By Tracey Taylor - St. Brendan HS
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Peeking behind a door, Alexandra "Lexi" Thaller (right) can be seen in an operating room with a patient and anesthesiologist. Lexi, a junior at St. Brendan, accompanied her father Dr. Seth Thaller and a team of UM/Jackson Hospital doctors to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti for Project Medishare.
MIAMI | On her second trip to Haiti, St. Brendan junior Alexandra "Lexi” Thaller, says she was once again humbled by what she saw.
In late January, Lexi flew to Port-au-Prince, Haiti with her dad, Dr. Seth Thaller, Chief of Plastic Surgery at University of Miami/Jackson, and a team of doctors. During the four-day trip the team of doctors and nurses performed 28 surgical procedures to treat young patients with cleft palates and lips.
The team consisted of plastic surgeons, general surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and residents from Jackson Memorial Hospital, University of Miller School of Medicine and the community under the Auspices of Project Medishare.
Lexi was given the chance to work with the parents and patients before, during, and after the medical procedures. During the span of the four days, Lexi gave support to parents, documented patient information, observed surgical procedures, and helped the nurses in post-op.
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Alexandra "Lexi" Thaller (center) checks on a young patient as a parent soothes her child. Lexi, a junior at St. Brendan, accompanied her father Dr. Seth Thaller and a team of UM/Jackson Hospital doctors to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti for Project Medishare.
"It was amazing to me to see the facilities that my dad and other doctors had to work in,” Lexi said. "They are decades behind what we have here in the United States.”
While at this moment Lexi has no plans to follow in her father’s career path of becoming a plastic surgeon, she does have the desire to become a teacher or pediatric nurse to help young children.
"Traveling to Haiti has been a life changing experience for me,” Lexi said. "I have come to the realization that I would like to work in a profession where I can be of help to people”
