Doctor talks of annual trip to fix clefts
Australian plastic surgeon Mark Moore is used to working out of his suitcase.
Once a year for the last 20-odd years, he’s been heading off to Indonesia and East Timor with two bags: one for his clothes and one for his surgical supplies.
In a country of 1 million people, Moore and his team try to make a dent in the number of people with cleft lips and palates.
‘‘If you do something really well in one little area you make a difference – sort of like Rebus clubs or Lions clubs [in other countries],’’ he said.
Moore was in Lower Hutt recently, by invitation of plastic surgeon Swee Tan, to speak about his trips to Southeast Asia over the past two decades.
Clefts are formed when a baby’s lips or palate don’t develop completely in the womb.
For many in countries such as Indonesia or East Timor, the stigma of a cleft can have a profound impact on lives.
Moore works close to the border of East Timor and Indonesia as part of the Overseas Specialist Surgical Association of Australia and sees dozens of patients a year.
They often didn’t learn to speak properly and could be seen as a burden on the community
‘‘If you’re that disabled you have to have someone look after you. If they’re repaired, there’s a chance for them to have a normal life,’’ he said.
‘‘Somebody asked me ‘what’s the hardest bit about it?’. The surgery is hard because you’re doing it in a different environment than here.’’
But the hardest part was being their last resort, he said.
In a recent visit, a woman in her 60s came to the clinic wearing a mask. She chewed betel nut most of her life. ‘‘It makes you feel good,’’ Moore said, ‘‘but chew for a long time and you can get cancer in your mouth.’’
When the woman removed her mask in his clinic, a large part of her mouth had been eaten away by oral cancer. In pain, she also faced being shunned by her friends and family due to the foul smell the cancer produced.
Moore and his team could only discuss palliative care with her and make her remaining days comfortable.
But that’s one of the more extreme cases. More often, Moore’s team can help and see up to 50 patients per week.