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News – February 2008
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Here’s wishing all our Chinese friends a very happy Chinese New Year with hopes that your lives will be filled with abundant Peace and Joy.
Hope Healing Home, Beijing
Lucy who suffers from a childhood eye cancer, retinoblastoma continues to do well in Hong Kong with her chemotherapy. Her right eye is also slightly affected by the cancer but we are hoping that the chemotherapy will help save the sight of this eye.
Emma who was born with a large vascular growth on her face has had her initial treatment and reports from Charleston, South Carolina state that her surgery went wonderfully well. She was cheerful on her way into surgery and gladly allowed the anesthesiologist to carry her from the pre-op room. The specialist, Dr Hochman, was very pleased with the first results but reminded us that Emma's face was far from a finished product. She has to heal for a few months before her next surgery.
Jenna and FS Yu had heart surgery in Hangzhou and reports are that everything went well. FS Yu is home with us and we are waiting for Jenna’s safe return.
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Lucy |
Emma |
Jenna |
FS Yu |
New babies
We admitted 2 new babies this month who are in dire need of extra care. Both little boys were born without their anuses.
FD Shan needs surgery as soon as possible, and DS Chuang has already had 2 hospital admissions for an obstructed bowel. He is stable now but very undernourished and weak. We will wait and see how he progresses.
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FD Shan |
DS Chuang |
Adoptions/transfers
FT Zhou was with us for a few months as his orphanage thought that we could help him with the weakness of his left arms and leg. He did not need surgery and was otherwise a healthy child so we made the decision to return him and use his bed for FD Shan from the same orphanage who needs surgical care urgently.
Olivia has returned to her orphanage to await her adoptive parents.
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FT Zhou |
Olivia |
Show Hope Healing Home
There has been more progress on this building just before everything came to a standstill for Chinese New Year.
Work will soon begin again when the celebrations are over and the migrant workers come back to the building site.
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January 2008 |
February 2008 |
Love Without Boundaries Shunyi Outreach Foster Program
Several of the children in this program await their adoptive parents and though it will be heartbreaking for the foster family and the child when this happens, the positive side is that the children go to wonderful loving, permanent parents.
NHF Special Care Units, Jiaozuo, Luoyang and Xin Yang, Henan Province (75 beds)
These 3 special care units are especially targeting the children with the most serious medical problems that would not normally survive under normal conditions. For those that cannot be saved through medical intervention the units serve the purpose of providing humane and loving, hospice care. In these units every baby that actually survives is an unexpected blessing.
Jiaozuo
Michelle, 28 days old, with a complex heart disease, died peacefully on 5 February. Loved and comforted.
Luoyang
We loved and lost Heather on 22 February.
Xin Yang
There were no deaths in this unit this month.
Love Without Boundaries Heartbridge Rehabilitation Unit (18 beds)
There were no new admissions this month as all the beds are full.
Our Most Sincere Thanks To
- To the Mackenzie Fund of
Show Hopewho funded DS Chuang’s most recent hospital admission.
- To Terrence and Debby who covered the cost of the heart surgeries for FS Yu and Jenna.
- We are very grateful to a couple on our board (who always prefer to remain humble and anonymous) who has provided an apartment to house our children when they need to go to Hong Kong for surgery.
- To all those who brought in the special formulae we needed for the 3 little ones on our needs list last month. They are all doing so well.I know this has not been easy or cheap but please keep the supplies coming if you can. See the photos of the difference this extra feeding has made to them in even such a short time.
LC Wen before and afterDM Miao before and after
James before and after
Our Needs
- We are in need of clothing for our children between the ages of 6 months and 4 years (summer/winter/boys/girls).
- This last request is a personal one. As the needs of the children always come before our own, please don’t feel at all obliged in any way to respond if you don’t feel led to do so. In the 10 years we have been doing this work, this is probably the first time that I am putting out a personal need in our newsletter.
Many of you may not know that I suffer from an unusual condition where, from time to time, the fluid around my brain and spinal cord leaks. This causes me to have excruciating headaches, neck pain, diminished hearing and sometimes blurred vision when in the vertical position, due to gravitational traction on the brain. I have suffered this on and off for nearly 10 years. When the symptoms are severe, I am limited to the hours that I am able to work and became housebound unless I take heavy pain medications which are not with out side effects. Last year was particularly difficult for me.
Last week, as a last resort, I went to Hong Kong under the care of my brain surgeon for a radioactive dye test in the hope that the site of the leak could be identified and sealed in some way. This test included 3 Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans of the brain and spine and an injection into the spine to introduce the dye.
Last night we had a call from our insurance company and they have declined to cover the cost of this test. This came as a surprise and a disappointment to us. The total cost of the trip/test/hospital admission was about US$6500 and this was something that we had not budgeted for so we now find ourselves financially in need.
I am so very grateful that this disability is not life-threatening and despite this, I am still able to serve the children as I have been called to do.
With our deepest gratitude,
Joyce and Robin Hill
“There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.”
– Khalil Gibran
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