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A pair of identical twin boys with identical bilateral cleft lips were just one of the cases brought to Dr. Abraham and his surgical team on a medical mission this past spring to Colombia. The twins were seven months old and only weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces. They had traveled 2 hours by small boat and 6 hours by bus to get to the treatment facility.
The Medical Outreach Program has been supporting Dr. Abraham’s team since 2008 through their organization, Healing the Children-Northeast. Their mission to Colombia focused mainly on cleft lip and palate surgeries. AmeriCares supplied them with the anesthesia and IV sets that they needed to make a difference in over 287 lives, including 74 surgeries.
When the twins arrived on screening day, one twin was sick with fever and wheezing. The team pediatrician felt if one was sick, the other was sure to get sick; but it was decided to keep them for the next few days with the hopes that they would both be well enough to repair their cleft lips.
Every day, first thing in the morning, the pediatrician would go to the floor where they were staying and check on them and everyday one or the other was still sick. Finally on Thursday they both seemed well enough to schedule their surgeries on Friday morning. The team cheered at the news.
Friday morning the team started the surgery on the one twin only to find out that the other twin had spiked a fever during the night and was wheezing again. They had to cancel his surgery so they were only able to repair the one twin’s lip.
One team member summed up their feelings, “We were heartbroken that we were only able to treat the one twin, but we have promised the parents that we will repair the other boy’s lip when we return.”
Happily, this medical team is set to return in February, 2011 and we’ll look forward to sharing an updated picture of both twins upon their return!
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