Just last week, children with cleft lip and palate and ear deformities in Honduras received life-changing surgeries. I traveled with International Hospital for Children volunteer plastic surgeons Dr. Jonathan Jacobs of Virginia Beach and Dr. Isaac Wornom of Richmond, to meet many smiling faces, including familiar ones! Because this team travels to the same clinic annually to see patients and provide surgery, these dedicated IHC surgeons are able to see patients year after year for check-ups and surgeries requiring more than one stage.
One of these familiar faces was young patient Ashley, who was born with cleft lip and palate and has been treated by Dr. Jacobs since she was a baby. She had surgery for the first time when she was just 2 months old to repair her cleft lip. This year, Ashley returned to clinic, a beautiful, happy and healthy 2-year-old and was able to receive surgery for her cleft palate. Ashley’s aunt proudly announced Ashley already had interest in learning how to play the piano!
Another familiar face was Antony, who received surgery for his cleft lip last year when he was 9-months-old. This year, the team surgeons described the result of Antony’s surgery as “perfect” – the cleft lip repair Dr. Wornom provided to Antony had a beautiful outcome and Dr. Wornom happily reported Antony did not require further surgery for his lip. Dr. Wornom explained the team really feels that these patients are his own – they just live a bit farther away than other
patients! To see children like Ashley and Antony return to clinic as thriving, happy children really illustrates the impact this team has for the rural Honduras community where Clínica Asturias is located.
There were also many new little patients to meet as well! An especially vocal patient was 3-year-old Jester, who received surgery with Dr. Wornom for a congenital ear defect. He and Dr. Wornom spent time getting to know each other during rounds after Jester’s surgery – see a video clip of them here!
Another aspect that makes this team special is the continuity and quality of care this team strives to provide to the patients. Speech pathologist Ruth Trivelpiece from Richmond traveled with the team again this year and provided speech consultations and therapy to patients dealing with cleft lip and palate, as well as ear microtia. Ruth was excited to see marked improvements in some of her patients, even after only one year of exposure to speech therapy through exercises conducted by parents at home!
Ruth also had more opportunities to do therapy sessions with patients like 7-year-old Luis this week. Luis came every day for speech therapy, and his mother commented that all of this extra time with speech exercises was really going to help him with the struggles he has with speech as he deals with a cleft palate. Luis received surgery on Thursday to further repair his cleft palate and we plan to see him next year for follow-up evaluations. Ruth also provided a lot of information and education to parents to help them better understand the challenges that patients with cleft lip and palate have, as well as to teach best feeding practices to moms with babies and toddlers who have just had their cleft lip or palate repaired.
Thinking back to last week and remembering all the faces and stories of the children treated, I’m reminded of the privilege it is to serve alongside such dedicated medical professionals like the surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses that made the journey to Clinica Asturias last week. IHC’s volunteers are true professionals and humanitarians, always asking “What can we do to better serve these children?” And because of this attitude, children like Ashley, Antony, Jester, and Luis will be waiting for the team at clinic next January – waiting to see their doctors, who made an extra-long trip for them!
Submitted by IHC staff member Emily Robertson
Thank you, Emily, to you, your teams, and your organization for making differences every single day.