PHILIPPINE CLEFT PALATE SURGICAL/SPEECH MISSION 2017: THE PEDIATRIC WARD!

WE LOVE TO VISIT THE WARD AND READ, DISTRIBUTE TOYS, PLAY GAMES AND TAKE PICTURES!

Surgery over! Now home with his family! ... and liked his new book!

Post lip repair! He went home this morning! With swelling down and suture out... looked amazing and was ready to go home with a new smile.

This is Alice Clare who was scheduled for her palate repair on Tuesday, but it had to be cancelled because of fever! She was ALL PERSONALITY, and yes, she is posing for the camera with her hand on her hip! She is on the wait list for October; otherwise she'll have surgery next July. There were so many children at screening day (60!) that Dr. Williams scheduled 40 for these 2 weeks of surgery and scheduled the other 20 for an add-on mission in October! He wants the parents who attend the screening to know their child will get surgery and not have to hope to possibly find another mission to come through Dipolog at some later date! Alice Clare will be back!

And, yes, she did have a cleft lip repair last year by Dr. Williams! Almost undetectable! He is known for taking his time and never rushing a surgery so the results are as good as possible. Alice Clare and all the children are worth the time it takes- wouldn't you agree?

Please note, these are the beds available in the pediatric ward (no mattresses). The parents can bring mats to place on the bed, although most bring blankets only...especially if they have to travel long distances! Usually the whole family (Mom, Dad, grandma, siblings...) are staying in the bed together or on the floor on mats. Grandma in 'Visaya' (the local dialect) is 'LOLA'...many Lola's join the family or sometimes bring the child themselves if the parents work.

The ward is pink and bright- although fans only...so very hot! Susan and I are very spoiled in our "therapy room" in the hospital- we have air conditioning. The parent's would never utter a word of complaint! Never!

John Michael, Monday night, the night before his surgery! He had his surgery today and was drinking water from a syringe when we visited tonight. His mother told us she heard about the mission on the radio and was "truly blessed by God" to have this surgery for him. He had a cleft of the palate only and his speech was very effected. We plan to have him return next summer for speech therapy!

JOHN MICHAEL AND RICA (ABOVE) WERE BOTH THRILLED TO GET THE WORLD ATLAS FOR THEIR BOOK! WE POINTED OUT AND MARKED WHERE THEY LIVED AND WHERE WE LIVED! WHEN THEY WEREN'T READING THE BOOKS, WE WOULD CATCH THEIR PARENTS OR OLDER BROTHERS AND SISTERS READING THE BOOK! THE BOOKS WERE DONATED BY FAMILIES AT MY OFFICE AND FROM MY SISTER MARY! SUSAN BOUGHT MANY BOOKS WITH HER (THAT MEANT SHE HAD TO TRANSPORT THEM IN HER LUGGAGE THROUGH CHINA- WHERE SHE WAS FOR 2 WEEKS PRIOR TO THE MISSION) AND THESE WERE DISTRIBUTED ON SCREENING DAY AND SOME USED FOR SPEECH THERAPY!

RICA (THE LITTLE GIRL ABOVE) WOULD NOT SMILE OR GIVE US EYE CONTACT WHEN WE VISITED HER THE NIGHT BEFORE HER PALATE SURGERY. ALTHOUGH IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL SHE HAD A REPAIRED CLEFT LIP IN THE PICTURE...I'M SURE SHE REMEMBERS THAT SURGERY AND WASN'T HAPPY TO BE BACK FOR HER PALATE REPAIR. WE PLAYED "MEMORY" WITH HER, GAVE HER THE BOOK AND STICKERS, AND SHE WAS ALL SMILES! BY THE TIME WE LEFT, SHE WAS PLAYING MEMORY WITH JOHN MICHAEL (TWO PICTURES ABOVE) AND THEY WERE LAUGHING AND SMILING!
TODAY I SAW HER IN THE WAITING AREA TO BE TAKEN TO SURGERY AND SHE WAVED AND SMILED AT ME! WHAT A TREAT TO HAVE MADE HER FEEL A LITTLE BETTER

This is Bernie! Some of you may have seen pictures of Bernie last year. He was scheduled for surgery but started to run a fever and had to be rescheduled for this year! His sister (who's picture I can't find) also had a cleft lip repair last week! AND, BERNIE got his lip repair! It was a tough surgery with the position of his permanent teeth and the protrusion of his upper gum line. But as he was last year (I immediately remembered Bernie) he was happy and outgoing before the surgery. And, in spite of clearly being in some pain, he was very stoic and never cried when we were on the floor after his surgery! WHAT A LOT FOR Bernie and Birly's PARENTS TO GO THROUGH EMOTIONALLY TO HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF TWO OF THEIR CHILDREN 2 DAYS APART FOR LIP SURGERY! They were always polite and appreciative and their children were so sweet and friendly! Bernie still needs a palate repair so perhaps I'll get pictures of his lip when the swelling goes down and is well healed- next year!

This is Renovem who had his cleft palate repaired on this mission (previously had a cleft lip repair!) He and his mom read this book 4 times in a row in the time we were visiting the ward! He knew all his letters and numbers and is 4 years old!! Can't wait to see him next year for speech therapy! The plan is to have the children who have their palate repaired come back for speech therapy the next year!