There is a little baby girl who has fought through a lot in her 7 months. This is one of those children who have an amazing fighting spirit. I learn so very much from these children and they fight to survive.Yi was born in May with both an ASD and VSD heart defects. We first heard about her in July. Her orphanage director told us that she often had difficulty breathing and was on oxygen. We made arrangements to move her right away to Hangzhou and in August she received her surgery.
A month after she was discharged, her orphanage contacted us again to let us know that she was getting fevers often and wasn’t eating well. They asked us if there was any way we could help. This orphanage director just loves her kids and always tries to get them the care they need. At this time that she contacted us, we had an opening at Heartbridge and moved her right away.
She arrived in good condition, but with a small infection on her surgical scar. Dr. Joyce Hill contacted us becau
se she had to change the dressings on this infection often. She started her on antibiotics as she was running a fever. After four days of running a fever and with the infection growing, we had her admitted her to Beijing United Hospital. At the hospital, they discovered that not only did she have an infection, but she had MRSA. At the same time that this baby was diagnosed with MRSA, the national news here at home started talking about this deadly staph infection almost daily. It is everywhere and can affect anyone, especially those who are weak. No one is immune from this particularly dangerous strain of this bacteria. Because this child had just had heart surgery, she was at higher risk.From the middle of Sept until now, this tiny baby has been hospitalized. There were many times that we thought that this baby just wouldn’t make it, but she proved us wrong again and again. Miraculously, this child has survived and will hopefully soon be discharged from the hospital. Just a week ago she was supposed to be discharged when a virus went through the hospital and she caught this. She had to go back into the ICU. We have now heard that she is doing well again and will hopefully be discharged within the week and will go back to Heartbridge for continued care.
Because we never want to give up on a child due to funding, we have
continued to pay for this child’s hospital bills. She has been in ICU since September and currently her bills have exceeded $30,000 and she has not been discharged yet. I believe that she has been put into our path to care and nurture. Who knows what this child will become as she grows….all I know is that she has a very determined and fighting personality. I am sure that this will take her very far in life.If you would like to help us with any of Yi’s medical bills, she is still on our website for donations. Any tiny bit will help us meet her bills. What a survivor she is.
Karen Maunu
Medical Director
