Meet Yubi, a 20-month-old little girl who has come all the way to Lima from Incahuasi-Lambayeque, a remote village deep in Peru. The people in the district are mainly indigenous citizens of Quechua descent. She and her mother and aunt traveled for 15 hours by bus to come to see Rotaplast. Yubi will have her cleft lip repaired by Medical Director Dr. Angelo Capozzi today.
Morning rounds begin with surgeons Dr. Paul Durand and Dr. Devi Tantri checking in on baby Gabriel who is doing great after his surgery yesterday.
Medical Record keeper Steve Jay Brozosky meets with Speech Pathologist Dr. Marlene Salas-Provance in the morning to make sure everyone is on the same page before another busy day gets going.
Dr. Margot Escobedo Arriola, a local orthodontist and Director of the Rotary Mission in Lima, solders an appliance for a patient who will have surgery later today. Margot has been crucial to organizing this and many past Rotaplast missions to Lima. Without Margot’s determination to pull this mission together, none of these patients would have the world class care they are now receiving. She believes strongly that no other organization offers the comprehensive care that Rotaplast does. Many patients need medical specialists like speech therapy and orthodontics because they have complex defects which surgery alone will not fix.
Vania is a baby that is too young for surgery on her bilateral cleft with a protrusion, but she is taken back to be evaluated by the team in order to determine if there is anything that they can do to help her until she is old enough to undergo surgery.
Director of Orthodontics Dr. Paul Helpard decides to make a custom palate mold of Vania’s unique oral cavity in order to design a plate for her. Although it looks bizarre, flipping her upside down actually is the safest and easiest method to achieve the perfect mold.
With so many surgeries going on each day, sterilizer Joe Grasso stays extremely busy with the autoclave and all the instruments coming in and going back out.
Back in the Pediatrics ward, baby Yubi is recovering from her surgery wonderfully. Mom is so happy, and we all are looking forward to seeing her final dramatic transformation once her lip heals a little bit more.
Bridgette, a 15-year-old from Lima is being cared for by OR nurse Michael Grills, RN before her LeFort repair. The appliance designed by orthodontist Margot can be seen in place here. Bridgette has already had 3 surgeries in the past, and although she is nervous, she is excited because she understands that this surgery will dramatically alter the appearance of her jaw and the shape of her face.