A Gringa No Brasil

Hooray for free surgery! For a few days last week and the week before, I was helping with a medical brigade in Tegucigalpa for people with clubfoot - a congenital condition in which the foot turns inward at the ankle. It was coordinated by Sandy, a former Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Honduras in the late '90s. She now returns to Honduras for up to five months every year to try to help kids in need of surgery. You can read more about her on her website: http://www.sandyinhonduras.org/ . She contacted the current Peace Corps Volunteers through the director of the PC Health project to let us know about the brigade for clubfoot. Everything was fully paid for and the surgical team was flown in from the U.S.; all the families had to do was show up.

I talked to the director of the health clinic in my town, but she wasn't aware of any cases. I hit a stalemate with that because I wasn't sure how to go about publicizing this great opportunity. Luckily the volunteer in Talanga (the next municipality over) had a stroke of genius and announced it on the town's radio station. Cantarranas doesn't have its own station, but we are close enough to get reception from Talanga so that definitely helped spread the word.

One mother approached me about her son Bryan who doesn't technically have clubfoot, but does have issues walking normally because of a problem in the spine and hips. Another family brought their daughter Suamy to see me because she has a slight clubfoot on the left. Through word of mouth I found out about another boy with clubfoot and went to visit his house. I explained to his mother why I was paying them a visit and showed her a picture of a clubfoot so that she would understand what I was talking about. She was a bit wary at first, but once she saw the picture she nearly cried and went to get her son Gustavo. Both of his feet were turned in so badly that he couldn't walk at all; he got around by either scooting on the floor or being carried by a family member. Sara told me about how it was much easier to handle when he was younger, both because he weighed less and because he was less aware of it. Now, at the age of four, it's more difficult to carry him everywhere and he's asking when he'll be able to walk and run around like all of the other kids.

All three children had been to see doctors before, but none of them had the money for anything more than a consultation. I went with the three children and six parents on Wednesday, January 12th to Hospital San Felipe in Tegucigalpa so they could be evaluated for the brigade. After the initial evaluation, there were follow-up consultations with the surgical team on Thursday and Friday. They decided that Bryan's condition was too delicate to operate on. If they did try surgery, they ran the risk of paralyzing him, and he'd be better off with some physical therapy since he only walks with a slight limp. For Suamy, they also voted against surgery and prescribed special shoes to help her walk more comfortably. For Gustavo, though, it was obvious that the operation was necessary. They got his bloodwork done, started him on some antibiotics, and signed him up for surgery on Monday. Thankfully, it all went off without a hitch. It was amazing how relaxed Gustavo was throughout the whole process. While other kids were kicking and screaming he was just chilling out. I talked to him after the surgery and asked him what happened. "Me operaron," he told me very calmly. "They operated on me." No big deal.

He's back at home with two full leg casts and is scheduled for a follow-up appointment at the end of the month. I went to visit a couple days ago to see how he was settling in and dealing with the casts. He said they didn't bother him or itch and didn't weigh that much either. The only thing he was a little upset about was that he didn't have pants or shoes that would fit over them.

I took a few pictures too if you're interested: Medical Brigade for Clubfoot