Surgery

Insane experience today! I viewed a cleft palate surgery, up close and personal today, from beginning to end, and I did not pass out or embarrass myself in any other way! Viewing a surgery is one of the things a crew member on board the Africa Mercy (a hospital ship, after all) can take part in but you must get on a list because the opportunities will fill up fast. The patient was a 33 year old man with a cleft (open) palate, which meant that his entire mouth/jaw area was actually sideways and the back of his mouth was not closed to his throat and esophagus. For him, this meant that he never was able to speak and that consuming food and beverages were a delicate and possibly dangerous situation. Because he was very poor, this problem was never addressed medically in his country. Because he lived in the hills, far away from the port where the ship had come before, he had never had the chance to be healed by the ships’ doctors on previous visits. He was born this way and he has never known anything else. The photographs will be close up and graphic to some degree, so if you’re not into this, do not read/view the rest of this particular blog.

This is the before photo of the man’s face. His jaw and entire mouth area is at an angle. His bottom lip is where it belongs but the top lip is actually in two sections so it appears he has 3 lips. He has never had a left nostril, per se, and his teeth jut out on top so that he has difficulty closing his mouth most of the time.

This devise is placed in his mouth to keep it open as wide open as possible for the entire surgery. You can see that the back of this mouth/throat is completely open to the esophagus which means that the parts of the throat that would vibrate to make sound and speak have never been able to do what they are supposed to do. He has been breathing deeply through his one nostril and this mouth since he was born.

A tube is placed into the working nostril to keep the airway open because once the back of the mouth is sewn shut correctly, everything he is accustomed to will change and be redirected – in a good way. Fat from the cheeks is then used to pad the back of his mouth as it is sewn shut in several different directions and blood vessels are redirected also. This part of the procedure took most of the initial work until the back of his mouth/throat area was shaped the way it was meant to be shaped and food would go down his throat at his will. He will have physical therapy for months to learn how to eat correctly and eventually how to speak – at 33 years old!

The large teeth in front are pulled out. I must admit that made me wince a little (okay, more than a little).

The 2 sections that comprise the top lip are sliced, each in the middle and so is the nose area on the left side. With incredible precision and patience on the surgeon’s part, the 2 ‘lips’ are brought together, simultaneously sewing them into the correct alignment with the place under the nose where they are supposed to meet. A padding is placed in the (new) left nostril to shape it as it heals.

All the sewing is taped into place for his protection while he heals and the swelling goes down. Dr. Gary said that, besides the visual of himself for the first time in his life, the most shocking part for the man when he wakes up is that he will be breathing through only one normal nostril at first and then 2 working nostrils so air will not be as abundant as he is accustomed to, and this will take some adjustment for him.  It may even be a little frightening at first. He will stay on board the ship for about 1½ weeks and then in a building near the port after that, where he will still be cared for by people from his country and from the ship’s hospital. Everyone on the ship ward is cared for 24 hours a day and fed the food they are used to eating in their country by the ship galley and yours truly, until they are able to be moved to another location or go home.

The team involved in this particular surgery was run by Dr. Gary Parker, who is a maxio-facial specialist and has been devoted to the Africa Mercy and its vision/cause for over 24 years. He does this now constantly, every year without fail, for no pay, and his family lives on the ship almost 12 months a year, in pursuit of this vision/cause. It is mind boggling to imagine what this family gives up and accomplishes, for no other reason than to help others. And he’s only one person in the room.

Everyone on this ship, from the janitors to the surgeons to the engineers, electricians, plumbers, secretaries, and even the Captain are volunteers and actually pay for their room and board and for that of their families (for those who brought them). Everything that is used to treat the patients, the food to feed everyone, the gas to keep the boat moving, everything is either donated or is paid for by donations. I cannot express that enough. If you have been moved by this surgery or by anything you’ve read in my blogs or heard about this organization, I ask you to put something aside for this organization and help them continue to fulfill this vision.

God Bless!