Hello everyone,

Well we've been home for nearly a week now, and starting to get back into normal life.  I would really like to thank everyone on the Cambodia team for such a successful trip.

Not only did 13 little cherubs sail through their surgery without event, we assisted their recovery in true Aussie style - with great skill - and of course lots of fun and laughter.

This trip was the first to Cambodia where we had completed "open heart" surgery, previously we had only completed more simple "closed" cases, and the first trip to Cambodia for 4 years.  This trip will be a great springboard for us to have a greater impact in Cambodia in the future.

With over 70 OOH trips amongst the Operating Theatre team alone, it is no wonder the the theatre was "cruising".  Operating in another country with different equipment and staff is never easy, but training others with a language barrier is even more stressful.  Watching the team in Cambodia no-one would have known that!

This was our first look at the Intensive Care Unit in Cambodia.  Thankfully there were few surprises and our crew, with great confidence and expertise had it all sorted in no time.  One of the Cambodian nurses said to me that our staff were the best teachers that had visited the unit - what a great compliment to OOH and the volunteers!

Thank you everyone for imparting your knowledge and wisdom to our Cambodia friends in such a spirited manner, and making a difference to the families and patients and to the staff of Angkor Hospital for Children.

So to finish off our Cambodian experience, I'd like to share the lighter side of our time away.  Here are my favourite quotes from our Cambodian colleagues:

1. "You (Australian team) are so cheap and easy!" [We hope they mean our techniques!]

2. "You will come back won't you?  Next month?"

3. "The difference between the Australian team and the American team is you are so much older!" [Great thanks!]

4. "We like it when you come - you operate really quick and we go home earlier!"

5. "Yes I can understand you - about 60% of the time"

6. "Thank you for your lessons, I feel a better person now"

7. "How I say your name? Fi? (Fiona) Fi? You sound really expensive - like school fee!"

Check out the photo slideshow below on a truly amazing week away!

Cheers,

Fi Hyde.
Project Leader - OOH Cambodia 

P.S.  If you are seeing a blank screen below, it is likely YouTube is not available from your computer, tablet, phone of wherever you are reading this from.

Hello everyone,

Well this will be my final blog post.  I, along with the rest of the team, arrived home on Sunday morning after a truly remarkable week away with and seeing 13 little lives changed for ever.  The photo below is the team (well nearly all of us) at the hotel as we were leaving to fly home.

I was privileged to meet and see first hand the great work the Operation Open Heart medical team does and am truely thankful for this unforgettable experience.

A special thanks goes out to Fiona Hyde, our inspiring team leader who kept the machine organised and well oiled and worked tirelessly both before and during our time away.  You'll hear from Fiona in a wrap blog-post tomorrow.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the stories of another OOH tour and I loved the opportunity to be able to bring that to you.

So until we can all get on board again, please take care and whether you consider yourself a donor, volunteer, supporter or friend (or all of the above!) of Operation Open Heart thank you for your wonderful contribution and support.  We can't do it without you. 

Cheers,

Chris Lapointe

Earlier in the week, I managed to skip town for 36 hours and head to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh with a couple of the ICU team.

It was an incredible educational experience for us, and really gave us an insight into the history and why the country has the many challenges it currently has. We visited the Genocide Museum and The Killing Fields where 20,000 innocent Cambodian men, women and children were tortured and murdered during the Pol Pot led Khmer Rouge dictatorship 1975-1979.

There were many similar camps spread through Cambodia with over 2 miilion of the 8 million population murdered or starved to death during the period of the Khmer Rouge. Their only crime was that they were educated and possibly represented some tangible threat to the regime. It is hard to believe that this could occur in our recent history just 35 years ago.

Other points of note were that the traffic in this city was best sumed up as "organised chaos" with cars, bikes and scooters all doing as they please with a simple honk of the horn used to warn other drivers that they were not stopping. We had 4 what I would term "near misses" in our tuk tuk in 36 hours while in Sydney on my motorbike not 1 in the 6 months I have held my licence. One motorbike rider had his 4 young children on the back of his bike, with no helmets, while the adult driver was obviously required by law to wear his.

I turned a year older on this little express adventure and yes probably one of the best and most memorable birthdays I have ever had .... very nice.

We all returned to Siem Reap by plane after the 36 hour stay and were keen to check on the progress of the children and get back to work.

