Marci Foundation
Nairobi Mission 2025
Teaching Clitoral Restoration Surgery to a new generation of surgeons.
Prior SurgicalMissions
Nairobi, Kenya
February 2025
Marci Foundation is organizing another surgical mission at the Platinum Surgery Center in Nairobi, Kenya in February 2025.
Nairobi, Kenya
Platinum Surgery Center
Our mission goals:
80 patients
8 full operating days
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Marci Bowers- Surgeon
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Angie Deane- Surgeon
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Jasmine Pedroso- Surgeon
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Debbie Anziano- Physician Associate
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Kevin Fukuda- Anesthesiologist
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Celia Carpenter- Anesthesiologist
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Ben Hu- Anesthesiologist
Medical Team Volunteers
Surgical Missions: What the team does
PRESCREENING:
Patients seeking surgical care for FGM are recruited by local women's health advocacy groups and referred to Platinum Surgery Center in Nairobi. These patients are prescreened by Dr. Adan and his team of local providers, which involves a full medical history and examination. If they are deemed good candidates for surgical intervention, they are offered CR surgery. The patients can then decide if they would like to pay out of pocket or wait to have the surgery at low/no cost during the Organization’s next surgical mission (currently Feb 17-27, 2025). If the patients do choose to wait, the surgical team (Dr. Bowers, Dr. Pedroso, and Dr. Deane) have virtual pre-op conference meetings 2 – 3 months prior to the mission to discuss these patient cases and create tentative surgical plans.
SURGICAL MISSION:
The surgical missions are conducted Monday – Friday, from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. During this time, surgeons meet with the patients who are scheduled for surgery that day, discuss risks, benefits, alternatives, indications of surgery, and post-op surgical follow-up plan. Additionally, the preop exam is performed, labs are reviewed, and consents are signed. After the preop exam, patients are brought to ORs where they receive the spinal/epidural anesthesia to numb them from waist down. The surgical team performs a surgical prep on the vulva/vagina and covers their lower half in a sterile drape. The clitoral restoration surgery is performed, and afterwards, patients are cleaned and transferred out of the operating room to recover in the post-op nursing area. After a few hours of observation, patients are sent home with a family member or friend.
Each CRS case takes about 45 minutes – 1 hour; about 10 cases are performed per day.
FOLLOW-UP
After each mission, each patient gets added to a contact list and invited to join virtual education and therapy sessions online. The Organization’s local surgeon contacts, Dr. Adan and his team, follow-up with patients to perform post-op checks and exams, as needed.