Don't close the door to the patient

That is the principle of Roberto De Castro - the world's leading urologist - during his trip to Vietnam to carry out the program "Genital reconstruction for unfortunate children".

Thien Nhan's Journey: Never Stop The Music Night Follows the Thien Nhan Journey

Black t-shirt, gray khaki pants, long hair hanging down to the collar, salt-and-pepper beard, a gentle smile always in his eyes, on his lips... looking at 50-year-old Roberto De Castro more like an artist is a leading urologist in the world.

One can only witness how Dr. Roberto is really a "grandfather", how can change the fate of a child when following him into the clinic, to the operating room.

Do it all for the kids...
Arriving at Noi Bai after a flight of tens of thousands of kilometers, returning to the hotel, just in time to wince at the sweltering summer heat of Hanoi, Dr. Roberto walked right to the National Children's Hospital, which had become familiar. with him after more than a year of accompanying Thien Nhan Journey.

Opening the door, quietly entering the crowded and noisy hall with nearly 90 families of new pediatric patients, he gently took the microphone and said a pledge: “I am not sure that I will cure all children, But I promise to do the best and the most for the children." Saying that and smiling, Dr. Roberto smiled and bowed and quickly went out. Visiting hours have begun.

Doctor Roberto De Castro with Thien Nhan in Hanoi - Photo: Tu Trung
"This technique is also due to luck that I have accumulated, transferred to Vietnamese doctors, it can help more patients. My arms are very short."

Dr. Roberto De Castro
The clinic is cramped and lacks amenities. The doctor smiled: It's okay. Step back to make more room for Vietnamese doctors, translators, photographers to record medical records, volunteers to collect materials for the program. The doctor smiled: It's okay. The patient cried and struggled in his mother's arms when he saw the shadow of a white shirt and white iron bed because he was too afraid of the hospital. The doctor smiled even more, opened his arms to welcome him, tried to curl his lips to say a Vietnamese sentence: "Hi, it's okay".

Gently put on gloves, gently examine the child's injuries and defects, gently explain and patiently wait for every word of the interpreter, discuss enthusiastically with partners about the treatment schedule, a Dr. Roberto's examination lasted 15-30 minutes. Doctors and children and parents can't talk directly with words, but the tenderness mixed with sadness on the doctor's face, the pain waiting in the eyes of the fathers and mothers is not needed. language.

Doctor Roberto always creates friendliness with children - Photo: Tu Trung
Baby Thao Nhi has bladder stenosis, urinary tract leak, has operated up to five times in children's hospitals in HCMC. As soon as he took the medical record, the staff immediately said: this case is not in the program "Genital reconstruction". The girl was bewildered, the young mother's tears immediately flowed, the doctor immediately understood the problem. He turned to his associates and said with a pleading but firm voice: "Don't close their doors of opportunity." After an external examination, Thao Nhi was scheduled by a doctor for a deep anesthesia appointment. And a door of opportunity has opened again.

Baby Nhi Hau has a low urinary tract malformation, after examination, a debate broke out: according to the agreement of the program "Genital reconstruction", Dr. Roberto will only directly hold the scalpel with the patients. The case is particularly complicated, but for cases like Baby Hau, doctors at the children's hospital will do it. But the list of "low urinary tract" surgery at the National Children's Hospital has been ranked up to 2017. Once again after many times a day, Dr. Roberto whispered convincingly: "The baby should be treated in Vietnam. Men for better follow-up and post-operative care. However, if you are determined to follow our program, you have to wait a little…”
Admired

In the operating room, while performing like a dance in a micro-surgery, Dr. Roberto guided and exchanged little by little with his Vietnamese colleagues.

Standing with the surgical team with him, Dr. Le Anh Dung, deputy head of the Department of Urology at the National Children's Hospital, said excitedly: “We are very happy and grateful to Dr. Roberto De Castro and the Asian Injury Prevention Fund. A has chosen a children's hospital to cooperate with. Only then can we admire and learn his skillful surgical techniques. Before, we never thought about reconstructing the genitals. When Dr. Roberto came and demonstrated this abdominal skin flap reconstruction, many urologists  all over the country came to visit and were very impressed."
Wait a minute, because the list of applications sent to the "Genital Reconstruction for Unfortunate Children" program of the Asia Injury Prevention Fund has reached hundreds.

He always ends a medical case with the questions: “Where have you come ? How did you get here?" and nodded with a smile of satisfaction when he heard someone say "Go by plane", frowning shyly when he heard the translation "Go by bus". He immediately asked: "How far is it  there?"

The next morning, before going to the operating room, after consulting the surgery, Dr. Roberto also rummaged through the  two cases he had noted and asked the pediatrician for permission to arrange additional in-depth examination. because: "This patient was brought  the South very far away, the family is very poor".

Vietnamese love
Asking Doctor Roberto why he accepted the invitation to come to Vietnam to work hard without taking a dime, he smiled and pointed at the boy who was jumping around with one leg: "Because I want to continue receiving treatment for Thien Nhan, because I want to see Thien Nhan and Mai Anh again, patients who have become my very close friends after the surgery."

He said he didn't know Vietnam before, but he knew that Thien Nhan's family had been exhausted to take care of the cost of bringing the baby to Bologna (Italy), and heard Mai Anh told that there were some other children in Vietnam. "But neither Mai Anh nor I expected there to be hundreds," he laughed again. And the doctor who has met the patient, how can he refuse. He nodded, opening the door of hope and opportunity.
Then he worried again: "There are too many patients because Vietnam has a large population, and it is a place where many people have accidents. I only have two hands, and I don't even have time. There has to be another way to help the patient.” He actively proposed to organize a scientific conference to present and demonstrate the technique of genital reconstruction in the hope that "Vietnamese doctors can continue to save more lives".

Hugging Thien Nhan in his arms, Dr. Roberto whispered like he was a real Vietnamese father: “Other diseases and defects are exposed, patients willing to share should be paid more attention. Defects in the genitals not only hurt the body but also the soul, often hidden, diving in, so little is known and helped by the community. It makes people despair, life has no meaning. Thanks to Thien Nhan, those patients in all parts of Vietnam know that they still have hope, that what has been lost can be restored, patients and doctors can meet. I'm so grateful for the baby…”

Ten years of research to succeed with the "genital reconstruction" technique, now Dr. Roberto De Castro is willing to transfer surgical technology to Vietnamese doctors - Photo: Tu Trung
On Saturday, continuous examination  8 am to 20 pm, Dr. Roberto smiled and sighed: “60 patients a day is too much, I have never seen so many. But if the treatment is good, compared to the 60 healthy young people we will have later, isn't it too little?"
Coming to Vietnam this time, Dr. Roberto stayed in a hotel just 200m  the pediatric hospital, walked early in the morning for examination and surgery until late at night, and immediately rushed to the computer to record the medical records of each case. No day off, no visit schedule to examine 90 children and operate 29 cases, some cases are expected to last 10 hours.

Dr. Roberto spread his hand in front of journalists: "Unfortunately, I only have these two hands to come here, and can only do my best to make a surgery in Vietnam cost 1/50th of a similar surgery. similar in Europe, America (ie only about 30 million VND - NV). The program has not yet completed its financial donation mission. I hope all Vietnamese people will join hands so that our children can have a ticket to adulthood."