Posted on 12/10/2004 9:35:07 AM PST by gina girl
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/508752/
Available for logged-in reporters only Description
Three boys from Ecuador, ages 8, 9 and 11, are the first to undergo lifesaving heart surgeries at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center thanks to actor/director Mel Gibson, Cedars-Sinai surgeons, and the intervention of Healing the Children. The boys and their physicians are available for interviews.
Newswise — Little Luis’ heart was so enlarged you could actually see it straining to beat beneath his skin and bones. Just 9, he was half normal size and had only months to live. Daniel, 8, could no longer keep pace with his friends or play soccer. Just 11, William, too, tired easily and was on the brink of heart failure. Today, their dire prospects have been replaced with real hope for normal childhoods, thanks to the timely intervention of Healing the Children, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and actor/director Mel Gibson, whose $5 million gift to the hospital made these miracles possible. Now on the mend, all three boys are expected to return home Dec. 13, in time to spend the holidays with their families.
The boys’ life-saving journey from the impoverished villages of Ecuador to Los Angeles actually began in October, when Cedars-Sinai physicians evaluated them during an annual Healing the Children-sponsored medical mission. Alfredo Trento, M.D., chairman, division of cardiothoracic surgery at Cedars-Sinai; David Ferry, M.D., director, division of pediatric cardiology; and a team of physicians and support staff traveled to the struggling Central American country to provide care free of charge for about two dozen youngsters. For Luis, Daniel and William, though, surgery was deemed too risky in Ecuador, where hospital equipment and medical resources are limited.
At about the same time, actor/director Mel Gibson donated $5 million to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center—working in partnership with Healing the Children—to provide care for children from foreign countries with serious medical conditions that cannot be treated at home because of prohibitive cost or lack of availability. The timing of the Gibson gift made it possible for the three boys to be the first transported from Ecuador for cardiothoracic surgery at Cedars-Sinai.
“These were high-risk, potentially challenging cases,” explains Gregory Fontana, M.D., vice chair of surgery for Pediatric Surgical Services and co-director of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, who performed Luis’ surgery and assisted with Daniel’s. “The opportunities presented through Mel Gibson’s gift are very exciting. We can arrange for a regular flow of cases—perhaps as many as 25 a year—to Cedars-Sinai. We already have a long list of patients waiting.”
Of the trio from Ecuador, Luis was “sickest” and experiencing profound heart failure. Though nearly 10, he was the size of a child half his age. His chest had grown barrel shaped to accommodate his massively enlarged heart. Luis could walk only a few feet without resting, and often quivered with fatigue. On Nov. 12, Dr. Fontana replaced one heart valve and repaired another. Luis spent eight days in ICU and then returned to the home of his host family to recover.
“Since the surgery, Luis’ whole attitude has changed—he’s much happier, especially since he knows he’ll be going home soon,” says host “mom” Sydney McDonnell, explaining that Luis worries about how his struggling family is managing without him. “We had a big birthday party for him Nov. 29, and it was the first time he ever looked really happy. They don’t celebrate birthdays where he lives—they’re just too poor—so he didn’t even know how old he was before he came here.”
She recalls Luis breaking into a run as she and her son tried to catch up with a staff member in the hallway at Cedars-Sinai in early December. “He actually started to laugh. That was the first time. It was so great—it just warmed your heart. I thought, he gets to play and run and be a kid again.”
Eight-year-old Daniel is a quiet child, according to his host “dad” Andy Leisner. Daniel arrived with a letter, written in Spanish, from his mother humbly asking “whom it may concern” to give her son love and hugs. The youngster has received those and much more. On Nov. 19, Dr. Trento, assisted by Dr. Fontana, successfully repaired a congenital defect—a hole between chambers of the heart—and replaced a heart valve.
“He was in the end stages of heart failure,” says Dr. Fontana of the young boy who once loved to play soccer. “He’s making a wonderful recovery, though, and was out of the hospital in just a few days.”
William, 11, is part of a close-knit family that lives in a poor area outside of Guayaquil, Ecuador, the country’s largest city. He was born with an abnormal aortic valve that caused significant weakening of his heart muscle. Like the other boys, his prognosis without surgery was grim. On Nov. 22, the faulty valve was replaced by Wen Cheng, M.D., co-director of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Cedars-Sinai.
