Surgery Day 4 - Thursday

Well another amazing day draws to a close on the shores of Lake Victoria. A day of lots of cute kids and one of the bravest 15 year olds I have ever met.

The first operation was Veronika who was just 18mths old with a cleft lip. Mell was unfortunately unwell today (she is feeling much better tonight) so Barnabus, a local scrubbed in with Matt. Barnabus is trained as a dentist but does lots more than that and is well known and respected by the Rafiki Surgical team. The operation went well.

Second under the knife was Lydia. Her Muma passed her over screaming and looked pleased to pass her off; the Muma looked like a child herself. I choose this operation to watch all the way through. After Ross put her to sleep, Anthony first spent ages measuring with tiny dividers then marked her with dots like a mini tattoo, so it doesn't wash off. This child was so small the guys decided to just operate on her lip and then deal with the pallet next time. There was shock in the theatre as Anthony wrapped his own patient but needed a bit of guidance with the drapes. Anthony cut away the tissue and then dissected the muscle so carefully; the muscle will enable her to smile properly. Anthony explained that the repair to the muscle is very important in determining the quality of the job. Once all the preparation work was complete he meticulously stiched her little mouth starting on the inside; Ross explained how the plastic surgeons use magnifying glasses to make their work so neat and special sutures with the thread attached to the needle - not like the old days with a hole through the needle enlarging the opening.  It was a beautiful job.

Anthony measures Lydia

Alice prepares instruments

Ross monitoring Lydia

Lydia waking up

The next operation had been pending for two years. You will remember Rose who I mentioned at the clinic. She first met the team two years ago when she was just 13, she travels each time on her own and waited all this time as before an operation could take place she needed a CT scan and Matt to be here; the CT machine broke delaying her opp last time. She is a community patient that has been adooted by Geita Gold to ensure she gets her treatment, she is also a poised and beautiful girl with a lovely way about her so everyone adores her.

Rose has a benign tumour which she was born with; a plexiform neurofibroma (for the medics), or like the 'elephant man' movie for us mortals. I understand it grows through the nerves in her head and goes back to the base of her brain and into her eyelid. Matt explained that he needed to be quite radical of it will grow back. Anthony scrubbed in at the start and then left Matt to it; so he could move onto the next patient. The operation took 5 hours and involved alot of blood, Matt split her head back to the scull and peeled back the yucky tumour removing it in one peice after slowly closing off all the capillaries, veins and nerves that went straight into the tumour. One nerve he removed was 20-30 times larger than it should have been.

Matt marks up Rose

Matt and Anthony start Rose's opp

Rose had a droopy eye due to the weight of the tumour but also as the whole mechanism of her eye had stretched, so Matt inserted 3 permanent stiches to allow her to open her eye. Then the long and meticulous process of stitching her up began, Matt's stiches were perfectly spaced and tiny to ensure her scar was as neat as possible. He used a few staples, but only in her hair. What an amazing result; she drew quite a crowd once the opp was finished. She was still very drowsy when we took her to the ward but managed to take a look at her new face before it all swells up. As she has no family here another Muma agreed to look after her. I really hope we can get to see Rose when she has recovered.

Matt checks up on Rose

Rose goes to the ward

Rose on Sunday

Anthony moved onto a hand operation to release the finger on 2 year old Robarti, using the skin that had joined his fingers as well as a graft. Such tiny hands and again incredible work.

Next up Anthony fixed up the lip on Lucas who won today's award for the cutest kid, he was just adorable in recovery when he was all sleepy and drugged up. Shannon threatened not to give him back....

Lucas - how cute?

Lucas before the opp

After Rose came little chubber Daudi (nicknamed George after another chubby patient) who has been screaming with hunger all morning.  The guys did his lip last time and remember him coming to surgery with banana up his nose - this kid loves food! He made Andrew smile - although I still don't think he stuck around after he woke up.

Andrew with Daudi (George)

Around the hospital today I also spent time at the ward where Shannon now has a huge number of patients to monitor and change dressings for. Her and Mardi have also been walking Aqualina today who had a huge number of visitors today and is starting to feal a bit better.

Another cutie I saw again today was Masala - starting to heal nicely.

Masala today

Masala on Sunday

The last operations ended up taking alot longer than planned; it was hoped that Rashidi Mohamed had a angiolipoma (fatty growth) on his neck but it turned out to be a venous (vein) malformation. Daudi's pallet also proved quite complex so we ended up leaving the hospital at 8pm very tired.....

btw it is Taka, our fabulous mission co-ordinator's birthday tomorrow - happy birthday Taka