Health
Posted on 12:06 PM, June 18, 2015
By Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman
There’s always a reason to smile
SCIENCE SAYS it takes 43 muscles to frown and only 17 muscles to smile. To achieve a lovelier smile, some people enhance their features and undergo beauty operations to pull off an Angelina Jolie lip or a Ben Affleck cleft chin -- which is actually a facial deformity like dimples. But cleft chin and dimples, though deformities, are considered “beautiful.” On the other hand, there are “ugly” deformities like cleft lip and cleft palate which not only make people frown but they snatch sufferers’ ability to live a normal life. According to research, a child is born with a cleft lip or palate every three minutes. A cleft is a fissure in the lip or the roof of the mouth or palate.
Whether it is adding a “beautiful” deformity or correcting an “ugly” one, behind the nip and tuck is a reconstructive plastic surgeon. In a field often dominated by men, Dr. Nikki Eileen Valencia, 44, and mother of three, is on top of the game. She’s currently connected with De La Salle University Medical Center, the Quirino Memorial Medical Center, St. Lukes Medical Center BGC, and the House of Obagi. As if this was not demanding enough, she squeezes humanitarian work into her schedule. She is currently the team leader of Operation Smile Manila in Sta. Ana Hospital, which helps kids with facial deformities. As its team leader, she oversees the international volunteers from countries like Japan, India, and the US. She decides which cases to prioritize and need more attention and who needs more nutrition -- people with clefts are often undernourished because of a difficulty in eating and swallowing food.
BusinessWorld visited Sta. Ana Hospital last Saturday to witness how Operation Smile conducts the “Gift of Smile,” an eight-day surgical mission which is ongoing simultaneously in Manila, Bacolor, Bacolod, Cebu, and Davao from June 12 to 20. The makeshift tent outside the hospital was filled with the cacophony of wailing babies, pacifying parents, and the noise of public utility vehicles in the sweltering summer heat. In the middle of the crowd of 170 patients sat Ms. Valencia. Her expertise is complemented by her soothing and assuring voice, which is perfect for the children having tantrums who lined up for the free checkup. More often than not, the children with cleft lip and palate have low self-esteem and poor social skills.
FULFILLING CAREERMs. Valencia started her volunteer work in 2003 upon the invitation of a colleague. Since then, she has traveled around the country and across the world to help children with deformities. Operation Smile International (OSI) currently works with 60 countries in six continents. She said it’s fulfilling.
“Every child and every mission is different and has a story on its own,” she said, “but I think my latest mission in Dumaguete made a dent on me.” She said a 50-year-old man with a cleft lip made a request that she should not remove the bandage from his lips after the successful operation. “He said he wanted to surprise his siblings who often teased him with his looks.”
This is just one story. Ms. Valencia has done many operations. One of the many touching stories was a unique case where they repaired the deformities of four siblings, all of whom had clefts. One had a unilateral (one) cleft, the other bilateral (two) clefts, another had a cleft palate, and fourth had all of them. It was touching and successful.
Plastic surgeons not only physically heal their patients but also heal them emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. “The kids are always very special. It’s always fulfilling but because you do it often, it doesn’t mean you’re immune to it. I don’t cry, but it doesn’t mean I don’t feel it,” said the doctor. She added that her compassion doesn’t come from her being a mom. “I don’t think it has something to do with being a mother because humanitarian [work] is universal,” she said.
PRIORITY AND NO DISCRIMINATIONSince 1982, OSI has conducted more than 220,000 free surgical procedures for children and young adults born with cleft lip, palate, and other facial deformities. For its ongoing “Gift of Smiles” mission, the organization targets to treat 750 Filipino children with cleft problems. More than 300 volunteers from 17 nations are helping in the ongoing mission. Currently, the Philippine Operation Smile has 200 volunteers -- nurses, dentists, speech therapists, biomed technologists, and surgeons. Operation Smile has been conducting year-round missions in partnership with public and private groups around the country, with a strong network of highly trained local medical volunteers.
