A Girl Named Nhu

During my time in Can Tho, I had the pleasure to meet many patients and their families. They all have special stories to tell. For example, Nhu is an eight year-old girl with a severe bilateral lip and palate deformity. Our lead surgeon, Rafael Gottenger, was immediately taken by her during patient screening. She was so scared, she was shaking. She had never met a foreigner before.

Nhu's father also has a facial deformity. He had surgery twelve years ago. Although it is evident that Nhu inherited this trait from her father, we do not have a very good understanding of the genetic relationship with deformities suh as cleft lip/palate. Based on our current state of knowledge, currently only 10% to 20% of all cleft deformites have been shown to have a genetic relationship. We had a genetic researcher who was present during the mission. Over 500 genetic specimens were collected from patients with cleft deformities and their family members. Hopefully we will be able to learn more in the future.

Rafi performed Nhu's surgery, and she did very well with her immediate recovery. When she was discharged from the hospital, Rafi presented her with a bicycle. Afterwards, he was waxing philosophic, mentioning that the next time he's frustrated with traffic or issues at work (for example), all he'll have to do is think of Nhu and what she's had to endure to give him some perspective. This morning, Rafi and some of our team members visited Nhu at her home. Although she only lives a few kilometers away from Can Tho, the trip took almost two hours via various modes: taxi, motorbike (the road became too narrow for cars) and then walking the final few kilometers. Her home, which is essentially a small shack, is nestled between a banana plantation and rice paddies. She and her neighbors were quite surprised with today's visit. She gave the team a tour of her village and showed them her school. She is and bright girl, and is appears to be doing very well. She will need additional surgery in the future.

Photo courtesy of Graham Wilson

Rafi has been on numerous Operation Smile missions. He was the surgical team leader for this mission, and I had a wonderful time working with him. He is an amazing human being. Rafi had actually been to Can Tho with Operation Smile ten years earlier. Rafi had operated on little boy with a bilateral cleft lip deformity.

photograph circa 1999

The boy returned to be screened. He still has a cleft palate, but had a wonderful outcome from his lip surgery. Although he showed up too late to have his palate repaired on our mission, we were able to arrange for him to be evaluated and and hopefully receive surgery from Dr. Phuong in Ho Chi Minh City.