Speech and Smile EXPEDITIONS
1st Expedition:
Starts: March 20 th 2010
Ends: April 3rd 2010
City: Careiro-Castanho / State of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 26
Operated on patients: 22
Surgical procedures: 27
Age of patients: from 11 months to 73 years old
Surgical major complications: None
2nd Expedition:
Starts: November 13th 2010
Ends: November 19th 2010
City: Careiro-Castanho, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 24
Patients operated on: 21
Surgical procedures: 21
Age of patients: 4 months to 47 years old
Surgical major complications: None
3rd Expedition:
Starts: April 15th 2011
Ends: April 21st 2010
City: Careiro-Castanho, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 38
Operated on patients: 23
Surgical procedures: 33
Age of patients: from 9 months to 68 years old
Surgical major complications: None
4th Expedition:
Starts: October 16th 2011
Ends: October 21st 2011
City: Careiro-Castanho, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 35
Operated on patients: 18
Surgical procedures: 26
Age of patients: from 6 months to 47 years old
Surgical major complications: None
5th Expedition:
Starts: April 15th 2012
Ends: April 22nd 2012
City: Careiro-Castanho, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 35
Operated on patients: 21
Surgical procedures: 25
Age of patients: from 10 months to 43 years old
Surgical major complications: complications: one 3 year old syndrome patient presented breath difficulty in the immediate postoperative recovery, without major complication.
6th Expedition:
Starts: October 13th 2012
Ends: October 21st 2012
City: Careiro-Castanho, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 23
Operated on patients: 12
Surgical procedures: 14
Age of patients: from 3 months to 37 years old
Surgical major complications: none
7th Expedition:
Starts: April 06th 2013
Ends: April 13th 2013
City: Careiro-Castanho, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 31
Operated on patients: 16
Surgical procedures: 20
Age of patients: from 3 months to 22 years old
Surgical major complications: none
8th Expedition:
Starts: October 05th 2013
Ends: October 12nd 2013
City: Coari, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 50
Operated on patients: 28
Surgical procedures: 49
Age of patients: from 3 months to 37 years old
Surgical major complications: none
9th Expedition:
Starts: September 20th 2014
Ends: September 28th 2014
City: Silves, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 38
Operated on patients: 22
Surgical procedures: 36
Age of patients: from 5 months to 42 years old
Surgical major complications: none
11th Expedition:
Starts: September 15 th 2015
Ends: September 22nd 2015
City: Coari, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 44
Operated on patients: 14
Surgical procedures: 24
Age of patients: from 3 months to 37 years old
Surgical major complications: none
11th Expedition:
Starts: April 01 st 2016
Ends: April 9th 2016
City: Coari, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 39
Operated on patients: 19
Surgical procedures: 24
Age of patients: from 6 months to 55 years old
Surgical major complications: none
12th Expedition:
Starts: September 01st 2016
Ends: April 10th 2016
City: Coari, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 46
Operated on patients: 19
Surgical procedures: 24
Age of patients: from 8 months to 32 years old
Surgical major complications: none
13th Expedition:
Starts: April 22nd 2017
Ends: April 30th 2017
City: Coari, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 50
Operated on patients: 23
Surgical procedures: 27
Age of patients: from 12 months to 28 years old
Surgical major complications: none
14th Expedition:
Starts: September 21st 2017
Ends: September 29th 2017
City: Coari, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 51
Operated on patients: 21
Surgical procedures: 21
Age of patients: from 06 months to 22 years old
Surgical major complications: none
15th Expedition:
Starts: March 16th 2018
Ends: March 23th 2018
City: Coari, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 44
Operated on patients: 21
Surgical procedures: 31
Age of patients: from 12 months to 28 years old
Surgical major complications: none
16th Expedition:
Starts: September 07th 2018
Ends: September 14h 2018
City: Coari, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 48
Operated on patients: 25
Surgical procedures: 30
Surgical major complications: none
17th Expedition:
Starts: March 30th 2018
Ends: April 05th 2018
City: Coari, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 53
Operated on patients: 16
Surgical procedures: 25
Age of patients: from 03 months to 29 years old
Surgical major complications: none
18th Expedition:
Starts: September 20nd 2018
Ends: September 28th 2018
City: Coari, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 39
Operated on patients: 16
Surgical procedures: 20
Age of patients: from 04 months to 18 years old
Surgical major complications: none
Note: Our 19th Expedition supposed to happen on April 2020, was canceled because of Covid 19 pandemic and we restated the Expeditions on April 2023.