William is progressing well, and his host family is anticipating his return home with mixed feelings. “It’s been really nice having him here—we give each other hugs,” says host “mom” Jennifer McCorder of the fun-loving youngster, who’s hooked on his new Game Boy and can’t get enough of the movies Shrek, Scooby Doo and Monsters, Inc. “The fact that he’s returning to a happy family makes it easier to say goodbye.”
The boys met for the first time on the plane from Ecuador. “It was cute how William took care of Luis,” remembers Cris Embleton, founder of Healing the Children and director of its California chapter. She also recalls Luis selflessness when he received several presents. “He wanted to take them home to share with his brothers and sisters.”
Providing specialized care for these special children is the tie that binds Healing the Children, Cedars-Sinai and other backers and benefactors, says Dr. Fontana, who also acknowledges St. Jude Medical Inc. and Edwards Lifesciences for their support. In addition, he recognizes the time and talent of the many medical professionals who made these “miracles” possible, including intensive care and pediatric cardiology physicians, anesthesiologists, nurses and other members of the cardiac team.
Cedars-Sinai’s Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery program offers a full range of cardiology and cardiac surgery services to children and adolescents. The team includes board-certified pediatric cardiologists, a clinical nurse specialist and an echocardiographic technician with specialized expertise. Services include diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac catheterization, fetal echocardiography, neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. For details, call 1-800-CEDARS-1 or go online to http://www.cedars-sinai.org.
Mel Gibson is becoming quite teh philanthropist. He also recently donated $5 Million to the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA.
Mel Gibson is continuing to show that he is unlike most Hollywood-types by his generosity.
What a lovely story for the Christmas and holiday season. Way to go, Mel!
Yes. The Lord's been good to Mel and Mel has been good to the Lord. Time for them both to be good to the least among us.
Well, I'm certainly not going to knock Mel Gibson for his good works, but I have to ask myself - with the way our Health Care system has been portrayed in the media and by the 'rats, why would anyone want to come here for medical treatment? Why aren't they going to Canada, where it's all free and wonderful and butterflies and hummingbirds keep one company in the waiting rooms, and the eternal sunshine takes your cares away? ;0)
Okay, I know I'm going to get flamed severely, but here goes.
First of all, what Mel Gibson is doing is wonderful, but, my question is, why does the hospital need to look outside of our country for recipients?
I have to go, but I'll be back to receive my flogging.
P.S. I'm sure the boys are beautiful and I hope they do well.
May these boys heal well and live long, happy lives!
Here's hoping that Mel gets nominated for Best Director for Passion.
call me an old fuddy duddy but couldn't they find three boys here in American that needed heart work? Let's heal our own before we venture around the world. Maybe start on some of the Indian Reservations, plenty of poor there still. (not all have Casinos )
I have to tell you, all Indians have free socialized medical care. You need a "CDIB" card, proving you are eligible for the care...
THe Indian Health Service is lousy for some things (bad knees or non emergencies) but ok for routine care, and good at funding heart and cancer patients.
One of my patients got funding for his heart transplant through a special fund that the IHS has for such high cost procedures....
Thank you for filling me in on these things. I have Indian Health when I am in Calif. but it is useless to me here in Hawaii.
As far as helping children in other countries, another big medical ministry outreach is to Tibet, where one in 10 kids have enlarged hearts due to the high altitude of their homeland. The government welcomes medical missionaries (whereas any other type of missionary is not allowed). This is one chance to open the native population up to hearing the gospel.
And it also enhances the boundaries of medicine, as these kids are either flown to the US for treatment, or US physicians are flown overseas to provide treatment, often in conjunction with foreign doctors.
The interaction between support medical personnel with families is often where the missionary activity takes place, one on one.
CDIB Certificate of degree of Indian Blood. You have to be on a tribe's geneological list or you can't prove you are Indian.
Lots of Okies have Indian blood, but can't prove it, but a lot of part Indians who lose their insurance do the geneological investigation to get free medical care. My patient was one quarter, I.E. he had one full blooded Indian grandparent, so he qualified for free care when he got heart problems.
In most states, Indians are on reservations, and the only clinics are those run by the Indian Health Service. In Oklahoma, there is a lot of Assimilation, and no reservations, but they still run Indian clinics for those who can't afford regular medical care in rural areas. We have a clinic 45 minutes from our town, and people come to us and sometimes go there...
Thanks for that explanation about the CDIB, that was most interesting. I didn't know that the Indian Nations had their own form of government socialized medicine.
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