Manabi Ecuador

July marked my move to Ecuador. I’m still doing the same things with MMI, just helping now with the projects in Ecuador instead of Peru. When I arrived I headed straight off to the Province of Manabi, which is on the Coast. Part of our team was surgical and the other part clinical. The surgical side stayed and worked out of an operating room in Portaviajo while the Clinic traveled to different cities each day. This project I translated for a doctor in the traveling clinic, which was something I didn’t know if I was quite ready for, but I think I managed all right.


In this specific part of Ecuador they have a very high number of clef-lip/clef-palette patients. In our time there we saw 19 patients with this condition and did 9 reconstructive surgeries. I was able to take photos in one surgery and I was completely blown away by the procedure. Our surgeon, Richard Topazian fixed the cleft lip, the surgery was about 1.5 hours. It was a process of cutting deeper into the lip and nose to firmly attach the skin. This patient in particular, 6month old Luis, had what is called a “full complete” meaning the lip is disconnected in two places. We preformed the first and less serious of 3 surgeries this Child will need to fully repair the defect. The first to correct the lip, second to repair the cleft pallet on the inside and third will be a series of plastic surgeries to reshape the mouth, as it still looks deformed after the first surgeries. The plastic surgery phases are something that usually will never be done.