This month's featured child is
little Yan, who arrived at little Flower on June 21st. Unlike many of the tiny
newborns who come to us at only a few days or weeks old, Yan is almost a year
and a half old, and he arrived with several clues telling us that he has a
loving family somewhere who did all they could to care for him.
When we posted an update about
his arrival...it sparked a huge conversation
in the comments, where dozens of people voiced their thoughts about his
situation. We can never know the full story behind Yan's arrival here at Little
Flower, but whatever the reasons, children are abandoned by the hundreds every
year, and a vast percentage of them do have some sort of medical problem or
disability...which is why our work never stops!
Yan in particular has a severe
heart defect. It was certainly apparent from his bluish skin that he
wasn't getting enough oxygen. Here are some of the photos that his orphanage
first sent us when he arrived there a couple weeks ago:
When he first arrived at our Beijing
Infant Care Home--a totally unfamiliar place filled with strangers, he
was--quite predictably--terrified.
But our staff made sure to hold
and comfort him, until he finally started to smile and play a little bit. The
staff also noticed that he had a five-color bracelet and anklet on, which is a
traditional sign of good luck and safety in some parts of China, especially
during the Dragon Boat Festival, which was celebrated in China a few weeks ago.
Upon arrival, he was soon
admitted to Cardiac ICU at the hospital for testing. The doctors stabilized
him, but could not confirm a diagnosis. Possibilities included dextrocardia,
pulmonary atresia, and tricuspid atresia--all very complex congenital heart
defects. Tricuspid atresia, for instance, is a defect in which one of the
valves between two of the heart's chambers isn't formed.
After he was stabilized in the
ICU, Yan was transferred to the regular ward, and more tests were ordered,
including a heart CT scan and echocardiogram. We wanted to get more specific
details about his heart's anatomy and confirm a diagnosis as soon as possible
in order to see what steps we could take in terms of surgical repair.
It was eventually found that his
main problems are dextrocardia, in which the heart is "reversed" in
the chest, pulmonary atresia, and functionally just a single atrium in the
heart. In other words, Yan's heart is pointed toward the right side of the
chest instead of the normal left side, and there is no opening from the
heart to the pulmonary artery, which carries the blood to the lungs for
oxygenation. He also has 7.5 mm ASD, 3 mm PDA and a possible problem
with his superior vena cava.
What all that boils down to is
that Yan's is an extremely complex heart defect, and it looks like right now, a
full repair would be too complex, expensive, and risky. Yan will almost
certainly need a series of surgeries. Without surgery, severe heart
defects like this are usually fatal eventually, either because of heart
failure, or because the child’s body is working so hard to stay alive they that
do not have the strength to fight other common, minor illnesses. In addition to
that, long term severe oxygen deprivation such as his (his oxygen saturation
levels are currently in the 40-60% range) also leads to failure to thrive,
problems with the developing brain, and other organ failure.
While our medical team is still
discussing options, it's likely that we will start with a BT shunt surgery
(find out more about this here) as a first
stage. Yan will then need a second stage repair surgery in about six months.
The cost of just this first-stage
BT shunt surgery will be around 60,000 RMB (about USD $10,000).
Our featured child stories often
feature children who have made a lot of progress with Little Flower, and who
may already have families ready to adopt them. This month, we're featuring a
child who's Little Flower story is just beginning. As you can see, many of
these complex cases are incredibly expensive, and we could really use your
help!
...There's that smile!
No comments:
Post a Comment