MACLA ~ 2012
I just got back from my annual trip to Santo Domingo in
the Dominican Republic. No, it wasn’t a
vacation per se, although much enjoyment was had by all involved. This was the twenty-eighth trip to the lovely
Dominican to operate on the underprivileged needy that have no access to
Plastic and Reconstructive surgery.
This annual trip began my chief year of Plastic Surgery
Residency in 1985 when four plastic surgeons from the University of Missouri in
Kansas City went to a chicken ranch eleven kilometers from the Haiti border and
set up a M*A*S*H unit operating on 110 people with severe burn scars, cleft
lips & palates, hand deformities and multiple congenital deformities with
names you’ve never heard of.
Dr. Tom Geraghty from Kansas City and I, two of the original four surgeons, are now twenty-eight years older and eight-thousand surgeries down the road. We have treated over ten-thousand needy people overall. Dr. Geraghty is the lead of the charity we began so many years ago called M.A.C.L.A. (Medical Aid for Children of Latin America).
Every year has been a combination of joy, sweat, blood and tears. This trip was no exception. The joy all of us involved experience is immeasurable. The sense of satisfaction and fulfillment is overwhelming. The inability to solve all the problems presented to us is humbling. The ever present annual need for our services is inspiring.
Each problem I face is special and personal. The fifteen year old girl I operated on who was burned at age 4 when a propane tank exploded in her father’s one room home and sever face and upper body damage. I was asked by her to create eyebrows and release scars tethering her mid-face when she tried to smile. She cried when she saw her new eyebrows and made me promise to operate on her again next year. She was ecstatic about her result and I was mortified by my inability to make her normal again. Always such a struggle.
Then there was the three year old I operated on last year who pulled a cauldron of scalding water on her shoulder and chest. The resulting scars have frozen her right shoulder. I was able to reconstruct her last year with about 80% range of motion improvement. Round two this year released her shoulder completely. We all cried with her.
The twelve year old boy with the strange tennis ball sized growth behind his left ear just didn’t want to look funny anymore. He didn’t know his growth had a high chance of becoming cancerous if I didn’t remove it. I was able to remove it and reconstruct him with all the scars in his hair baring scalp.
I am very grateful for the people that volunteer alongside me to care for the underprivileged. It is an honor to help to restore function and some sort of normalcy to their lives.
Dr. Tom Geraghty from Kansas City and I, two of the original four surgeons, are now twenty-eight years older and eight-thousand surgeries down the road. We have treated over ten-thousand needy people overall. Dr. Geraghty is the lead of the charity we began so many years ago called M.A.C.L.A. (Medical Aid for Children of Latin America).
Every year has been a combination of joy, sweat, blood and tears. This trip was no exception. The joy all of us involved experience is immeasurable. The sense of satisfaction and fulfillment is overwhelming. The inability to solve all the problems presented to us is humbling. The ever present annual need for our services is inspiring.
Each problem I face is special and personal. The fifteen year old girl I operated on who was burned at age 4 when a propane tank exploded in her father’s one room home and sever face and upper body damage. I was asked by her to create eyebrows and release scars tethering her mid-face when she tried to smile. She cried when she saw her new eyebrows and made me promise to operate on her again next year. She was ecstatic about her result and I was mortified by my inability to make her normal again. Always such a struggle.
Then there was the three year old I operated on last year who pulled a cauldron of scalding water on her shoulder and chest. The resulting scars have frozen her right shoulder. I was able to reconstruct her last year with about 80% range of motion improvement. Round two this year released her shoulder completely. We all cried with her.
The twelve year old boy with the strange tennis ball sized growth behind his left ear just didn’t want to look funny anymore. He didn’t know his growth had a high chance of becoming cancerous if I didn’t remove it. I was able to remove it and reconstruct him with all the scars in his hair baring scalp.
I am very grateful for the people that volunteer alongside me to care for the underprivileged. It is an honor to help to restore function and some sort of normalcy to their lives.
Charles T. Longo M.D. | 4250 H St. Suite #3 Sacramento, CA 95819 | Phone: 916.456.8756 Fax: 916.456.1542