This is turning out to be a great mission We have done five cases so far; two yesterday and three today All of the children that we have operated on have spina bifida; the surgeries have been a combination of closing the spinal defects and placement of shunts that go from the brain to the abdomen to drain cerebrospinal fluid [to treat hydrocephalus] This is not nearly the number of surgeries that we would do on a cleft mission, but these surgeries are much more complicated and take longer The children are all doing great thanks to everyones hard work The Souska Clinic is a very nice hospital and their staff are very well trained and competent, and they are a big part of our success
We have at least four more cases scheduled but there could possibly be more The Tunisian television crews have been covering our mission and now we have parents bringing their children as walk ins because they saw us on TV and are hoping against hope that we might be able to help them
We are in Tunis operating on Algerian children and consulting with Tunisian patients Dr Azzedine Stombouli, who was born in Algeria but is now an American citizen, arranged for these families to come here hoping to get help for their children with spina bifida These parents have brought their children almost one thousand miles from Algeria as this is the first hope that they have ever had to be able to help their children; their gratitude is beyond words
Off to bed as we are getting an early start tomorrow to get as many surgeries done as possible
