ARTICLES

A Surprise for Papa

Three-year-old Angela had a very large cleft in her soft palate that made eating, speaking and swallowing extremely difficult. The team repaired her palate and then in the afternoon went to check on her.

"The mom was very excited when we came in," says Dr. Scott McLean, a surgeon from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "She was talking very fast in Spanish and it was hard to catch what she was saying. She was getting teary-eyed, and I didn't know what was going on. Finally through the translator I figured out that she was so happy because for the first time in her life Angela had been able to say 'Papa'! She was so pleased. It was overwhelming."

"There's a commonality of caring for kids that's the same around the world," says teammate Dr. Tom Albert, a surgeon from Portland, Ore. "It's a unique opportunity to use your skills to make a difference in people's lives."

In five days, the plastic surgery volunteers performed 26 surgeries -- most patients were young children. In addition to surgeries, the team provided training for the hospital's medical staff. In June another plastic surgery team will go to Honduras to continue the work started by this team.

"When you go on a trip like this it's really clear why we're there," says Mc Lean. "We help as many people as we can. These people aren't going to get this help unless we're there because there's nobody else to do it." This piece came from the Multnomah County Medical Association Scribe.