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summer 2009 |
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H E A L T H P R O M O T I O N
One smile makes
all the difference
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Submitted Photo |
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Operation Smile Dr. Rideout
with a patient showing her new smile for the first time. |
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In May, St. John’s plastic
surgeon Dr. Arthur Rideout joined a team of 50 medical professionals
from around the world in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa,
to treat children born with facial clefts.
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By Jonathan Carpenter |
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In May, St. John’s plastic surgeon Dr.
Arthur Rideout joined a team of 50 medical professionals from around
the world in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa, to treat
children born with facial clefts.
The mission was coordinated by
Operation Smile,
a network of global volunteer health care professionals who are
dedicated to treating children in impoverished countries who suffer from
oral clefting and other facial deformities. Dr. Rideout and his team
assembled in the capital city of Kinshasa where six surgeons performed
215 facial reconstructive surgeries in just five days.
It’s estimated that for every 700 births
in this country, at least one child will be born with congenital
deformities commonly known as cleft lip and cleft palate, which occur
when tissues of the mouth or lip don’t fuse properly during gestation.
Fortunately, the birth defect can usually be corrected shortly after
birth.
However, for children born in third-world
and developing countries, medical treatment to correct facial clefts is
rarely accessible. For many, their ability to eat, speak, hear and
breathe properly becomes an obstacle. What’s worse is that many children
go on to lead a life of ridicule and discrimination as a result of the
stigma associated with the defects.
“I think a lot of us forget that if you’re
born in this country, you’ve really won the lottery of life,” says Dr.
Rideout.
“All parents want to make sure their child
can live a normal life, but in many parts of the world, that’s not
always an option,” he adds.
Since 2001, Dr. Rideout has traveled to
areas of Honduras, Bolivia, Russia (including Taterstan and Novosibirsk,
Siberia), Kenya, China and the Philippines donating his talents at local
health care facilities.
“The days start at around 6 a.m. and last
until 8:30 p.m. The operations are usually performed in a hospital, but
our version of a hospital and versions of hospitals around the world are
very different. The local electricity and infrastructure may not be what
we’re accustomed to so there’s always a certain degree of adaptation.
I’ve worked in everything. Some hospitals are on par with ours, while
I’ve worked in some places where cows are grazing just outside the
operating room,” says Dr. Rideout.
With a population of about 9.5 million,
Kinshasa is a city of sharp contrasts, with affluent residential and
commercial areas coexisting alongside sprawling slums. Since 2003, the
city has been striving to recover from disorder and violence stemming
from the Second Congo War, which killed more than 5.4 million people.
Kinshasa is currently rated as one of Africa’s most dangerous cities and
is currently listed as “dangerous and unstable” on Canada’s Travel
Warning List.
“There can be a certain degree of risk
with traveling to some of these countries. Then there are the risks that
come with operating like HIV/AIDs, hepatitis C and B and malaria, any of
which can end my career. So I have responsibilities that I have to
balance out,” says Dr. Rideout.
“For me to be able do this, I need the
support of everybody; my wife, who takes care of the kids for several
weeks and my colleagues, who will need to monitor and care for my
patients while I’m gone. I depend on a lot of people to allow me to do
this and I’m very thankful for that.”
Because this was Operation Smile’s first
visit to the Congo, the mission attracted more than 500 families who
arrived with children in need of surgery. However, due to resource and
time constraints, the mission could not safely perform more than 215
corrective surgeries.
“Whenever this service is provided there
is always a flood of people. Unfortunately, for whatever number they
select to operate on, there is always twice that number there who need
to be seen. It’s heartbreaking. So you tell them you have to do this for
safety and that you will be back,” says Dr. Rideout.
He explains that families with children
who were not able to receive the surgery were identified and will be
followed up by Operation Smile in 6 months so that the remaining
children can have their surgeries within a year.
“All parents, no matter where they live,
want to make sure their child can live a normal life and the efforts
these parents go through for their kids is phenomenal. One story in
particular stands out of a desperate mom who traveled on foot 3 days to
get to the hospital. She arrived on the last day begging us to do the
surgery. Purely by chance, another baby could not have their surgery due
to pneumonia. So we were able to operate on her child. She was so
overwhelmed. She never dreamed it was even possible to have cleft lip
and cleft palate surgery.”
In addition to contributing free medical
treatment, Operation Smile provides well-baby clinics, immunizations and
basic health care education on matters such as sexual education or
nutrition. The organization also trains local medical professionals and
leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term
self-sufficiency.
“If there’s a medical school or local
surgeons, they come in and observe. And there’s a lot of interchange. I
learn a lot too, just by watching the guy next to me. For me, it works
on all levels. I get to learn, I get to meet people, I get to travel and
I get to do what I love to do,” he says.
“There are a number of professionals
involved in these missions who use their talents in different ways and
this is just my way to contribute. It also sends a good message to my
children; how giving your time and talent for somebody else can make a
difference. Because at the end of the day it’s all about the kids
getting the surgery and this 45-minute operation, which we all love
doing, can change somebody’s life.”
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