Tiny Brody is the newest addition to our Heartbridge family. He was born in late November with a serious abdominal blockage. By the time Brody came into orphanage care a week later, he was in critical condition. Fortunately LWB’s medical team was able to arrange for emergency surgery the very next day. While our volunteers awaited news on Brody’s condition, we all hoped and prayed that this sweet baby boy would survive. Read more.
Coming in at #9 in our Top Ten Photos of 2011 is the unstoppable Emily. Baby Emily came into LWB’s hands from an orphanage in Fujian Province. She was born with a medical condition requiring a very specialized surgery. We were so grateful when Dr. Ngan with MedArt agreed to take her case, and Emily traveled to Hong Kong to undergo a very complex operation.
This photo was taken in May, about one month after returning to our Heartbridge Healing Home, a unit for babies who need more specialized care. At 14 months, finally able to spend some time on her tummy, Emily wasted no time learning how to “army crawl” around the room. Read more.
As we head into this wonderful season of Thanksgiving, we would like to share some of the things we are especially grateful for with you – our great supporters who make this work possible.
Today we celebrate little Marisol, who fought so hard following her heart surgery and beat all the odds. This gorgeous little girl, who spent many months on a respirator, is now charming everyone who meets her at our Heartbridge Healing Home. We give thanks for true second chances.
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Tiny Diana was born in November 2010 and came into orphanage care with a severe abdominal defect called bladder exstrophy. Diana’s bladder formed on the outside of her body, and she needs a very specialized surgery that is not available in mainland China. It quickly became clear to orphanage staff that Diana was going to need a great deal of extra care before she could even be considered for surgery, so LWB volunteers worked to make room for her in our Heartbridge Healing Home.
Diana weighed a scant 3.5 kg (7.7 pounds) upon her arrival in February… much too small for a three-month-old baby. Over the next seven months Diana managed to gain nearly six pounds, but she is still very delicate.
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The first thing I thought when I read through Hannah’s reports and saw her photos from this past year was “WOW!” This amazing little girl has come such a long way. I have often wondered where the strength to survive comes from in a child who was as small as Hannah was when she came into our care. Is there truly an innate strength each person is born with that is called upon when they are distressed?
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Today we got the news that no one ever wants to hear. At 4:35 in the afternoon in China today, sweet baby Evan had a sudden heart attack and passed away. He had been happy and alert all afternoon, and so no one expected this to happen. I once again was reminded of the fragility of life, and how none of us can ever know how many days we have left on this earth.
Evan when he first came into LWB hands
Evan was from southern China, from an orphanage who was new to international adoption and who was a bit nervous about handing over one of their babies to us for care, even though they knew he had a very severe heart defect. The director of the orphanage called our staff many times, making sure our healing home would be a nice place for Evan to live, and wanting reassurance that we would care for him gently.
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Diana is a tiny little peanut who was born with “bladder exstrophy,” meaning that her bladder is on the outside of her body instead of inside where it belongs. She was born in November and came to our Heartbridge home in mid-February. Diana will need to have a very long and complicated surgery that is not even available in mainland China. We are so grateful that she will be able to travel to Hong Kong for surgery with the MedArt group that recently helped another Heartbridge baby, little Emily.
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So much has changed since we last featured adorable Evan in our November blog! The most noticeable difference of course is his fashionable new pirate look, courtesy of the ophthalmology department at Beijing United Hospital. Evan’s left eye tends to turn inward, so his right eye is being patched to help him strengthen those left eye muscles. He will most likely need a surgical procedure as well, which will probably be scheduled after his echocardiogram this month.
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Marisol, the sweet little girl who fought so bravely for her life this summer, once again needs your help. Since her post-surgery return to our Heartbridge Pediatric Healing Unit in late September, Marisol has battled through five different respiratory infections, and last week she was admitted to the hospital with a severe case of pneumonia. We are very happy to report that Marisol has been discharged back to Heartbridge, but her week-long stay left us with a medical bill of more than $9,000.
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Emily is a beautiful nine-month-old girl from Fujian Province who was born with a rare birth defect called bladder exstrophy. This means that Emily’s abdominal wall didn’t close properly in utero and part of her bladder is exposed and protrudes from the abdominal wall. As you can imagine, it can be difficult to care for a child with this condition which is why we immediately sent her to our Heartbridge Pediatric Healing Unit in Beijing. At Heartbridge, Emily has received the care she needs to remain healthy while she waits for her chance to travel to Hong Kong where she will receive a highly complex and specialized surgery by the world-renowned surgeons at MedArt. Emily will need to stay in Hong Kong for six weeks and will then return to Heartbridge to continue her recovery under the watchful eye of Dr. Joyce Hill and Dr. Steve Martin at Heartbridge.
Read more.
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