Baby Yang, Jia, Jiao (heart), Jiao (megacolon), Li, Cong, Hua, and Ying are our first residents at a very special place – the Heartbridge Pediatric Rehabilitation Unit. All of these children have serious medical conditions, many with very serious heart defects. Yang had her successful heart surgery last week and will join Li, Jia, Jiao, Li, Ying, and Cong as they all recover from their heart surgeries.Children like Jia, who have very serious heart surgeries, take a lot of
care as they are recovering. Jia has touched many people’s hearts with her very sweet personality. While at Heartbridge, she went in cardiac arrest, but received immediate treatment and has been getting excellent medical care. She will soon be having a cardiac assessment. Her heart defect is very serious and even thought she has received the first part of a heart surgery, her heart is still unstable. She is at the very best place, watched very closely and will get the help that she needs.The name Heartbridge was the inspiration of our Heartbridge Coordinator, Shane Thompson. Shane thought the name was fitting as it "bridged" the partnership between LWB and HFH and it provided loving care thus the "Heart" part of the name.
Heartbridge has been in the minds of many of us as we discussed the medical care of the children we help. We knew that there was a need for a place to prepare children for surgeries and to provide a place that would allow them to recover after a serious surgery. As often happens at LWB, when we began to think about how to get those best outcomes, an opportunity quickly presented itself, and the Heartbridge Pediatric Rehabilitation Unit was begun.Through a partnership with the HFH in Beijing, a 9 bed unit for pre- and postoperative children was opened in Octob
er to help kids build strength and foster healing. The loving and professional staff at Heartbridge provides care 24/7 for the kids with a variety of medical issues in a beautiful suite of beds inside HFH. As children prepare for or recover from surgery they are provided with high quality nutrition, medical interventions and therapy, just like a rehabilitation center here in the U.S.LWB's goal is to help Heartbridge kids have their surgeries with the results they deserve so that they can prepare for healthy
lives, hopefully with adoptive families. Since its opening in October, 2006, we've already seen the success that Heartbridge can provide. Beds are now available for sponsorship on our special Heartbridge webpage. Children like Jia can now be given the best care that we can give them.**** P.S. Baby Yang's heart surgery was a success and she will soon be returning to Heartbridge to continue her recovery. We are so happy that her first heart surgery has gone so well!!
Karen Maunu
Medical Director
