Uncategorized

To spend precious moments over several days talking with the patients and families was deeply enriching for me during my inaugural trip with Surgicorps International.  They displayed quiet stoicism and great courage.  Their surgical needs were the result of injuries, burns and birth defects that caused speech and hearing problems. Many of these Bhutanese people traveled from villages hours and even 3-4 days on buses to arrive at the Paro Hospital.  Of the 52 patients treated by Surgicorps, Sonam, mauled by a bear, burn victim, Kuenden, and bilateral cleft patient, Janyang are typical of the people who are treated.

Sonam was attacked by a bear, in 2007, when she was just 14 years old and is the youngest of 7 children. She lives in the eastern region of Bhutan. Her parents are still alive and are farmers. Sonam was walking the 30 minutes to non-formal education (NFE) where people who may not have had the chance to go to school at an early age may learn the basics.  She was all alone and the attack was sudden and from behind.  She never heard it and didn’t see it coming.  Sonam felt the bear maul her face, fainted and fell to the ground.  While she was unconscious, the bear dragged her from the road about 25 feet into the woods.  She felt lucky that the bear left her right next to a cliff and didn’t drag her or toss her off the cliff.  Her injuries were on her right lower leg, left back of the head, her nose and face and her right ear.  The claw marks are still visible on her knees.  When she awoke, she walked 10-15 minutes to her friend’s house who then notified her parents.  An ambulance was called and transported her 3 hours to the Mongar hospital. She was in the hospital for 8 days.  Fortunately, her family was alerted that Surgicorps was in Paro and could help.  She traveled 16 hours in the ambulance to receive treatment in 2007.  For this ongoing reconstructive surgery, Sonam travels 2 days by bus to get to Paro.

Now 24, Sonam is married to Gyembola and has a 4 year old son.  She “has a good life.”  Her husband takes good care of her. She is so grateful to Surgicorps for the treatment she receives and that Surgicorps has made her a “proper nose.”  Sonam went on to thank the doctors, the hospital, Tarayana Foundation, the whole team for giving her a second life.  If not for Surgicorps, she doesn’t think that she would have lived. It is a dream come true, a miracle.  The Surgicorps team is like a “god” to her.

Kuenden, 2 years and 5 months old.  His mom is Yangchen, 24 years old.  His dad is a teacher on the primary level.  Kuenden suffered a burn injury to the hand when he was 1 + years old by accidently touching an electrical heater while his father was repairing it. His mom was in the kitchen doing dishes when this happened.  This accident happened in Paro, but the family lives in Samtsi, in southwest Bhutan.  It took her 8 hours on a bus to get to Paro.  Yangchen expressed her happiness that her son’s hand could be repaired by surgery.  She couldn’t ever imagine his hand could be treated, but had been hoping for it and heard about Surgicorps on the news channel.  She thinks Surgicorps International does a great job!

Janyang, age 5 months has a bilateral cleft lip.  Her mom has said that people are sympathetic towards her.  The family lives in Paro, only a 20-minute drive to the hospital.  Tshewang is 29 years old.  She heard on the news that Surgicorps was coming to the hospital.  She is grateful and could not imagine a person “like me” getting treatment for her daughter.  She says thank you to Surgicorps for coming to Bhutan and for providing treatment to people at no cost.

The patients and the families were calm and patient while waiting outside for hours.  They asked for nothing and consider the work of Surgicorps to be miraculous.  It brings value to their lives beyond their wildest expectations in Bhutan.

Surgicorps will embark on the first surgical mission to Astana, Kazakhstan from May 19-May 25, 2017. There are a total of 10 team members including 4 from Pennsylvania and 6 from other states. Surgicorps will partner with the Asyl Bala Foundation in order to provide services at the University Medical Center, affiliate of the National Research Center for Maternal and Child Health in Astana.

The veteran team members include Tara Burns, Melinda Handler, Betty Hearne, David Kim, Guy Leone, Aamir Siddiqui, James Terman and Anna Wooten. Surgicorps founder, Jack Demos, will be the Medical Director and Linda Esposto, our Director of Programs and Logistics, will serve as the Trip Coordinator.

We look forward to our first surgical mission in Astana and providing services to many patients in need.  The types of procedures performed will include hand surgery, burn scar contractures and birth deformities. Please follow us on social media for trip updates and pictures.

Safe travels Team Kazakhstan!

Surgicorps will embark on the 3rd Annual Sarah Pettrone Memorial Trip, which will be our 11th visit to Bhutan from April 22-May 2, 2017. There are a total of 21 talented team members including 10 from Pennsylvania and 11 from other states.

There are 15 veteran Surgicorps volunteers. Anne Argenta, Sheryl Lamb, Donald Laub, Maggie Mangham, Naomi Quillopa, Warren Schubert, Ron Stiller and Charles Yang. First-timers include: Andrew Berenato, Agnus Berenato, Olivia Cimba and Rama Joshi. Surgicorps founder, Jack Demos, will be the Medical Director; staff member Liam Carstens and volunteer Mary Bernacki will serve as Trip Coordinators.

