Today was the last day of surgeries. Over the last 7 days the team performed surgeries and transformed the lives of around 56 individuals. The teams had a good reason to celebrate! We did surgeries ranging from about an hour to 7 hours. The day was filled mainly with repair of cleft lips. Most of the patients who were deemed fit for surgery were accommodated during the seven days. In addition, we also added walk-in patients who could not come in for the pre-clinic.
A big thanks to Moshi Rotarians, Innocent Kawiche and MacArthur Mabuya for patient recruitment prior to the start of the mission, being translators during the course of the mission and helping the team.
Rounds
Baby Paola before and after surgery.
Our head nurse Debbie Dean has done numerous missions with Rotaplast. She was responsible for scheduling the surgeries and ensuring that all the resources were in place in the ORs during surgery.
It was not uncommon to see moms/parents or patients looking nervous as they sat with their kids or when they themselves were taken into the operating room but seemed to be thrilled and grateful once they saw the outcome of the surgery.
Dr. Samwel, anesthesiologist at Mount Meru was a big help during our tenure at Mount Meru hospital. During the Rotaplast missions, the team always values working hand-in-hand with local medical professionals. Dr. Beatus Stanislaus, plastic surgeon at Mount Meru worked alongside the Rotaplast surgeons on the last days.
It was hard to believe that we had come to the tail end of our mission and stay in Arusha, hard to say good-bye to this beautiful place and the warm people.