The final surgeries are completed on Friday - our last full day in Siem Reap. The procedures have gone without incident and all kids will recover fully and have the opportunity to live a normal Cambodian life. They will be amazed at the increased energy and strength they have with their repaired hearts.

The first 3 cases that I reported on will all be discharged tomorrow and it is fantastic to see the smiles return to the kids and parents faces. I have included a photo of little Sierroth Mon the 1st case operated on with her Father after a session of physiotherapy.

The Cambodian medical team have learnt lots from our team and they will have a chance to put what they have learnt into practice shortly.  A team from Singapore similar to OOH, arrive in a few weeks to take on new cardiac cases. Our team is already planning a return visit to Siem Reap as its been a hugely successful trip and the local medical group love having us around.

Friday ends with a delicious team dinner at the Grand Hotel and we are treated to a cultural show featuring the local people performing traditional Cambodian dances and martial arts. 

A trip like this is certainly not your average overseas adventure.  With the OOH machine well oiled and running smoothly, a few of took the opportunity to see something of Cambodia other than a hospital, and try quadbiking.

For many, it is a well deserved break from many long hours of care they have been providing in the childrens hospital. 

We tour through many little villages offering toys, bubbles and blowers to many of the kids who want to rush out and welcome us with a gentle wave or a high five.  We pass many water buffalo and dilapidated old huts and witness first hand the simple life that these people live. It is in villages just like these that many of the OOH patients have come from.

Our best stop is at a school that teaches English to over 600 Cambodian children and also houses an orphanage to over 70 children. This was an unexpected stop so many of us will return tomorrow to drop off more games, puzzles, books and clothes to these kids. The school is very basic with classroom furniture of old timber benches that are often falling apart. We are greeted by a delightful 14 year old girl who takes us all on a quick tour of the school.

The tour finishes with us all a little bit wiser about the country living in Cambodia that many of our patients will be returning to soon.

Once surgery is complete, the kids are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit to be closely monitored by our fantastic team of ICU nurses. They are responsible for keeping the patients stable, and their knowledge and skill is evident.  Kids bounce back quick I am told, and soon most are ready for transfer to the general ward sometimes within 24 hours. Importantly the local ICU nurses are taught valuable techniques and classroom trained that will equip them with the skills to cope with the level of care needed when surgery are performed independently by the local team.  

After a quick stay in ICU, they come to the ward, which is quickly becoming my favourite place to be.  The ward is managed by Rebecca Dinn who is responsible for again training the local nurses in post op cardiac care including valuable physiotherapy. This ward is incredibly busy with 15 beds set up with both the kids still requiring surgery, their parents, and the post-op kids and their parents.

One parent generally sleeps with the child in his or her bed both before and after surgery and many are waiting for days before their child has their turn on the operating table. It's amazing how different the conditions compare to a local Australian public hospital, and it is evident that we really have not much to complain about in Australia.

Rebecca provides the parents with colouring in books, crayons and balloons to help entertain the kids. They adore their gifts and the smiles are priceless as they spend hours playing with the most basic of toys.  There are no Nintendos, Playstations, or electronic games in sight!! Despite being stable, the kids are incredibly sore on arrival from ICU, however the best recovery techniques involve trying to get their bodies moving.  Rebecca and team set up some simple games that act as basic physio. This includes blowing bubbles into a small bottle of water through a hose and reaching up to softly hit balloons with their hands. These tasks are aimed at getting fluidity back into their chests. The second patient the 9 year old boy does not understand the bubble blowing through the tube and wants to suck instead of blow. I get my own tube and bottle and visually illustrate what he needs to do. He gets it and performs the activity bringing a smile to his and his fathers face. 

It's not very often a non-medical person gets to observe an entire open heart operation, something I had the experience of doing today.  The only time I have been in an operating room was as a patient a while back, and let's face it I dont remember much of that!!

The first thing that amazes me is the amount of time and care that is taken to prepare the patient (OOH's 4th case of this trip) for the surgery.  Many anaesthetic tubes and needles are inserted into the patient and the correct dosages of anaesthetic delivered.

Once ready, the chest is opened with a saw and the heart-lung machine tubes are inserted with unbelievable precision.  The heart then stops beating, and the patient is kept "alive" by the expertise of the perfusionist and the bypass machine.

This bypass (also often called a heart-lung machine) is absolutely essential in these operations.  The surgeons can easily repair the small hole in the heart by sewing in a life long last patch to the non-beating heart.

