Update from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
October 12, 2009
Greetings from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Children’s HeartLink is here with a team of medical volunteers from the Birmingham Children's Hospital in the United Kingdom at the Institut Jantung Negara (National Heart Institute or IJN), a regional center of excellence in cardiac care. Our main objective for this visit is to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease in children - focusing on the neediest families - by providing advanced teaching and education to medical professionals in Malaysia.
Meet Nurain, a four-month old girl from the state of Johor in Malaysia. She received a lifesaving operation on Tuesday, October 6th, at IJN. Nurain had transposition of the great arteries and a ventricular septal defect, a complex congenital heart malformation. Working together, the medical team from the UK and IJN conducted the operation, and on Thursday, October 8th, she was transferred out of the intensive care unit in stable condition in anticipation of an excellent outcome and rapid discharge.
Nurain is the first child born to her parents Daniel and Rosnani, and she has spent much of her short life in hospitals. When she was two months old, Nurain’s parents took her to a regional hospital in Johor because she was having difficulty breathing. She was diagnosed with pneumonia and also tested positive for the H1N1 virus. Her congenital heart defect was diagnosed while she was receiving treatment for the pneumonia and H1N1 flu.
Nurain’s father works as a driver for a floor tile company and his monthly earnings have not been enough to meet all of Nurain’s medical care expenses. Fortunately, the family has been able to receive support from the IJN charitable foundation so their costs for this operation have been kept to a minimum. With the help of Children's HeartLink and the Birmingham Children’s Hospital team, little Nurain received the lifesaving treatment she needed. Your support of Children's HeartLink helped give this family hope for a better future for their daughter.
By the end of last week, seven other children with complex heart defects received treatment. On behalf of those children and their families, thank you. If you would like more information about Children’s HeartLink’s commitment to children in Malaysia or additional information about this mission, please contact us and we would be happy to send you an update.
Kind regards,
Bistra Zheleva, International Program Manager
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