When most of us think about a father-daughter dance, what comes to mind are high schools and weddings. A bittersweet moment so highly treasured by dads and a chance for young girls and women to wear beautiful dresses and proudly dance with their fathers.
Here at the Nacional Hospital in Chalchuapa, however, it was a dance of a very different kind.
Maria Fernanda, a 4yr old girl from Guatemala with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, had been seen by our team last year and had her cleft lip repaired. This year she needed her cleft palate repaired and hence trekked back to El Salvador with both parents and her 1 year old sibling . Her father who also has a history of cleft lip and palate repaired in his younger days, had been experiencing difficulty breathing through his nose and the team last year had suggested that he have this problem surgically corrected.
Both were surgery candidates this year, the dad having his cleft rhinoplasty a day later than his daughter, who successfully had her palate repaired. Both were placed side by side in the recovery/floor area where they spent the next two days beside each other.
Anyone who walked by or worked in that room, could not help but notice the special bond this father daughter shared. There was delight, smiles, happiness and sometimes anxiety as the two spent their waking hours with each other, with the dad feeding his little girl with a spoon and encouraging her to drink from a cup. Each spoonful that she swallowed made him beam with so much pride and joy. It was indeed a slow dance of careful orchestration between a father and daughter. A dance of give and take, trust, but most of all love.
They were both discharged home together, both happy to go back to Guatemala and the dad relieved and very grateful to the medical team and the Nacional Hospital in Chalchuapa.
Indeed, it was a beautiful father-daughter dance …of a different kind!
Jon Robitschek M.D
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