GIFF JOHNSON
Statistics tell us one story about the Canvasback ear-nose-throat (ENT) team visit that wrapped up this week at Majuro hospital.
The numbers show the demand for ENT services: The visiting team of doctors, nurses and administrators saw 213 patients in the first week, dispensed 30 hearing aids, completed 15 surgeries and scheduled another 10. In addition to these, 68 audiology examinations conducted.
The numbers are great news.
But when you hear some of the stories of the patients and the difficulties they have suffered with, the adjective rises from “great” to “absolutely fabulous.”
On the first day of the Canvasback ENT clinic earlier this month, eight-year-old Wojkino Janer sat patiently waiting to see Dr. Steve Lee.
Her left jaw was swollen and her little face disfigured.
Canvasback co-founder Jacque Spence told the Journal about a year ago, she probably had a painful tooth which was badly infected and causing swelling. She was put on antibiotics and got a little better and about two months ago a piece of bone came out of her neck.
Dr. Lee suspects that the tooth decay infected her jaw bone. Some of the bone died and split off from the good bone causing a chronic infection, swelling and a facial deformity.
Dr. Lee removed the infected bone and tissue and is hopeful that in about a year, Wojkino will be completely healed.
And a different situation involving another young girl.
Rostina had been complaining of a bad odor in her nose for over a year. So, a few days before her eighth birthday, Dr. Steve Lee with the help of operating room supervisor Zaly Panaguiton and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Junior John performed an exploratory surgery and found something that looked like a candy wrapper.
Little Rostina didn’t remember the incident but was very happy to have the foreign body removed.
Amazing stories every day from the Canvasback visiting team that wrapped up its mission clinics Wednesday. The audiologist will continue providing hearing checkups Thursday morning. The team departs back to the US Thursday night.