The local surgeons assists and performs some of the delicate operation, with this time Dr. Yishay Orr - carrying out the repair under the watchful eye of Dr. Ian Nicholson.  With the education and support provided by our team, we are hoping the local team will soon be able to perform the entire surgery themselves.

I am surprised how relaxed the team are in the Operating Room with such delicate and life changing surgery.  They are incredibly capable and perform this surgery many times a week in Australia. 

I am reliably told that the relaxed attitude is why the Cambodia team love working with the Aussies so much - they learn a lot in an encouraging evironment conducive to learning.  They are not intimadated by us and feel at ease and happy to ask questions and learn from the medical group.

Midway through the air conditioning shuts down and can't be restarted for some reason.  It's a little bit warmer and the brows a bit more sweaty that what they'd like, but as they say "the show must go on" and the team doesn't miss a beat (is that a bad cardiac surgey joke I wonder?!).

The surgery is a success and lasts a little over two hours.  The patient comes "off bypass", and those tubes removed.  The repaired heart starts beating again, and the patient is now running under "his own steam" again.

It's something I will not ever forget, and feel very appreciative to the whole surgical team and the family involved for allowing me to witness the whole operation.  I again reflect on my own daughter's hole in the heart, thankful that the hole in her heart closed naturally and our family did not have to face surgery.

Next up, I am off to Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) to understand a little of the country's recent history, and how it is rebuilding itself.  I'll share my thoughts on that with you tomorrow...

The whole OOH team and local Cambodian team doing what they do best.

That's me - aka Dr. Chris - on the left in my surgical attire, looking all official!

Two operations were performed yesterday.  This was less than the plan for the day, however teething problems in setting up theatres and accessing required drugs slowed things down in the morning.

I was quite surprised in how much is involved in preparing someone for surgery.  Most of the first hour is spent preparing the patient with anaesthetic under the instruction of anaesthetist Dr. David Baines with support from the local staff.

Once surgery commences, Dr. Ian Nicholson is the head surgeon, assisted by Dr. Yishay Orr and cloesly observed by the local hospital surgeons who are learning these procedures.

Backing up the surgeon are the two theatre nurses, Kim Stuart and Maree Standaloft, and the heart-lung (bypass) machine by Lynne McKellar. 

2 or 3 hours later, the hole (ASD) is completely repaired.  The families are informed, and the relief and delight on their faces is priceless.

I have put in photos showing the 1st child, 18 month old girl Mon before, during and after her operation and the team performing the operation.

The two patients spent the afternoon and evening in ICU, and were admitted to the general ward today. The rate of recovery is amazingly quick with Mon soon sitting up and smiling and soon ready to face the world with renewed energy and strength.

Today I get the opportunity to observe an operation myself and to be honest I am really not sure what to expect or how I will react. However I know this experience will be one I never forget. Cant wait to let you all know about it!

Out of 14 remaining children selected for screening the doctors decide to operate on some of the more low risk children first.

The first child chosen is a beautiful girl, 18 months old and weighing 9kg. Her name is Mon and is she is brought into the ultrasound room totally sedated and asleep.

On close examination, she is confirmed to have an operable hole in the heart - An atrial septal defect, or ASD to those medically trained (and which I am quickly learning the lingo!). Incredibly, I am told that her heart defect is fairly easily fixed but this hasnt been possible until now. By supporting the Cambodian medical and nursing teams this child will have her surgery today and can look forward to an improved quality of life.  

The 2nd patient is a bubbly and bouncy 9 year old boy with a similar ASD heart abdormality. The fear is evident in this boys eyes and that of his father as he lay on the screening table for his ultrasound. He is the same age as my daughter so my repore with him is instant. After hearing the good news that he will be operation #2 his demenour changes to one of hope and optimism. I get to meet his family that have travelled over 180km to the hospital and waited over 12 months for surgery.

I think the third little girl is adorable with the cheekiest of smiles and again her condition is operable. Her mother is delighted as she will be 3rd on the list for operations.

Touchdown for the team in Cambodia for the first time in 5 years occurred at about 1pm on Saturday.  Shortly after, the team was at work with the first meeting at teh Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap.

Since our last visit, the hospital has purchased a state-of-the art $400,000 bypass machine.  This piece of equipment is critical for "open heart" surgery so it is now possible to teach the local cardiac surgeons these more complex procedures.  More than 600 Cambodian children require surgery to restore their quality of life.

