Date: Sunday, January 11, 2009, 3:58 PM
Greetings from Santiago, Isabela, Luzon, The Philippines,
We met the team, Anita and John in SF. There are many new people on the team and I only know 5 out of the 24…so will have many new friends in a short time.
Philippine Airlines let the medical team board at the same time as the 1st class….very nice. Spent a lot of time with the flight attendants explaining where we were going and what we were going to do. Just like all Philippinos I have met they extremely warm and friendly. They wanted to see photos of the children so I got out my computer to show.
Our flight left at 9 pm so I passed up the 1st meal so I could take my Ambien and get some sleep. And it worked….I got a good 6 hrs before I woke up.
We have about 2 hrs before we land at Guam for refueling and then another 3 hrs from there to Manila.
For the 1st time on one of these trips I have had NO problems with restless leg. I think partly because of the Potassium I have been taking and partly because of the new shoes….the most comfortable I have had. Also, my back is holding up quite well…a little tender on Thursday after I got to Denver but no problems on the plane to SF. At SF we stood around for quite awhile and it was a little touchy by the time we got on the plane. But, the seat on the plane was not bad and I was on the aisle on the outside and there was no one else in that row because the oxygen bottles were next to the window. So, I got to stretch out more than usual. Tried to sleep between Guam and Manila but, even thought I took a Lorazapam I couldn’t. Hope I can last for the rest of the day.
After we arrive in Manila we’re going on a tour of the city. so we'll have something to do with the 9 hr layover before we fly to Cauayan (pronounced Hawaiian only with a C.) Barbara is already in Santiago and will be coming to Manila with a truck for all the medical boxes and luggage. The commuter plane we’ll take does not have enough room for all that stuff.
Saturday/Sunday, 1-10/11
Well…that last paragraph was not entirely true. We did do the city tour and it was fantastic. A four hour tour, we toured Old Manila to see some of the historic buildings and some of New Manila. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. And we did go back to the airport for the final leg of the trip but that’s where the truth gets stretched. Our flight was cancelled because of low ceiling at Santiago City so we ordered a bus which took 3 hrs to get to us at the airport. Then, it was a 9 hr trip over the mountains to Santiago and we finally arrived at 3 a.m. this morning. Wake-up was at 7:30 and we began the clinic at 9:00. By the end of the day we had seen over 122 children who needed surgery. And, we saw more primary cleft lip deformities than any of us have ever seen in one day. These kids really need our help.
The parents and children who came today need our help more than on any other trip I’ve experienced. This is now my 7th mission for AfS and I’ve never seen so many children, and adults with such extreme cleft lips. On all the other missions we have left knowing we helped children. But, at many of the Chinese hospitals many of us wondered just why we were there because the Chinese have the knowledge and resources so help themselves. These people don’t.
At our welcoming banquet Sunday night the Philippinos went all out to show just how much they appreciated us being there. There was food (more than we could eat and some we weren’t sure we wanted to eat,) entertainment, dignitary speeches and singing. One group of about 30 children from a Catholic church sang and danced and they brought tears to my eyes. They were just unbelievable.
Monday, 1/12
Now the work begins. The first of possible 120 surgeries will begin this morning and we’ll begin to really experience the real reason we’re here.
Today I had one of the most moving experiences since joining Alliance For Smiles. One of the afternoon surgeries was done Miguel Corpuz, a 15 yr old boy who had traveled 3 hrs with his mother go have the surgery. Miguel had been living all his life with a huge bi-lateral cleft lip…one that had two splits. Nearly the whole front of his mouth was open. The surgeon who performed the operation was Sumeet Teotia from Charlotte, NC. Sumeet has been on other AfS missions and has done some of the more complicated cases. The repair he was able to do on Miguel was incredible and completely changed his appearance. I was in the recovery room when Miguel’s mother first came to see him and I wish you could have been there too. Watching her face as she saw her son for the first time was one of the most emotional times of any mission. She just stared at him. I didn’t see her shake her head but I’m sure she was shaking it on the inside and saying to herself…”is this really my son….is this really true?” Then, the other staff members who had not seen Miguel before the surgery asked me to bring up the “before” photo on the computer so they could see the difference. No one could believe the change. Then Miguel’s mother came to look at the photo and, when she did the tears just rolled down her cheeks. She came to me and gave me a hug and then to Sumeet as the tears continued.
All of us agreed that the $250 that it cost to do the 2 1/2 hr surgery was nothing compared to the change that will now be possible in Miguel’s life.
I have attached photos of Miguel and his mother so you can see the dramatic transformation.
fowler