We are pleased to welcome Ryan Bradley, Jessica Cassavaugh, Marina Carmody, Karen Gallagher, Merelise O’Connor and Matt Recker to their first Surgicorps trip. We look forward to once again serving our friends in Bhutan. Please follow us on social media for trip updates and pictures.

Safe travels Team Bhutan!

It’s been three months since our team has returned from Vietnam.  As with all of Surgicorps’ trips, it was one filled with joy, and with sorrow. On screening day, the physicians walk into a room bursting with children that have cleft lips and palates, missing ears, and faces distorted from disease. There is never a shortage of dreadful and disfiguring burns; most are due to lack of proper kitchens and dangerous surroundings in rural homes. Performing life-changing surgery on people so desperately in need brings joy to everyone.  Occasionally a patient must be turned away because of high risk, or because the hospital lacks the proper facilities necessary to proceed.  When the doctors have to turn someone away, for any reason, there is no greater sorrow.

Surgicorps introduced a new vision program on this trip, and I was privileged to be a part of it.  A team of six non-medical volunteers, spent three days at a Vision Clinic in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  Hundreds of people made their way to us, many by foot, for the chance to be fitted for a simple pair of eyeglasses.  Through the generous support of Dr. Larry Butler and the Global Brigade University of Pittsburgh students, 2,000 pairs of distance glasses were donated and then tediously bagged, according to strengths.  This was in addition to 600 pairs of readers that we carried in huge duffle bags.

With Godspeed (and the help of interpreters) the six of us took a crash-course in basic optometry and learned how to refract eyes, chart the findings, and fit people with both distance and reader glasses.  Not uncommon in many developing countries, most of the patients that we screened did not speak a word of English. Local students who studied at the clinic helped us to screen and direct the sea of people that waited, some for hours, in the hopes that they would see clearly again.

Many of these people had never been to an eye doctor before, or even had their vision tested.  Our eyes watched in amazement, as some of them were able to read text for the first time in years, or look across a room that would suddenly come into focus.  We cried with them over the sheer joy of having their eyesight improved, something that is so basic in the United States.  They hugged and thanked us, as if we had performed a miracle.

With the simple gift of distance glasses, people were jubilant as they walked about the room. We learned that one woman hadn’t been able to read her beloved newspaper in over a decade.  Some of the elderly were suffering from cataracts, so without surgery they couldn’t be helped in this modest setting.  They graciously left with a smile and a thank you, and for them we had a table of sunglasses.  No one went home empty handed, least of all, us.  We flew home with smiling eyes, knowing that 775 people had renewed confidence.  They were able to read again, learn again, find employment again, look at photos of their grandchildren again, or just recognize and wave to a friend across the street.

Tshering, a 28 year-old mother, brought two of her three children to the Paro District Hospital, in Bhutan.  It was screening day, and they joined the scores of patients crammed into packed hallways, waiting to be evaluated by Surgicorps’ surgeons.  Leaving her six-year-old boy Nima behind, Tshering traveled for two days by bus to reach the hospital.  Sonam, her five-year-old boy, and Pema, her lively two-year-old girl, were tucked by her side.  With Bhutan having no plastic surgeons in the country, patients wait months or years to be treated; many will never be seen.

In 2010, Tshering was pregnant with her first child when her husband came home drunk, accused her of infidelity, then beat her and set the house on fire. She was able to escape but suffered severe burns that kept her hospitalized for two months. Her husband remains in jail. Tshering went on to have two more children and supports the family by working as a nanny. She works seven days a week, taking two buses each way to her job. Rising early each morning to prepare all the meals for her three children, Tshering must then leave them at home to care for themselves. Nima helps Sonam when he comes home from school, and together they play with Pema until their mother arrives late at night to put them to bed. With a smile on her beautiful but sad face, Tshering explains that she receives no support from her extended family.

Surgicorps treats many burn patients, as over 3 billion people worldwide are using open flames to cook and to heat their homes. In early 2015, Sonam was burned while sleeping, when a kerosene lamp spilled on him. He suffered severe burns to his legs and perineal area, and can’t stand upright due to the contractures from his wounds. With the significant recovery time necessary for perineal surgery, coupled with the lack of suitable care at home with mom working, the doctors opted to only graft the small area on his leg. Sonam will hopefully return this year for the bigger procedure, which will undoubtedly change his life.

After his graft, Sonam eagerly joined in playtime with the other children on the ward.  Despite his obvious disability and constant pain, Sonam was full of resilience and limped to catch up with them.

Tshering was hoping for surgery on her own burn scars last year, but was urged to come back in 2017 when she would have others to help with her children while recovering. She did not complain nor become angry, but rather, she thanked the surgeon and then went back to caring for her little ones.

Much like all the others in that crowded waiting area, Tshering and Sonam have experienced unimaginable pain, loss, and sadness. Through it all, these stoic people exhibit courage and bravery.  They are grateful for the opportunity to be given a life-improving surgery.  Many will have surgery, but some cannot.  No matter what the reason, when they are turned away, they leave the hospital with a thank you, and a smile.

Surgicorps will be in Bhutan from April 22 to May 2, 2017 for our 11^th trip to Paro District Hospital. Please stay tuned for updates and pictures from the ground and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.