Screening Day

Rabiby

 SCREENING DAY.....is one of my favorite days of the mission.  This is the day when kids and their families travel from far and wide to be evaluated by the Operations Smile medical team for surgery.  For some of the kids, it's their first time seeing a doctor and for others it is the first time they will be evaluated by a surgeon.  This experience affords them a free opportunity to be seen by multiple specialists including Plastic Surgeons, Pediatric Intensivists, Pediatricians, Speech Pathologists, Dentists, Social Work, and Nursing for vital signs, phlebotomy, etc.  When we arrived at the hospital at 7am, there was already a line of kids and parents waiting outside our unit. This little guy on the right was our very first patient, well behaved and waiting patiently to be seen.

I worked the "final chart review" station with two of the Recovery Room nurses, Kristin and Irene.

I'm so glad I agreed to work at this station.  We reviewed the completed charts after the kids went through and were evaluated by all of the services including the social history-how they traveled to the screening day(by bus, jeepney, boat, donkey, motorcycle, etc), where they live, family history, what they believe, if anything, caused their child's deformity.  Since this was only my second mission it gave me a much clearer picture of how the entire process works.  FASCINATING!!!!

7am-Initial line of patients waiting to be evaluated.

One of 3 plastic surgery stations.

Our little dancer. She was a total wild woman, moving and shaking all over the place like her life depended on it. :)

This day brings about a conflict of emotions for me.  The kids and families arrive with such hope.  In most cases the team will be able to bring their dreams to life by performing a successful surgery on their child.  Unfortunately, in some instances the child is either not a good candidate for surgery or is not medically stable enough to undergo surgery.  The upside for many of the kids who can not undergo surgery is that during the medical evaluation they may be directed to the proper specialist who can further access their condition and formulate a plan to help. ie-cardiologists, hematologists, etc

This little pumpkin screamed with excitement and pointed at Kristen and I as soon as she walked in the door. Blonde hair was all the rage in the Philippines. ;)

Andrea Jane is 4 going on 24. From the moment she walked through the doors she was a charming sassy little one. I'm pretty confident she may become a pop star someday now that she has a repaired palate. More on this little fireball later. ;)

Kristen and Althea, one of the happiest babies I've ever seen in my life.

Beautiful Azel Marie

A Jeepney picking up right outside the hospital

All the stickers donated through my amazingly thoughtful and generous friends via Facebook made for some incredibly happy kids!

The Student Volunteers from Bolivia along with their fearless leader Carlos brought along suitcases full of toys for the kids, clothing donations and themed costumes for each day for the medical staff to wear.  The screening day theme was "Smile Heros",we all equipped with capes and Op Smile tattoos.

Smile Heros

Rosie the Smile Riveter :)

Our "security guards" AKA Domenick and Jeffrey our male nurses from Manila.

It was interesting to see what the parents believed to be the cause of their child's deformity.  We saw everything from hereditary, unknown, karma for mothers or family members making fun of people with clefts, pregnant mothers going outside during an eclipse, riding a motorcycle during pregnancy, etc. There are multiple factors researched regarding clefts but in many cases the scientific cause is unknown by the medical community.

More cuties!

It was a great day with approx. 240 kids from all over the Philippines evaluated by our medical staff and most of them scheduled for surgery.       Hooray!!!!