Patients who require surgery are shuttled out to the “Mercy” via the “band-aid boat.” On board the ship, they are prepared for surgery. Each patient comes with an escort, usually a family member. We also have Timorese interpreters who are staying on board the ship with us in order to allow us to communicate with the patients.
This little boy has a large cyst on his back that will be removed by a general surgeon on board who is a doctor in the Portuguese military. The anesthesiologist is a doctor in the Australian military.
One of the most frequent surgeries done here on the ship is cataract surgery. However, in order to perform this surgery, the eye surgeon needs to implant a special plastic replacement lens into the eye of the patient. “Mercy” had a limited number of these lenses available for this mission. Fortunately, LDS Humanitarian Services donated a significant number of these consumables so that more of the people here in Southeast Asia could receive this sight-saving surgery.
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