Plastic surgeries on a shoestring

From Heather Hall, DPT ‘11…

One of the doctors on our trip to the Dominican Republic is a plastic surgeon, Dr. Eric Lomax.  He was kind enough to allow other trip members to observe and assist in his surgeries.  This morning was my morning to help him and his wife, Deb, in surgery.

Jessica, a nursing student from Graham Hospital in Canton, joined me, and together we saw how incredibly different it is to perform surgery here than in the United States.  Most of the supplies have been donated from clinics and hospitals in the United States, so sometimes the surgeons have to ‘make do’ with whatever tools are available.  Still, the job gets done!

The first surgery I saw was a scar revision for a woman who had been cut with a knife when she was a child, followed by a nose reconstruction for a man who had been in a motorcycle accident thirty years ago.  The most involved surgery of the day was for a teenage girl from Haiti who had been born with two noses and was undergoing surgery to remove the deformity and reconstruct her nose as well.  Unfortunately, because of limited resources, only half of the scheduled surgeries could be done today, but the surgery on the little girl’s nose from Haiti was a success after four hours.

After lunch I rejoined Bob Benningfield, DC, to teach patients exercises and stretching techniques.  In the evening most of our group walked through San Juan de la Maguana to shop for gifts to give some of the local children and try a scoop of Dominican ice cream.  According to our trip leader, ice cream has only existed in the Dominican Republic for around fifteen years!  It’s hard to believe that so much has happened in so little time, and I am excited to see what will happen next.