Hua - A Beautiful Flower

 Hua arrived just two days ago,a tiny frail little girl with a serious heart defect.  Her name means "flower" and she certainly is a beautiful little blossom!

Her orphanage told us she was 4 months old, but based on our observations and her development we estimate she's a bit older than that.  Despite her age, she barely weighs as much as a newborn - just 8.5 lbs (3.8 kg).  We were able to take her for a heart echo yesterday and her diagnosis was confirmed as Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV). 

 

We hadn't had time to map out a surgery plan or find funding yet (doctors were still planning additional tests next week), but this morning she took a turn for the worse. Her already low oxygen levels plummeted and she struggled to breathe.  Our staff worked hard to stabilize her and make her comfortable, while at the same time trying to make arrangements to get her to the hospital. 

 

She improved a bit, but then shortly after crashed again.  The second time it didn't seem we would get her back.  Her oxygen levels were only at 30-40%.  We knew she would never make it to the hospital alive.

But this little fighter surprised us all.  She slowly fought back.  Her oxygen levels came up a bit and her heart rate stabilized.

 

 And a little while later, she showed even more improvement. 

 

Through it all, we struggled to make sure she was comforted and that she was loved.  We measure our success on that basis alone.  We can not guarantee that our babies will be healed, that their medical treatments will work, whether their surgeries will be be successful, or whether their lives will be saved.  Those things are out of our control.  What IS in our control is that these abandoned babies will know love.

 As her condition stabilized, once again we made plans to take her to the hospital. 

 

Hua's surgeon had been traveling, but returned to Beijing today.  He rushed back to the hospital to see her.  His team will consider her situation and make a surgery plan.  A complete repair would be ideal, but she is so small and so frail she may not be ready for that.  The surgeons may first attempt a shunt that will buy her some time to get bigger and stronger for a full repair of her heart.

We don't have funds yet for Hua's surgery. In fact, Hua is just one of three of our babies (two with heart defects) who were diagnosed today with serious problems and need emergency surgery.  We trust that God will provide.

 

Please pray for little Hua, that her surgery can be done without delay, and that we will be successful in raising the funds to pay for it.