Today started cool and cloudy, with smog. Now we have sun and smog. Three operating rooms, and 17 surgeries on the docket, make for another long day. Our ward has 38 beds total for pre O.P. and post O.P. Today we hit max occupancy with 38 children plus all the family members so we are adding several cots. It will be a full house tonight. 

I sat in while Marlene our team speech pathologist interviewed a 19 year old young man. He has soft palate issues that currently let most the air in his speech escape through his nose. The result is a soft nasal voice without definition between syllables. He works and lives at home with his parents. In China there are more boys than girls, so the girls can be choosy.  I spoke with his parents after they ducked into our break room to dodge the media. They wanted to show their thanks by presenting us with a banner which thanked Rotaplast for helping their son. Since their son is a young adult they do not want him to be used by the media for publicity purposes. How refreshing! So I will just call him 163. He is a strapping young man, and stands well over six feet tall. I told his parents that I wished for a successful surgery and that he would find a pretty girl. At last word the surgery went well and he is in the ward now.