amazed that something so large could be removed and repaired in such a short amount of time. I can only image what it would be like for her to wake up and no longer feel the very thing that brought her embarrassment and shame, and for her to look in the mirror and no longer feel it there, and see just herself. Praise God for amazing medical staff to carry these operations out.
