ISMS Team ENT mission to Cavite, Philippines
After
a grueling 38 hours journey, leaving JFK in a blizzard, ISMS TEAM ENT
arrived in Cavite in the Southern Louzon province of the Philippines.
Our team was met with a deluge of giant thyroid tumors and head and neck
pathology. Our ENT Head and Neck Surgeons faced some of the largest
goiters we had ever seen and we were challenged with many thyroid cancer
cases.
Many
of the cases lasted 3-4 hours in length and our team’s stamina was put
to the test. While we ran 2 operating rooms with head and neck
pathology, our Plastic Surgeon was handling the many cleft lip and
palate surgeries that were from the area in and around Manila as well as
patients who traveled for several hours from the hurricane leveled city
of Tacloban for our help.
Our
team was challenged to the fullest with a 6.5 hour parotid tumor
resection and reconstruction that required the skills of all 4 surgeons
due to its complexity.
The people of the Philippines were welcoming and wished our speedy return.
