Meet Willow
Willow
We are happy to sponsor Willow as she recovers from her colorectal surgery at a Love Without Boundaries healing home.
Love Without Boundaries has many children born with anal atresia at their healing homes that need sponsors. If you would like to make a one time donation or sponsor one of these children, please click here.
Max’s Surgery
- Max and Alex
Max had surgery for his colorectal malformation at Maria’s Big House of Hope. The surgery went well and Max is doing great!
Jeffrey’s Surgery Has Been Funded!
We just received the news that Jeffrey’s surgery has been fully funded. There are many children that need funds for surgeries. If you know of an organization that would be interested in helping, please pass on the link below.
http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/programs/medical/sponsor-a-child/
Jeffrey
Welcome Zachary
Zachary
Zachary will be the newest colorectal kid at Heartbridge. He had surgery in Shanghai and will soon be arriving at Heartbridge to receive the followup care he needs. Zachary needs additional sponsors. If you would like to help Zachary, please click here.
Alex’s Last Update from China
Today was my last day at the hospital. I attended an all day nursing class on clinical assessment. It was a great learning experience, and fun to practice some of the assessment tests. After work, I went with Dr. Jernejcic and two other doctors across the city to watch the Duke men’s basketball team play one of the Chinese national teams. The game was a lot of fun, with Duke winning fairly easily and we got to see Yao Ming! It was kind of ironic that my first college basketball game was in China.
Adrienne Update
Adrienne has been released from the hospital and is now back at the Heartbridge Healing Home!
Alex’s update from China – August 18 and 19
August 18
There were several cases that were set for today, however, because the physical therapy team had had such great results while working with the kids, the team decided to forego the operations in hopes that physical therapy will be enough. One of the kids that was set to have an operation had severe Arthrogryposis of virtually all his joints, which left him immobile and in pain. Luckily, the wheelchair and exercises that the team had been using helped improve his condition. The training of the nurses and caretakers in physical therapy is crucial for the future success of the kids.
Unfortunately, this was Dr. Martin and my last night at Maria’s Big House of Hope. We went to dinner with the group at Pizza Hut, of all places! In China, Pizza Hut is a fairly nice sit-down restaurant. After dinner, Dr. Martin said his goodbyes (I had plans to see the group the next day in Beijing at the Great Wall) and we headed off to the airport to return to Beijing.
August 19
I met up with the group from Maria’s to see the Great Wall. It was so much fun to see the wall and hang out for one last time. The amazing part about this section of the Great Wall was the toboggan sleds/cars you could take down from the top to the bottom. It was a lot of fun to ride them like some sort of Olympic event. After most of us had climbed to the top and got back down, I said my goodbyes to the many wonderful people I had met.
Adrienne Update
Adrienne remains in the hospital but her condition is improving. Hopefully, she will be released soon and return to Heartbridge Healing Home. To learn more about Adrienne or to make a donation to help cover the cost of her care, please click here.
Alex’s update from China – August 17
Today the surgeons had the two most complex cases of the entire trip. Two boys that were born without the radial bone of the forearm, which causes severe immobility and use of the hand, were operated on throughout the day. Dr. Thomas carefully dissected the skin, vessels, and nerves away from the inner wrist, so that it could be mobilized. Following the dissection, a small metal wire was drilled into the ulna and into the bones of the palm, so that the hand and wrist could heal in a naturally straight resting position.
Besides the surgeries, I got to ultrasound the kids we found with positive signs of hip dysplasia in our previous screening rounds. I was really excited to use the $30,000 portable ultrasound machine! It was really neat to be able to interpret the images. I’ve always found ultrasound images to be the most ambiguous and difficult to interpret, but I think it must be easier when you get to do the ultrasound yourself.
