Good morning from Nanchang!

Today (Friday) was our first official day of surgery.  15 children were on the OR list for today  These kids had correctable facial deformities like cleft lip and cleft palate.  We have three operating rooms going at once on this mission, with a team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, and OR nurses in each suite.  It was a smooth and safe day today,  and all the kids look great!

As the children are for surgery, they have a chance to spend some time in our pre-op playroom.  Here, they are able to get ready for surgery, and also spend some one-on-one time with our child life therapist, making sure they know what to expect when they  see the nurses and doctors. This opportunity for play therapy helps to reduce any anxiety the children may have before surgery.

In most cases, cleft lip or cleft palate surgery lasts from 1 to 2 hours.  When done, kids are taken to our recovery room to wake up  from anesthesia, and then later to the post-op floor in the hospital where they will spend 1-2 nights before going home.  More about this later.

For now, enjoy some images from the start of our first surgical day in Nanchang...

We awoke this morning to find our screening day covered in the local newspaper on the front page, prominently featuring our Keith our Pediatrician and Henry our Pediatric Intenisivist.  You will also see the sign below  informing families when to return for surgery that we post in the lobby of the hospital.   Thank you for supporting Operation Smile by following the team on this mission!  

I would like to send a big hello back to out friends and families watching this all over the world. We love you and miss you.  

:)

Jeff

P.S.  Hi to Erin and Joseph!