End of July Updates

Hi everyone,

Thank you to everyone that referred medical clinics and hospitals to our cleft campaign. The informational flyer that will be distributed with the cleft bottles is being translated and then we will begin shipping the bottles out. We will let everyone know what clinics/hospitals/orphanages will be receiving bottles as we finalize our list.

Here are some children updates:

We have received the referral of another beautiful little girl from Haiti. Eloise is 3 years old and has a heart defect. We will be looking for a surgeon in the US that is able to provide heart surgery for her.

Eloise in Haiti

Britnie and Fedlene, the little girls with ambiguous genitalia from Haiti will be coming to the US very soon. Fedlene has her visa and Britnies will be picked up soon. American Airlines has donated miles for these little girls and Airline Ambassadors will be escorting them NC. Thank you American Airlines!!!! We are excited to see these gorgeous girls get the medical care they need to live full and happy lives.

Sweet little Martine is at home with her host family recovering from her heart surgery. She is doing VERY well, is finally gaining weight, and has everyone wrapped around her little finger!

Martine

We have begun to look for medical care for two children from Burkina Faso, West Africa. Jean Marc (below) is one of them. We are hoping a cochlear implant will help him be able to hear.

Clepson has a hospital and doctor and his paperwork has been sent to Haiti. Hopefully we'll hear something about a visa appointment for him soon.

John Terry, Shelda and Saintana all have pending hospital approvals. Please pray that everything comes together for them quickly.

And last but not least, here are new pictures of Schnider (bilateral cleft lip/palate) and Roobens (unilateral cleft lip/palate). They will both be returning home to Haiti in August. Don't they look great?! Thank you Dr. Billmire and Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati for the wonderful job you did!

Roobens, 16 months

Schnider, 13 months

Referring an organization for cleft bottles

Please go HERE to refer an organization you would like to see receive a shipment of special cleft nursers. This can be a hospital, medical clinic, orphanage, or other organization working in the developing world. We hope to begin distributing soon.

Cleft Campaign Update and Distribution

We have been able to collect over 200 bottles in our cleft campaign! The big boxes in the pictures above are full of those little boxes which holds six bottles each.

A big thank you to everyone that donated towards this cause, including the manufacturer Mead Johnson who donated 72 bottles. These bottles will save lives!! Thank you so much.

The informational flyers that will accompany these bottles is close to being complete and we need to start deciding which clinics, hospitals and orphanages will be the recipient of these bottles.

If you know of a medical clinic, hospital or orphanage that you would like to see receive cleft bottles, please contact us at medicaladvocacyteam@live.com

And this isn't just for Haiti - if you know of an organization in another needy country you would like us to consider, feel free to let us know. Thank you!

New MAT email address.

MAT has a new general email address:

medicaladvocacyteam@live.com

Please update your address books. Thanks!

Updates!

(Picture of Alfrelina (pre-surgery) and Jean Alex. Jean Alex is only 10 days older than Lena, aren't they just so cute together?)

Alfrelina Update: Lena had her sutures removed this morning and tubes put in her ears. She is doing great and should be able to come home today.

Martine update: Please keep Martine and her host Mom Bekki in your prayers. Martine is in the ICU still and will be there for at least one more night. Her surgery to repair her heart went well. The doctors are happy with the way her heart is working now. Since she has lived with Congestive Heart Failure all of her little life, her lungs have really had a hard time, and still are. Her lungs will take a bit of time to figure out how to work now that her heart is working better. Martine is still being kept sedated and on the ventilator. Please keep praying for her recovery!

Martine's surgery

Please keep Martine in your thoughts and prayers. This morning she is having open heart surgery. The surgery will take place bright and early on the 15th, PST. Martine has five defects of her heart that will be repaired.

Please also keep her loving, wonderful host family in your prayers. Surgery day can be very stressful for the host parents because our host families certainly love the children as if they were their own. Please pray the surgery is a success and that Martine has a speedy recovery, and that her host family knows just how to comfort her. (And also that they can get enough rest- there are some long days sleeping in the hospital ahead for them all.)

We are so grateful to the doctor, his staff, and the wonderful hospital in Portland that came forward for Martine. Because Martine has Down Syndrome there were many calls and attempts to get her help. Often times when a child has a complex disorder and also requires surgery, it can be hard to find charity care for them. So we are especially excited to see Martine on the road to recovery!

Schniders Palate Surgery

Right after surgery.

Yesterday.

Schnider had surgery at the beginning of June to repair his cleft palate. Surgery went well and the doctor said at his follow up appointment that his palate looked "perfect!". We are in the process of raising money to build his family a new home and then he'll be going back home to Haiti. We'll be sharing more about his home and our efforts to help this family soon.

Meet the new Alfrelina

(Scroll down to see the "before" surgery picture.)

Alfrelina- or "lena" is doing wonderfully! The cleft lip repair went well and Dr. H. did the most amazing job. We can't even believe how perfect her little nose and lips are!

Lena will use a syringe to eat for the next three weeks. And typically she wears special wraps on her arms to keep her from putting her hands in her mouth. (Which she hates of course.)

Next week Lena goes back to the hospital to have her sutures removed and tubes in her ears. Between 10-12 months of age she will have her cleft palate repaired. We have to wait to see what is the best timing for this to happen, right now she is 6 months old.

Thanks for all your kind thoughts, well wishes and prayers for Little Lena.

Lena's Surgery

Baby Lena (Alfrelina) had surgery on Wednesday to repair her cleft lip. She is doing very well and she should be out of the hospital soon. Pictures aren't uploaded yet but we'll share them as soon as we can. Thanks!

Ruth-Nallie is in Indiana

We wanted to let everyone who has been praying for Ruth-Nallie know that is now in Indiana! She is in wonderful hands at a hospital there and we are excited to see her finally get the medical care she so desperately needs.