Back At It…Picture Update!
03/08/2011
A very breif email from Emily this morning:
Don’t know if this is going, but access is terrible. I’m afraid I’m not goin to get any picture out. We are good and back at it. 12 surgeries today. Very exciting, that we have several back from the last couple years. Remember Robert from 2 years ago. Lisa did his lip and he had lots of breathing trouble. He has hydrocephalus and has had much shunt trouble. He is not big enough for palate surgery, but we might do his columella if he is well. He is running a fever so seeing peds and neurosurgery first. One of the lips today is a 38 year old maisai man that has never had his lip repaired. Going to be very exciting!
03/07/2011
Pictures are in! The team is back from “resting” and ready to get started again!
Trina and Brenda recovering Lee after his palate surgery. Lee has been here many times. He has many medical problems including his cleft palate. He is in an orphanage. He has been cancelled several times because of illness, size, and diffuculty inserting his breathing tube. Yipee! Our team was able to get his palate repaired and he has done great. Such a blessing.
Dr. Patti helping Dr. Jared to repair baby Hallington’s cleft lip. She is SO busy the whole time as she is the only anesthesiologist for our team. Thanks Dr. Patti for loving each and every baby so much!
Dr. Lisa, Emily, and 2 year old Shangwe and her mother before a procedure to drain some of the fluid from a malformation on her neck to hopefully confirm what we are dealing with. Shangwe’s mother first discovered the mass when she was 5 months old. She has been to many places to find someone willing and able to diagnose and treat the mass since then. She has been turned away or postposed many times. The plan right now is for Shangwe to have surgery with Dr. Lisa Tuesday to remove what is most likely a lymphatic malformation. Please pray for this precious family as they will have a rough week of surgery and recovery ahead of them.
Dr. Lisa with Dennis. He is an 11 month old who is getting ready to go back to have his lip repaired!
So, I haven’t sent a pic yet, but you guys remember Robert Jesse from 2009. He was the little boy with many limb deformities, hydrocephalus, and spinal deformities. Dr. Lisa repaired his bilateral cleft lip and he had a very hard time after surgery. We were very worried about him for several days. He is here!!! He has had a rough 2 years- many shunts that had to eventually be removed because of failure and infection. He is not big enough or strong enough to have his palate repaired quite yet, but we were hoping to lengthen his columella (divider between his nostrils), so that he can do better when he is able to get his palate repaired. Please pray for Robert. He has a high fever and diarrhea and his head is having some swelling. We are waiting for the Pediatrics Team and the Neurosurgery Team to see him. It would be so good to be able to get his surgery this trip, but we need him to be completely healthy, so we will leave it in God’s hands.
Keep praying for these babies, thier families, and the team as they prepare, operate and recover each and every one.
Blessings,
Jessica
Change of Face......Bridging the Gap Blog 
March 7, 2011 at 1:51 PM
You all are amazing! Thank you so much for the wonderful work you do (here and over there). Not just the repair work, but also the love you show to our little ones. We are praying for you and all the families you help.
March 7, 2011 at 4:20 PM
Just a note to encourage you guys. Today’s the big day with the cystic hygroma…oops, I know it’s a lymphatic malformation. I just said that to get Lisa riled up enough to do a good operation. Hopefully not like Jil’s operation. Hey, by the way, doesn’t anyone respond to these comments? Am I blogging into a black hole? And still, no mention of Ed Woody. Not even a picture. What’s up with that? Lisa, Emily, Leslie and Patti all look very nice in the pictures. This really keeps me up to date. Good luck tomorrow.
Comments by Charles
March 8, 2011 at 11:06 AM
No, you aren’t blogging into a black hole! 🙂 Lisa and the team have very poor internet connection and aren’t able to respond. They typically send an email with pictures attached, this year they have had to multimedia message the pictures, to me here in the states, and I do their posts for them! I know they are missing everyone and wish that you were with them!
Have a wonderful day!
March 8, 2011 at 10:56 AM
Dear Lisa and team,
My heart is overwhelmed as I read about all that you are doing for these precious needy babies. GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!! All of this makes us grateful for God’s mercy and watchful care over each of you, and it helps us keep things in perspective.
Lisa, we enjoyed having your Dad visit in Bismarck and are grateful to your Mom for sharing him with us. What a gentleman and wise man!! He has such a big heart and I admire him so very much. Of course I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know but I think God gave you very special parents. The older I get, the more I value the wonderful parents he gave me too.
Keep up the wonderful work you are doing; you are using your God-given talents in such an amazing way!
Bless you & yours,
Auntie Willa
March 9, 2011 at 7:39 AM
praying the lymphatic malformation went well yesterday and that the procedures today went well. I feel a little like NYPD homicide with the time change, because…My day starts when your day ends. At least that’s their motto. Hope a little of my humor keeps you going while I’m not there…though it is a little sick.
March 9, 2011 at 4:21 PM
Tomorrow is your last OR day. Hopefully each of you has a good feeling and will be leaving satisfied. I have been diligently praying for each of you and am pretty clear where I’ll be next year (so each of you can make alternate plans). God speed each of you home. Enjoy the Massai Market and the Kazuri beads. Mostly be sfe and healthy. See you next year.
Love, Charles
March 9, 2011 at 4:26 PM
I am sure they will be looking forward to seeing you next year as well! Thank you for being such a diligent prayer warrior for this team and these families! I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog, while I do know that it isn’t the same as being there on site! Have a very blessed day! Jessica