Recently, I went on a medical mission trip to San Cristóbal de Las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico. I was part of the Scripps Mercy Outreach Surgical Team (MOST), a group of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and other healthcare workers who volunteered to provide much needed surgical care to hundreds of children and adults.
DAY 1
The first day was spent in clinic. MOST volunteers and I screened hundreds of patients with various surgical needs. I saw children (and some adults) who will require ptosis surgery, eyelid reconstruction, tumor excision, facial scar revision, and other much needed surgery.
DAY 2
It was a long yet rewarding day in the operating room. I performed over a dozen of surgeries, including repair of eyelid ptosis, ectropion, entropion, and even strabismus. Post-operative evaluation of the patients carried on until late in the evening.
DAY 3
I started off the day with a little pre-operative humor with my good friend and colleague, Dr. Brian Mailey. Then, we were off to another awesome day in the operating room. I performed eyelid ptosis, congenital entropion/epiblepharon repair, and facial and eyelid lesion excision and reconstruction.
DAY 4
What an incredible day it was today! I started off the day performing surgery on this absolutely adorable little girl with Blepharophimosis Syndrome. I performed an epicanthoplasty with medial canthal tendon plication (and canthopexy), a lateral canthoplasty, and ptosis repair. She did very well during surgery and looked amazing afterwards!
Alas, all good things come to an end. Due to the hard work and selflessness of the MOST volunteers, over 300 patients were served. While the majority of patients were children, there were many adults who had untreated childhood or congenital problems. Many of these problems were treated this past week with life-changing procedures that took less than an hour to perform.
As I returned home, I felt privileged and honored to have been part of this amazing group of selfless individuals whose mission was to give back to those less fortunate.