Operating on a living, breathing human being is tough. The operating theatre is warm, the atmosphere is tense, and somebody’s very life is dependent on the surgeon’s skilled hands.
Even more so, then, when the patient is a tiny little baby, whose body is everything you would expect of an adult – yet so much smaller, more delicate, psychologically so much more is at stake!
My beloved wife, dedicated to her long-time calling, is specialising in pediatric surgery, at the Wits medical school in Johannesburg, South Africa. She and two colleagues are undergoing this training to ensure that they can make a difference in the lives of countless young children in the years to come. They have each made a plan to ensure they can train, but the one thing they need, quite desperately to ensure they can easily see while operating, are “surgical Loupes”.
These eyeglasses, which magnify their patients as they are working to ensure the highest quality surgical precision, cost about $2,500 each. This is out of their reach, as none of them gets paid for the work or the training which they are undergoing. They may be taught by world-class surgeons, but it is in a third-world setting, and as such, money for these three committed doctors are hard to find.
Their institution will make sure the money they pay for them is correctly administered, but cannot fund it themselves. The Loupes are very important to ensure they do not strain and damage their eyes during surgery, so they can operate for many years to come.
The three pairs of Loupes will cost around $7,500 in total, and they will be most appreciative of any support which can be given! Their lives and those of the countless patients they serve (normally they care for about 15-20 patients each at any given time!) will be so much better off for it.
If you would like more information, or to understand more about their journey to specialisation, please feel free to contact me, and I can put you in touch with these special young women!