We are ready to start our clinic screening and expect to see about 200 potential surgery patients.
“Organized chaos” best describes the pre-operative clinic. The team arrived at the hospital early Wednesday morning with high hopes and anticipation for what was going to happen. Soon after the team’s arrival, dozens of children and parents flooded the large room that was designated as the waiting area. Over the next 11 hours, doctors evaluated each patient, carefully assessing their deformities and determining their feasibility for surgery. The halls of the Sylhet Women’s Medical College were sweltering from the heat and deafening with the cries of hot, hungry and impatient babies and small children as the members of the Rotaplast team, local Rotarians and medical student interpreters worked their magic. By the end of the very long and hot day, approximately 200 patients were seen. Head Nurse Jodelle Myhre focused to assemble an aggressive surgery schedule that would safely accommodate as many patients as possible.
Perhaps the day could best be summed up by what first time Rotaplast team member Alan Zeitlin, an anesthesiologist from Sacramento, said, “I know it was long and hot and all, but I really had fun”. The other team members all agreed.
The Rotary Club of Jalalabad and the Sylhet Women’s Medical College and Hospital arranged a brief opening ceremony to celebrate the third Rotaplast mission. Here Rotaplast Mission Director Tom Fox thanks the members of the Rotary Club of Jalalabad and the administration of the Sylhet Women’s Medical College and Hospital for the ongoing commitment to the work of cleft lip and palate eradication and in hosting this year’s Rotaplast mission.