Operation Smile International 2016 Bacolod, Philippines: 56 doctors, nurses, staff; 149 surgeries to repair cleft lip/ cleft palate: 149 Filipino children smiling, post-op
         Myra was in the Philippines for a week to assist in surgeries of the Operation Smile International foundation, with 56 doctors, nurses, and other volunteers from the USA, Philippines , Russia, UAE , Japan and Canada assigned to Bacolod, Philippines.
           Operation Smile is “an international children’s medical charity that provides free life-changing surgeries for children with cleft lip, cleft palate” and other facial appearances that need to be repaired.
         Last week, a total 149 cases of cleft lip and cleft palate of children were surgically repaired, from June 24 to July 1, 2016 in Bacolod, Philipines alone under the auspices of Operation Smile International. 
      (photo from Myra Lambino’s mobile)    

       Cleft palate surgery (which is more complicated than cleft lip surgery) is a delicate operation that requires “rebuilding the roof of the mouth” by making an incision on either cleft to create a “specialized flap” of a muscle to “reposition the hard and soft components of the palate ” , or to join the open palate. According to Myra, when the anaesthesia wears off, it can be painful, post-op, but with the loving, caring hands of family members, the patient recovery time is one week to two weeks. Their work  was a success in all the cases.
        Members of Operation Smile International 2016 thank the people of Bacolod for their warmth and hospitality.

      (video of Operation Smile 2016 in Bacolod, below)  

     Video by Aeson Baldevia, Music: “Hold on Tight” by Greg Holden, and a cover of Basil Valdez’s “You”, both used here non-commercially for charitable purposes.