2019-November-05

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I’m Not a Surgeon, But I Still Help People Heal

By Shawn Tylka · Senior Manager, Employee Communications · Georgia, United States

Shawn has been at Cisco for nearly 25 years, including 12 years on the former Scientific-Atlanta marketing team. She worked in Service Provider Field Marketing, moving to Employee Communications in April 2019 as part of the People and Culture team.

When I met Marta, she’d been confined to a wheelchair for more than a year. I was in Havana, Cuba, to meet the hospital staff that our volunteer medical team would work with on joint replacement surgeries in a few months.

She held my hand while the surgeons examined her knee. I silently hoped that she would be a candidate for surgery when we returned.

She was! Marta was barely able to bend her knee before surgery. She received a new knee on a Sunday, and we danced together on Monday.

I visited with her one afternoon, and she held my hand again and said, “Thank you.”

How Did a Marketing Person Get Here?

My childhood friend, Robyn, is an orthopedic surgeon. I’ve admired her drive and dedication to her educational goals since we were 12, but when she started a medical nonprofit, I thought she was brave, powerful, and inspiring.

Robyn invited me along for the first medical mission for her fledgling nonprofit organization called Women Orthopaedic Global Outreach (WOGO). Her nonprofit travels to developing countries to offer joint replacement surgeries to those in need. And she was in dire need of a marketer! Soon, I was on a plane to support her dream.

She invited me along to blog about the trip and be the photographer for her 50-person team.

During our first mission, WOGO was led by five female orthopedic surgeons. (Fun fact: Only 4 percent of all orthopedic surgeons in the United States are women.)

We traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal, and performed joint replacement surgeries at a teaching hospital. Each trip, our team aims to perform as many joint replacement surgeries as time and resources allow.

I’ve always loved volunteer work, and since my career was in marketing, it felt like a perfect fit to use my skills to help an organization.

I blogged about the trip, told patient and team member stories, and described the surgeries I’d filmed and photographed. All was shared on social media, so folks at home could follow along.

But That Wasn’t All

In Nepal, I supported our nursing team, prepared patients for surgery, held their hands, cleaned the gurneys for the next patients. I emptied the trash, delivered medication, and moved patients upstairs to recovery on our surgery days.

I also spent time with the patients and their families. I traveled into the city to meet with a woman who ran a nonprofit to keep girls in school, and we spent time with the young students.

On our last day working in the hospital, as physical therapy wrapped up, a husband of a patient hugged me. He brought me into the ward where his wife was staying. We shared a cup of coffee and he talked about how fascinating U.S. baseball was to him. The whole family then hugged me and thanked me for being there.

I was hooked. While I’m not an orthopedic surgeon, I knew I couldn’t stop working with WOGO.

Mobility for All

In our first nine years, we’ve traveled to Nepal, Guatemala, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cuba.

That’s more than 50,000 miles to three continents in both hemispheres, and more than 345 knees replaced. The team is led by seven female orthopedic surgeons, with volunteers from 16 states and Puerto Rico.

I’m now Logistics Lead for WOGO, responsible for all of the marketing, trip logistics, and social media for the team.

More Than Joint Replacements

As a team, we not only help patients regain their independence, mobility, and ability to support their families, we also empower, educate, and engage women and their larger communities.

Our mission carries further than joint replacement surgeries in developing countries. Each trip, we manage an education symposium, where we teach new techniques and programs to the local doctors. Local medical professionals participate in all aspects of our trips, so they can learn the best possible treatments available, hands-on.

Also, we’ve partnered with Soles4Souls, who travel with us. Together, we’ve distributed more than 2,500 pairs of new shoes and 1,000 pieces of clothing to children in need. We offer new athletic shoes to our patients to aid their recovery process.

And thanks to our partnership with Jerseys from Jersey, we’ve provided complete sets of football jerseys and athletic equipment to schools in every town we visit.

Our next trip in the works is to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in January 2020. We plan to replace at least 50 knees, and put shoes on 500 children.

Giving Is Contagious

Changing lives and restoring mobility to many who lost their ability to walk comfortably — or at all — is difficult to describe.

It brings me immense joy to meet our patients and work with the local staff on our medical missions. It’s rewarding to take a step back and appreciate that I’ve been a small part in improving people’s lives across the world. The work we’ve done makes the world better, one person at a time.

The beauty of sharing my WOGO experiences with my Cisco colleagues is a treat too. It’s gratifying when I hear I’ve inspired friends to volunteer just as Robyn has inspired me.

Colleagues often introduce me to customers and friends and tell my volunteer work story. Who could ask for a better introduction?

Changing people’s lives is what WOGO does. Being the backbone of our operation is how I enable WOGO to keep changing them. Knowing I make a difference in lives globally is wondrous. Supporting an incredible team gives me endless energy.

When we share our time and expertise — whatever that may be — we can enhance lives, improve health, and help people find their joy.

WOGO can be found for Cisco Foundation matching in Bright Funds. Visit the WOGO team website to learn more and follow our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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