Healing The Children––

Reconstructive Surgery To Reshape Young Lives

By Dottie Evans

Dr Sohel M. Islam is a physician/surgeon practicing in the greater Danbury area who specializes in advanced cosmetic and plastic surgery.

Despite an impressive curriculum vitae that includes a Cornell Medical School degree and postgraduate training at Yale followed by a residency at St Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Columbia University, Dr Islam has not forgotten where he came from or what it is like to grow up in a Third World country.

Born in Bangladesh, Dr Islam, 38, is determined to give something back.

“I grew up in a developing country and I know how difficult the life can be,” he said, where people struggle to make a living and medical care may be primitive or even nonexistent.

“My father always insisted that from a young age we had to work hard. He never let up on us. Sometimes, we wished he weren’t so strict, but it was worth it.”

Dr Islam spoke of his early training during an interview held January 8 in his office at 107 Newtown Road where, since July 2000, he has shared a cosmetic surgery practice with three other physicians.

In addition to his active practice, Dr Islam has allied himself with the New Milford-based organization known as Healing The Children, a nonprofit group that since 1979 has provided free medical care to more than 75,000 children in the United States and developing countries.

Each year, the organization sends volunteer surgical teams to countries such as Brazil, China, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Romania, or Venezuela to perform reconstructive surgery on children with congenital deformities that may include cleft lips and/or cleft palates, cardiac problems, and hand deformity. They also treat severe burns, orthopedic dysfunctions, and injuries resulting from accidents or domestic violence.

Dr Islam has already been to Honduras three times and to Guatemala once, and he is preparing to join a team in March headed for San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras.

“There is a dramatic improvement in people’s lives when we treat deformity or disfigurement. You have to consider the social stigma that goes along with cleft lips and palettes,” he said.

Treating Birth Defects And Burns

Dr Islam noted that in Central America, congenital hand deformities seem to be on the upswing, while the cleft palettes are becoming more rare. This may be due to the fact that most of the palette problems have already been treated, he said.

Hand malformations might be the result of a more complicated set of factors and not one single cause.

“It might be genetics, because people in these areas don’t travel much. That means an undesirable trait gets passed down in a local population. Or it might be environmental. There is a lot of pollution and industrial waste and this probably plays a role,” Dr Islam said.

“Also, local governments and health agencies are not as strong as they are in this country. The use of drugs that cause birth defects, such as thalidomide, was not stopped as quickly there as it was here.”

Accidents and violence are responsible for many deformities.

“People do a lot of cooking over open fires. Both parents may work and there is no child care. Often we see children locked in their houses during the day with food. A youngster might have decided to try to cook something,” he explained.

“These are agricultural societies where people are used to carrying about machetes. Someone gets angry and they’ve already got a weapon in their hands.”

Whatever the cause of injury or defect, the local health system is simply not prepared to deal with it, Dr Islam said. In the case of a badly cut forearm, the doctors might decide to stitch up the skin because that is the most inexpensive treatment, without repairing tendons and muscles underneath, which costs more.

“There are a lot of systems that contribute to what makes a functioning hand –– nerves, tendons, bones. Damage to any or all of these has got to be repaired. Often we come in at a much later date and we must try to correct a situation.

“If it’s a broken bone, we fix it. If there is scarring that limits mobility, we remove it. Sometimes we move tendons to restore normal function. We can repair nerves or attach other nerves from elsewhere in the body,” Dr Islam said.

Often the volunteer team brings in sophisticated surgical equipment and instruments. They will treat adults as well as children, “but we try to take care of the children first.”

A Surgeon’s Reward: Smiles And Successful Outcomes

Given the choice of performing a straightforward, corrective surgery or a more complicated, protracted procedure, the team almost always chooses the first option. This is because the improvement, though it might not be perfect, is dramatic enough to make a real difference.

“People are mostly grateful and understanding. They trust you to make it better. We only have a week, so we need to do it right the first time. They know there probably won’t be any follow-up,” Dr Islam said.

Asked about the language barrier when the team goes into Central America, he said he “had enough Spanish to get by, and there is a hand therapy school in Honduras that provides students who act as translators.”

Although Healing the Children volunteers pay their own way, the organization is always looking for donations to help offset costs of travel, staff, and accommodations. To raise donations, Dr Islam frequently speaks to local civic groups in the greater Danbury area. He spoke to the Newtown Lions Club in November 2003.

Approximately 20 to 25 medical trips are taken each year and surgical teams perform an average of 100 surgeries on each trip, according the Healing The Children. There is an ongoing need for supplies and refurbished hospital equipment for clinics and hospitals where the teams go.

Healing The Children also sponsors a Stateside Program to treat patients requiring more complex or intensive surgeries. Under this program, children would come to the United States and be fostered by a host family for treatments, follow-up, and recovery.

“There is a long tradition, nearly 30 years, of helping children through this organization. A lot of different people have gone down, one week at a time, to do what they could. You see you are making a difference,” Dr Islam said.

To make a donation, contact Healing The Children Northeast, Inc, 219 Kent Road, PO Box 129, New Milford, CT 0677, or visit the website www.htcne.org.