<\/p>\n
A team of American specialists has been helping Ukrainian children for two days now at the Children’s Medical Center in Lviv.<\/p>\n
A team of American doctors arrived in Lviv as part of the tenth Reconstruction Mission\u2014an international surgical mission that brings together specialists from the United States and Ukraine for complex reconstructive surgeries. The team includes plastic surgeon Steven Orten, pediatric neurosurgeon Catherine Mazzola, vascular surgeon James Sun, former personal physician to Bill Clinton, as well as internal medicine physician and medical journalist Mona Hanna.<\/p>\n
One of the mission’s first surgeries was helping an 11-month-old boy with a rare congenital malformation\u2014encephalocele, a defect at the base of the skull that occurs approximately in one out of 2,000 newborns. With just a few days left until his first birthday, Ukrainian and American doctors call this surgery \u201calmost a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReconstruction Mission is not just about surgeries. It’s a unique opportunity to learn the most advanced techniques and enhance the safety of treating children. Collaboration with international colleagues greatly expands our capabilities and once again confirms that Ukrainian doctors can successfully operate on even the most complex neurosurgical cases,\u201d<\/em> says pediatric neurosurgeon Mykhailo Lovha.<\/p>\n Busy days also await the maxillofacial and vascular surgeons, as the mission cases selected are the most challenging. \u201cOn the first day, together with Steve Orten, we performed a rare surgery to remove a large cyst in the nose that had deeply grown between the nose bones and had been causing recurrent inflammation, pain, and discomfort for 10 years. The boy even had to give up his favorite sport hobby\u2014judo. Now Denys can breathe freely and will soon start practicing his favorite sport again,\u201d<\/em> said maxillofacial surgeon Khrystyna Pohorina.<\/p>\n In the first days of the mission, doctors have already consulted 57 patients and plan to operate on at least 12 children. From November 19 to 21, the mission’s work will continue in Kyiv. \u201cThe program is gradually turning into a long-term international mentorship program, within which more than 900 patients have already been operated on thanks to the cooperation between Ukrainian and American specialists,\u201d<\/em> says Rudolf Mygovych, head of the HMA Foundation.<\/p>\n The mission is initiated by the Ukrainian Christian Medical Association Foundation in partnership with Leap Global Missions, Ed\u2019s Friends, and Razom for Ukraine. The American team works side by side with Ukrainian doctors, which is the main value of the Reconstruction Mission.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A team of American specialists has been helping Ukrainian children for two days now at the Children’s Medical Center in Lviv. A team of American doctors arrived in Lviv as part of the tenth Reconstruction Mission\u2014an international surgical mission that brings together specialists from the United States and Ukraine for complex reconstructive surgeries. The team …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lysty"],"yoast_head":"\n