Gaudiano remembers a dramatic operation on a woman who had a mass in her abdomen that was choking off her kidney. If we had never operated, she would have died of kidney failure. Now CHE will cover her dialysis and she will be able to have a reasonably lengthy life. Dr. Bob Improta '65 and his wife Pat prior to their return to Tirana by Italian Army helicopter. In spring 1999 the couple went to Albania to help with the refugees through International Medical Corps.
Plastic surgery lends itself very well to volunteerism.
The Improtas' group in Ecuador also had an ophthalmologist and anesthesiologist as well as nurses and translators. In surgery for 13 to 14 hours a day, Improta treated patients with burn scars, machete injuries, cleft lips and palates, and cancer. One man had been burned so badly that as the tissue healed it contracted, pulling his chin to his neck so he could barely move his head. Improta released the contracture and did a skin graft. There was always some danger involved.