Cao Lanh, Vietnam -- Michael Flynn, ReSurge volunteer anesthesiologist
In Vietnam, parents and children wait outside the operating room for their turn for surgery. They talk to each other and support each other at this very emotional time. ReSurge’s visit is something they have been awaiting on for a long time. Two such parents (pictured right) were waiting with their children this morning.
Ptosis is a condition
in which the eyelid muscles are not strong enough to open ones eyes fully. Many
patients have to tilt their heads back in order to see, this was the case of
the little boy pictured right. The surgery to correct this condition is very
difficult. It is one of the skills that our team leader, Dr. Eric Mooney, has acquired
during his years as a plastic surgeon. Dr. Mooney took a length of tendon from a
muscle of the patient’s upper leg, closed that area and then placed a series of
the elastic tendon in the eyelid.
The tendon now does the job of the missing
eyelid muscle. Both of the patient’s eyelids underwent the surgery. The team
anxiously waited for him to wake up to see if the right amount of correction
had been performed. The perfect result is shown in this picture from the ward
later that day.
Meanwhile, the two-year-old girl pictured left has a congenital deformity on her right hand. Her fingers are all joined together and two fingers never developed at all. Dr. Ronald Worland, the team’s other plastic surgeon, is very quickly becoming the Cao Lanh expert at saving and separating fused fingers. Dr. Worland was able to save and separate our patient’s three little finger so that she will be able to color and play just like any other child.
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