19th Expedition:
Starts: April 20nd 2023
Ends: April 28th 2023
City: Careiro-Castanho, state of Amazon
Out patients consultation: 39
Operated on patients: 17
Surgical procedures: 21
Age of patients: from 04 months to 18 years old
Surgical major complications: none
20th Expedition:
The 20th Expedition was supposed to happen from 02 Oct to 12 Oct 2023 at the city of Careito-Castanho, state of Amazon. But it was canceled because lack of money from the Citty Hall to pay for an anesthesiologist.
NOTES and REFLEXIONS in 08/27/2024
Unfortunately, we could not find an anesthesiologist who agrees to go work for free in the 20th Expedition. I am not saying they are guilty for this. All work must be rewarded. Philanthropic work is something out of the rule. The City Hall Mayer told us there was no budget available to pay for this professional and the 20th Expedition “FALA SORRISO” was canceled, leaving tens of cleft lip and palate patients (children, teenagers and adults) without assistance this time (surgical treatment and follow up from operated on patients).
The cancelation of one unique Speech and Smile Expedition brings prejudice to the patients since their treatment follows a chronological sequence. In some cases, as in cleft palate patients, the delay in operate on them, may be necessary speech therapy. The problem is that this professional does not exist in cities in the middle of the jungle. Because of this, we bring in our luggage, what we call “therapeutics toys” (as we describe down), to help these patients to try to speech normal by themselves.
Our work is based on sequential treatment required by cleft lip and palates deformity, and not a unique trip for a “surgical Safary” as Professor Ortiz Monastério, craniofacial Plastic Surgeon from Mexico City, used to describe these single surgical expeditions.
There is something very wrong with the Brazilian health management authorities. Even a Philanthropic work, needing only basic hospital facilities to be performed (Hospital with a well-equipped surgical center) is transformed in an enormous problem by some local authorities. Health budget seems not being adequately managed.
It seems to me that many Brazilian politicians do not feel sorry for the people, principally the most susceptible ones! This touches us as a big sensation of sadness. We are offering for free, the most important (but not the only one) thing which is our specialized knowledge.
It is paradox that the most reach region in natural resources (the Amazon region) in Brazil, is the poorest in human and social development level. This people are not treated by authorities with all respect the human been deserve.
As the “Associação Fala Sorriso” is not provided with a budget fund, and we do not get money donation, we are dependent on City Hall Major’s subventions for the logistics of transportation, feeding and lodging of the medical team, apart from hospital facilities and medicines. If, by any reason what so ever, it fails, we are forced to cancel the Expedition (as the 20th was).
In the Amazon region, the ways are the rivers. So patients depend on the expensive, and slow wood boats. We have a patient with severe facial deformity patient (Number 4 Tessier bilateral deformity, bilateral cleft lip and palate), now 6 year old, who traveled 8 days by boat to reach us. Fortunately, the 2 operations we performed to her so far, was well succeeded. Unfortunaly, she did not return to carry on the treatment, probably because of lack of money.
Life is hard, very hard in the Amazon country side region. In its enormous territory (the whole Europe without Russia), local hospital facilities are far from ideal. There is no intensive care unit at the country side hospitals, and the anesthesia carts are so old that we are forced to breathe the anesthetic gases during the operations. After each operation, I have to take a 15 minutes snap to start the following operation. Not necessary to say that when we go to bed, the sleep comes without delay. Nevertheless, we never had a patient dead or even a hemorrhage which forced the patient go back to the operation theater.
Since March 2010, when we started the “Talk and Speech Expedition”, twice a year, 7 days each time, we have already saw 755 out patients, operated on 391 patients and performed 495 operative procedures (reminding that more than one operative procedure was done in many patients (ex. Lip and palatalplasty at once, is counted as one patient, two operative procedures).