The medical team met with the local Cambodian Cardiologist within hours of arrival in the Charitable childrens hospital in Siem Reap and were given the heart breaking news that out of the 15 children to be screened for surgery - a little 18 month old baby had died the day before

The medical team brings together the best of cardiac talent from Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and includes 1 Cardiologist, 2 surgeons, 1 anaesthetist, 2 operating theatre nurses, 6 intensive care nurses and 1 ward nurse and physio. 

As a combined group they have completed over 75 Operation Open Heart visitis to countries like Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, PNG, Tonga and Fiji.

Hi everyone, my name is Chris Lapointe and this is my first OOH trip.  I have been given the responsibility of keeping everyone back home up to date with all the stories and happenings direct from Cambodia.  I'll be your eyes and ears for the next week!

Even though I have no medical background this trip is especially meaningful for me.  My beautiful daughter (who is now 9) was born with a small hole in her heart.  Thankfully, this proved to be non life-threatening or life-altering for her.  As parent, I was scared and concerned, so I understand the worry that these Cambodian parents must be feeling for their children. 

Living in Australia our family was lucky.  We have a monitoring system for newborns to detect these heart murmurs, so referrals can be made to cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons who can action a solution.  In Cambodia, sadly this does not exist and kids are born everyday with heart defects that go totally undetected and affecting the quality of life of so many children and families.  And this is where Operation Open Heart is being part of that solution.

I can't wait to get to Cambodia, and look forward to sharing all the news and stories with you on arrival!

Cheers,

Chris

2011 was a big year for Operation Open Heart with the celebration of our 25th Anniversary.  Along with our colleagues who make up the wider HealthCare Outreach program at Sydney Adventist Hospital, we held a photographic exhibition aptly titled "Art from the Heart".  If you missed the exhibition last year, click here to see our slideshow of photos from the event.

Last week we hung a selection of the pictures in a permanent display in the foyer of Sydney Adventist Hospital.  It is fantastic to see so many patients and visitors stopping to have a look, and making such positive comments.

So if you are at OOH Headquarters anytime soon, make sure you stop by the main foyer and check them out!

Last week, popular recording artist Jessica Mauboy was in Papua New Guinea singing for Operation Open Heart.

The function was hosted by Curtain Brothers (PNG) and the local Operation Open Heart fundraising committee. 

The funds raised at the event are used to support infrastructure improvement at Port Moresby General Hospital as well as local project expenses such as patient travel costs, additional staff costs that are incurred when the OOH team is in town.

It is fantastic to see the local business community getting behind Operation Open Heart in PNG.  Our work in Port Moresby continues to work towards the goal of a self sufficient cardiac unit for PNG, and so the local community support and involvement will be pivotal to its success.

Plans for Operation Open Heart's visit to Fiji in 2012 are well underway!

The first steps of patient selection occur next month with a small team flying to Fiji to review the condition of a number of potential patients.  Our main surgical visit will commence in the last week of May.

During our last visit to Fiji, the local television program Close Up on network Fiji One featured Operation Open Heart which we wanted to share with you.

We apologise that the sound levels are a bit low in a few places, and also appreciate Fiji One allowing us a copy of the footage.

Hello everyone,

It's hard to believe I have been home for a week now after another incredibly successful trip to Myanmar.  When we left we had grand intentions of giving you daily updates on everything going on, but technology got the better of us while we were there.

Our work in Myanmar is slightly different to some of the other programs Operation Open Heart is involved in.  Many of the countries that Operation Open Heart visit have zero or very limited facilities to manage cardiac health issues.  However, Myanmar does has an emerging cardiac program for its people.  This means that our focus in Myanmar is predominately on teaching and skills transfer to the local staff, rather than purely providing surgery.

Over time, our work has also diversified to include interventional cardiology through the cardiac cath lab and we are now working across 4 hospitals in 3 cities in Myanmar - in Yangon, Mandalay and Maymyo.

This year's trip was absolutely fantastic.  We had a great team of dedicated volunteers who were keen to share and engage the local staff in as much learning as we could possibly fit into the short time we were there.