“We don’t discriminate but we prioritize,” said country director of development Roberto Manzano when asked who gets to be operated and who does not. According to Ms. Valencia, patients with cleft palate should see experts when they are as young as one year old, before they learn to speak, so the therapy would be easier and faster. Senior citizens, meanwhile, can undergo cleft lip reconstruction.
An operation costs at least P30,000 and only takes 45 minutes to perform depending on the gravity of the case. According to Mr. Manzano, the organization gets by through donors and sponsors like Watsons, Asia United Bank, J&J, Menarini, and United Parcel Service, among others. Private citizens can also make donations via the group Web site, www.operationsmile.org.ph.
That Saturday, when many were spending a day at a shopping mall or out of town, a bunch of volunteers, both local and foreign, spent it making people happier. After all, it’s easy -- it only takes 17 muscles to smile.
BusinessWorld visited Sta. Ana Hospital last Saturday to witness how Operation Smile conducts the “Gift of Smile,” an eight-day surgical mission which is ongoing simultaneously in Manila, Bacolor, Bacolod, Cebu, and Davao from June 12 to 20. The makeshift tent outside the hospital was filled with the cacophony of wailing babies, pacifying parents, and the noise of public utility vehicles in the sweltering summer heat. In the middle of the crowd of 170 patients sat Ms. Valencia. Her expertise is complemented by her soothing and assuring voice, which is perfect for the children having tantrums who lined up for the free checkup. More often than not, the children with cleft lip and palate have low self-esteem and poor social skills.
FULFILLING CAREERMs. Valencia started her volunteer work in 2003 upon the invitation of a colleague. Since then, she has traveled around the country and across the world to help children with deformities. Operation Smile International (OSI) currently works with 60 countries in six continents. She said it’s fulfilling.
“Every child and every mission is different and has a story on its own,” she said, “but I think my latest mission in Dumaguete made a dent on me.” She said a 50-year-old man with a cleft lip made a request that she should not remove the bandage from his lips after the successful operation. “He said he wanted to surprise his siblings who often teased him with his looks.”
This is just one story. Ms. Valencia has done many operations. One of the many touching stories was a unique case where they repaired the deformities of four siblings, all of whom had clefts. One had a unilateral (one) cleft, the other bilateral (two) clefts, another had a cleft palate, and fourth had all of them. It was touching and successful.
Plastic surgeons not only physically heal their patients but also heal them emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. “The kids are always very special. It’s always fulfilling but because you do it often, it doesn’t mean you’re immune to it. I don’t cry, but it doesn’t mean I don’t feel it,” said the doctor. She added that her compassion doesn’t come from her being a mom. “I don’t think it has something to do with being a mother because humanitarian [work] is universal,” she said.
PRIORITY AND NO DISCRIMINATIONSince 1982, OSI has conducted more than 220,000 free surgical procedures for children and young adults born with cleft lip, palate, and other facial deformities. For its ongoing “Gift of Smiles” mission, the organization targets to treat 750 Filipino children with cleft problems. More than 300 volunteers from 17 nations are helping in the ongoing mission. Currently, the Philippine Operation Smile has 200 volunteers -- nurses, dentists, speech therapists, biomed technologists, and surgeons. Operation Smile has been conducting year-round missions in partnership with public and private groups around the country, with a strong network of highly trained local medical volunteers.
“We don’t discriminate but we prioritize,” said country director of development Roberto Manzano when asked who gets to be operated and who does not. According to Ms. Valencia, patients with cleft palate should see experts when they are as young as one year old, before they learn to speak, so the therapy would be easier and faster. Senior citizens, meanwhile, can undergo cleft lip reconstruction.
An operation costs at least P30,000 and only takes 45 minutes to perform depending on the gravity of the case. According to Mr. Manzano, the organization gets by through donors and sponsors like Watsons, Asia United Bank, J&J, Menarini, and United Parcel Service, among others. Private citizens can also make donations via the group Web site, www.operationsmile.org.ph.
That Saturday, when many were spending a day at a shopping mall or out of town, a bunch of volunteers, both local and foreign, spent it making people happier. After all, it’s easy -- it only takes 17 muscles to smile.
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