Pacific Partnership 2010 Doctors Help Mother and Son

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd 2Class (SW/AW) Brian Gaines, Pacific Partnership Public Affairs

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (NNS) -- A mother and her young son will be able to enjoy better lives as a result of the care provided by Pacific Partnership 2010 surgeons working aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19).

U.S. Navy, partner nation, and nongovernmental organization surgeons were preparing to perform corrective surgery to a Cambodian child's urinary tract when they noticed the boy's mother had very poor eyesight. The 40-year-old woman was found to have severe cataracts in both eyes. After making arrangements for post-operative care for the son, the embarked ophthalmologists then performed surgery on the mother to remove one of the cataracts.

"As the boy was being prepped for surgery, we noticed the mother feeling her way around the ship," said Australian Navy Lt. (Dr.) Elizabeth Livingstone, an ophthalmologist currently attached to Mercy. "So we decided to check for cataracts and then decided surgery would benefit the mother."

Ophthalmologists aboard Mercy were surprised to see such advanced cataracts in a woman this age. The first procedure, which took approximately half an hour, was performed at the same time as the child's surgery, which took about three and a half hours.

At the conclusion of both surgeries, both mother and child spent time together in recovery, before being taken back to their respective wards.

"Eventually, we removed the other cataract and the mother now has 20/30 vision in that eye," said Livingstone.

The entire surgical staff celebrated the fact that they had helped this family.

"It is amazing that we could help restore the gift of sight for this woman," said Cmdr. (Dr.) Kent Blade, officer in charge for Ophthalmology. "Otherwise, the child inevitably would have been leading his mother around in a few years."

Not only will the child now lead a normal life, but the mother will now have improved vision," said Cmdr. (Dr.) Brian Auge, a urologist aboard Mercy. "It was also great to see the surgical staff – from administration on down – come together to make this great thing a reality."

The positive effect in the overall quality of life for this mother and son team translates to an overall improvement for their community – half-day's travel away – by enabling them to become more productive members who will no longer be affected by a medical condition," said Livingstone. "The mother must have given me a dozen hugs as they departed Mercy."

Pacific Partnership 2010 is the fifth in a series of annual U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance endeavors aimed at strengthening regional partnerships among U.S. government organizations, host nations, partner nations, and international humanitarian and relief organizations.