A couple of the highlights for me were:

• Starting up our work in Maymyo - the third city for OOH in Myanmar.
• Re-fitting the Yangon General Hospital ICU with some better monitoring equipment.
• The education team, and the attendance of local staff, at the Advanced Life Support training courses across the two hospitals in Yangon.
• Seeing the incredible patient improvements when two of our donated ventilators were commissioned with proper oxygen flow.
• Hearing stories from the surgical team highlighting how their interaction with local surgical staff was the best yet, and improvements in skill significant.

Myanmar is a country on the move.  The political situation, while still challenging, is remarkably improved from a few years ago.  We are seeing a lot more westerners in the country - it is definitely "opening up", and we were grateful for a visit from the Australian Ambassador to Myanmar during our stay.

We've got some great ideas for next year, and are already looking forward to our visit in 2013.  I'd really like to thank everyone involved - the team, the donors, the corporate supporters.  Without you, it would not have happened.

Below is a short clip on our week in Myanmar - I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers,

Chris

P.S. If for some reason you are seeing a blank screen below, it is likely that YouTube is not working / blocked on your computer.  You can click here for a different format of our picture slideshow.

We are pleased to announce that Dr John Wallace has been appointed as the Project Leader for Tonga.

John was one of the key initiators of the original Operation Open Heart visit 25 years ago, and he was also involved in our visit last year.

He replaces Annette Baldwin as Project Leader.  Annette has led the team to Tonga on the past three occasions and has decided to step down as a Project Leader.  Annette still remains active within the management team of Operation Open Heart.

We are delighted that John has agreed to take on this responsibility and look forward to our next visit to Nuku'alofa planned for September 2013.

John currently works in Emergency Care at Sydney Adventist Hospital.

(Dr Wallace is on the right of picture below taken last year in Tonga.  Also in the photo are Ofa and Margaret, who received surgery from Operation Open Heart in 1986 and 1987.  You can read about their reunion by clicking here.)

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year!!  We're back on deck for 2012, and looking forward to sharing another year of Operation Open Heart stories from our travels around the world.

Channel 7 in Sydney ran a story over Christmas on Operation Open Heart during their 6pm news.  For those of you who didn't see, or those that want to see it again, click on the picture below.

Today we had the pleasure of hosting a morning tea with Mr. Paul Fletcher MP and representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The LDS church recently donated funds to Operation Open Heart for the purchase of two new external pacing generators.  The equipment was supplied by our good friends at Medtronic who provided some special pricing for us.

The equipment was presented today by Mr. Fletcher on behalf of the church. 

So what exactly is an external pacing generator?  Well I am glad you asked.  At the conclusion of a cardiac surgery operation, the patients heart is likely to beat erratically and with an abnormal rhythm.  This is a normal occurence after the stress of the operation.  This unit can control the rhythm of the heartbeat and gradually brings the heart in a normal rhythm following surgery.

This important equipment will travel with our teams around the world and will be regularly used. 

We'd like to say thank you to the church for their generosity.

Left to Right: Elder Terry Vinson - LDS Church, OOH volunteers Alison Davidson, Julie Hulston, Adrian Sage and Pam Reid, and Mr. Paul Fletcher MP (2nd from right)

L to R: Elder Terry Vinson (LDS Church), Julie Hulston, Pam Reid.

Bula everyone,

Well Operation Open Heart Fiji has now officially come to an end. Surgery finished last Friday, and we were able to successfully provide surgery to 52 Fijian patients during our stay.

A number of the team enjoyed a few days rest at the end of two busy weeks at a Fiji resort, and it was nice to take a moment to reflect on our experiences. So what were my highlights?

There are so many individual stories – each of the 52 patients were special, and I loved the smiling faces we looked after each and every day.

It was great to work again with Colonial War Memorial Hospital staff. They were incredibly hospitable and looked after us so well. The education and training they otherwise would not have had is incredibly important to the long term development of Fiji health services. We also had some positive meetings about the future, and how we can support even further with development of the local staff in years to come.

I’d like to pay tribute and say thank you to each one of our team members. You were all fantastic. Each person gave 100% of themselves; put aside their own self and preferences to work as a team. They all worked incredibly hard, and I’m sure have come away with experiences and stories that they will never forget. It was a pleasure to work with you all.

We’d also like to thank all our friends, colleagues and donors who have supported us throughout this trip. We hope you have enjoyed the blog and following along with our two week journey. I’d like to take the opportunity to wish you all a safe and happy Christmas also.

To wrap up, I’ve compiled a picture gallery of some of the best pictures over our two weeks in Fiji.

