What’s ahead this week? There are two primary categories of surgeries – Ear/Nose/Throat and Urological. Following patient screening, CSI surgeons, local surgeons, and the clinical lead created their plan for the week.
Dr. Ebone Bady and Dr. Phillip Chaffin, along with our local colleagues, will perform 28–30 ENT surgeries for pediatric patients. These will include cleft lip repair, cleft palate repair and nasal stenosis repair.
For urological surgeries, Dr. Pankaj Dangle and Dr. Kara Saperston, along with our local colleagues, will see 27 patients, all returning for follow-up procedures.
As children grow, their changing bodies can require additional procedures. The ongoing partnership between CSI and College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, means these children can continue to receive the surgical care they need as they grow – and it’s always heartening to see these children and their sweet faces as they get older!
#pediatricsurgery #Ethiopia #globalhealth #changinglives
So much happens on screening days. CSI surgeons consulting with local surgeons on plans for the week. The flurry of unpacking the 20+ suitcases of supplies and organizing them into a temporary storage space for the week. Setting up the ORs. And the actual screening of patients to clear them for surgery — more than 90 children were screened today!
Amid all this, CSI’s mission of education shines through.
It’s not unusual for a child to not pass screening for surgery due to low vitals or weight. But families aren’t turned away – they’re supported to help get the child to where they need to be for surgery.
In the first photo, nurse Amy Smith, working through an interpreter, is showing a family member how to use specialized Dr. Brown's feeding bottles. The family will be sent home with bottles and formula to ensure a cleft-palate infant can thrive, grow, and be healthy for a future surgery.
The local team in Bahir Dar will then work with the family to schedule the child for a future CSI trip. These ongoing relationships with families and patients are some of the inspiring moments that help fuel volunteers through a very busy day.
#cleftstrong #pediatricsurgery #globalhealth #teamwork
24 bags across 26 volunteers is how we get there!
Agility and patience are never in short supply on a CSI team. Each trip starts with ordering and packing all the medical supplies and equipment needed for each surgery — both planned and potential.
For Ethiopia trips, all supplies are physically carried by the team in bags that are moved, scanned, tracked, and re-tracked 20+ times from CSI offices to Tibebe Ghion Hospital in Bahir Dar.
That’s more than 500 logistical touchpoints just to get to the first surgery next week!
Shoutout to Jennifer Gill and Charlie Vanek who are leading this and core logistics efforts for this trip.
#teamwork #changinglives #globalhealth #pediatricsurgery
Safe travels, or Melkam guzo in Amharic — the majority of our Ethiopia volunteers departed for the rest of their long trip to Bahir Dar to #changelives!
#volunteersmakeadifference #PediatricSurgery #nonprofit #Ethiopia
“We were very shameful about the baby's cleft before surgery, now we are proud and we feel very happy about the surgery. We would like to thank you very much.” Parent, Ethiopia