Valerie is the beloved baby in a family of five children. She was born with VSD and PDA heart defects, as well as Down syndrome. When her mother received her youngest’s difficult diagnosis, she was overcome with sadness and worry. She feared for Valerie’s life, for how and where they could even get the complicated surgery in Uganda, and for how she would pay for it.
Yesterday, five little Uganda heart patients boarded a plane and traveled to India to prepare for life-saving cardiac surgeries that are unavailable to them in their home country. Their parents have spent the past few months gathering medical reports, passports, visas, and taking COVID tests. We hope you’ll follow along with us for the next few weeks as we get to know these heart warriors and their stories.
We first met four-year-old Frannie back in June. This sweet little girl had been born with a large Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) in her heart. With this medical condition, blood flows through the lower chambers of the heart into the lungs, forcing them to work harder. Over time, a large VSD can lead to the development of pulmonary hypertension, stroke, and sadly even heart failure. Frannie’s mom had written an emotional letter to LWB asking for help for her daughter. She told us that Frannie had been weak since birth, prone to fevers and colds, and often needing to be rushed to the hospital when she fell ill. When a doctor finally told the mom this year that Frannie had a heart defect, she said that her world fell apart.
This October, three beloved residents of our China Healing Home were hospitalized — one for an unexpected heart surgery, one for pneumonia, and one for a planned colostomy reversal. Since these children have such an army of supporters, we wanted to share an update on how all three were doing.
Lianah’s mom has never been out of Africa, or even Uganda, but she is ready with her brand-new passport. The prospect of traveling outside her country is a frightening one, but Robinah is ready and willing. Her daughter, Lianah, has a very fragile heart. She just turned one, but at 14.5 pounds, she simply is not gaining enough weight. Her breathing is heavy and labored. She’s in urgent need of surgery.
Some of my favorite parts about doing this work for so long are the moments when we see the help given to one child go on to impact another. It’s like that beautiful analogy of a pebble being dropped in the water whose ripples go on to touch ever-widening circles.
As Down Syndrome Awareness month moves into National Adoption Month this November, we want to introduce baby Jordyn. Jordyn was born with Down Syndrome and now needs emergency heart surgery to survive…so that someday she can hopefully have a family of her own. We recently received a call from an orphanage in Anhui. A beautiful two-month-old baby girl in their care was suspected of having a serious heart defect in addition to being diagnosed with Down Syndrome. When they asked if we could help her get the quality medical evaluations she needed, we quickly agreed.
On Christmas Eve, a tiny preemie baby was found in rural Anhui. Baby Stephen, as he came to be called, weighed a little more than two pounds and needed immediate intervention to remain alive.
Thankfully, his orphanage called us right away, and he was moved to the top children’s hospital in his home province where he began a fight for his life.
Read more.
Little Erin is a beautiful ten-month-old girl with Down Syndrome who has been living at our Heartbridge Healing Home. In addition to being diagnosed with Down Syndrome, Erin also has a heart defect called ventricular septal defect, or VSD. Heart defects are actually a very common health issue for children born with Down Syndrome.
Recently, our nannies noticed that Erin’s lips and fingers were turning blue when she exerted herself and that she needed a break during feedings. Read more.
She’s my Kathleen, so fair and bright, evening star and morning light…so go the lyrics of the Irish folk song, “My Kathleen”. We are happy to be helping a one-year-old baby girl named Kathleen…and we sure think she is fair and bright!
Kathleen is one year old and lives in an orphanage in Jiangsu province. She was born with congenital heart disease and has lived with it for a year. Read more