Vinaka Vakalevu (Fijian for Thank you very much),

Melanie Windus
Project Leader

Operation Open Heart Fiji

Bula to everyone who is reading this,

My name is Dr. Alfred Hing.  As the Fiji trip draws to an end,it’s time for some reflections. This is my first trip with Operation Open Heart and it has been quite eventful!  It didn't exactly start out as planned, with flight delays and cancellations, putting us back about 20 hours.  Nevertheless, we made it to Suva and were operating the next day.

I am part of the adult heart surgery team (led by Dr Robert Costa from Westmead / Sydney Adventist Hospital).  Most of what we have done has been double and triple heart valve operations, replacing damaged narrow or leaking valves with mainly mechanical valves. Rheumatic heart disease is quite a public health problem, and while there are screening and preventative programs in place, there is always going to be a great need for surgery.

Furthermore congenital heart conditions such as atrial septal defects, ventricular septal defects (holes in the heart) and Tetralogy of Fallot (a structural abnormality of the heart that causes it to fail and turn babies/children blue) go untreated in Fiji.

It’s been an eye opening experience seeing the level of healthcare available to the people in Fiji. Many of the things we take for granted in Australia is simply not available to the Fijian people. It’s been interesting speaking to the local medical staff here. I’m told the most common operation performed in Fiji are amputations because of the high incidence of diabetes and peripheral vascular disease, coupled with relatively poor access to primary healthcare.

Heart surgery, a specialty available in every capital city and beyond in Australia is non-existent in Fiji, other than the visits made by overseas aid teams from countries such as Australia, New Zealand and USA.

These heart diseases (congenital and acquired) are conditions that are very treatable and that many Australians would get in a timely fashion which many Fijians would not get. It’s sad to think that many Fijians will die prematurely from heart disease, which is treatable with surgery.

I have seen and assessed a number of Fijian locals in the past few days. Quite a few have structural heart abnormalities that will shorten their lifespan and have affected their quality of life (by causing breathlessness and chest pain), but whom we have turned down for surgery because they are too sick or not sick enough to have surgery. Why are they turned down? Operation Open Heart only has limited capacity and we have to choose who will benefit most and who can be put off to the next Operation Open Heart trip. Sadly, many of these patients who have been turned down for surgery during this trip would have an operation sooner if they lived in Australia!

On a personal professional note, I’ve trained in adult heart surgery but I have been fortunate enough to see paediatric heart surgery during this trip. I have also performed my first paediatric heart operation, repairing an atrial septal defect, under the guidance and watchful eye of Dr Ian Nicholson – a paediatric and adult cardiac surgeon (also from Westmead and Sydney Adventist Hospital). So that’s been a milestone in my career!

It’s amazing to see how the team has brought over some 4 tonnes of equipment to set up and run two cardiac operating theatres, performing surgery on babies, children, adolescents and adults, as well as setting up an adult and paediatric intensive care unit for the post-operative care of patients. Every piece of equipment (hardware and consumables) has been shipped over to build a cardiac surgical service from scratch that will only be in existence for around two weeks before it is packed up and returned to Australia.

It’s also been amazing to see what can be done with limited resources (certainly not like the resources available to us back home!), and the ingenuity and inventiveness of team members to “get the job done”.  It has been an honour to work with a team who have given up their own time and also financially contributed to the success of this project, and to work towards a common goal of providing cardiac surgery to the Fijian people. I’ve seen them work very hard…….. I’ve also seen them play hard!

For some reason our Fijian patients have recovered quicker, many of whom are extubated sooner and require fewer pain killers than their Australian counterparts back at home. For example, we operated on a young adult today to repair a ventricular septal defect (hole in the heart) who arrived in intensive care early in the afternoon on a ventilator. By the early evening, he was weaned off the ventilator and was sitting up in bed and talking. That doesn’t happen often back at home……… Bred tougher here?????

For those of you reading from Australia, we do live in a lucky country and whilst we have a healthcare system that we (both healthcare professionals and the general public) so readily criticise, it is vastly better than what many others in the world get (or not get as the case may be).

It takes a trip like this to realise that there are many people in this world who have it much tougher. And who will die early or have a significantly poorer quality of life because of where they are born and live. Hopefully we have made a little bit of difference in this part of the world…. And with continued support Operation Open Heart will continue to do so in the coming years in many other parts of the world!

Thanks for reading,
Dr. Alfred Hing