Friday, December 10, 2010

Mommy, Why Am I Not Handsome III

In October 2009 I wrote about Tien, the little boy with Lymphangioma who had been accepted for treatment by the Facing the World (FTW) charity in the UK. At that time, I expressed our joy that he would be going to the UK in early 2010. Things did not go as smoothly as we thought. We didn't hear again from FTW for months and many emails went unanswered. His departure time came and went and we were starting to worry a bit. We learned later that the kids who preceded Tien to the UK had had their surgeries delayed for health reasons and FTW was bogged down in rescheduling complex surgeries as well as carrying out a busy fundraising cycle.

We finally heard again in May 2010 that he and his mom, Mai, would be going to London during the following August. Orangehelpers helped them prepare their visa applications and sent them to Hanoi where a friend and supporter helped Mai and Tien through the process at the UK embassy. This involved a round trip by train of nearly 48 hours each way. The visas arrived just in time and they were shortly on their way to Bangkok and then the UK.

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Mai and Tien preparing to board their flight for the UK. The mixture of emotions on their faces is incredible and touching.

Tien was scheduled for as many as three surgeries over a 6 month period(at an FTW- funded $75000). When not in hospital, they stayed in an FTW apartment under the care of a Vietnamese nun and Tien attended a preschool class at the hospital. What an adventure for a mom and little boy whose only prior travel had been on Orangehelper funded trips to Ho Chi Minh City (3 times for medical reasons), DaNang (for evaluation by FTW), and Hanoi (for a visa).

Tien's first surgery was scheduled for mid September. In some kind of kharmic (good word?) retribution, he had a fever the day of the surgery and had to get in the queue again for a new surgery date. That date came in late October when Tien underwent several hours of surgery at the hands of a full team of cranio-facial surgeons. He was then kept in an induced coma for two days to initiate healing. The doctors said that the surgery was possibly the most complicated he had ever participated in, in part because of scar tissue from 3 previous unsuccessful surgeries in close proximity to facial nerves.

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Tien upon his release from the hospital. Mai looks to have gained a few pounds (probably not on English cooking). The Vietnamese nun who they lived with is kneeling.,

We got word this morning that the doctors feel that no further surgery is required and that Tien and Mai will be arriving back in Vietnam next Tuesday, Dec 14. He still has swelling in his face, now as a result of the surgery, which is expected to come down over the next 3 months. He also has numbness and lack of movement of his left side facial muscles, but no more than before, and the doctors think this will be reversed when the swelling around his facial nerves subsides.

In addition to the surgery, FTW took care of numerous dental problems that were causing Tien a lot of pain. Dental care in Vietnam is minimal and the lack of fluoridation of the water supply just makes things worse. FTW reports that Tien, who was previously quite shy and introverted, is now a really happy, chatty little guy.

We will wait with great anticipation Tien's development in the coming months. We will send him to DaNang in May for a follow up visit with an FTW team, but hope that by then, his early question to his mom "Mommy, why am I not handsome?" is a distant echo.

Mai, who has worked as a beautician's assistant, has undergone training to open her own shop to support her family. Orangehelpers has a $500 grant to help her accomplish this. If any of you would wish to help her or know of someone in the beauty industry who might be interested in her situation, please let us know.

[Note: Mai's mother passed away from cancer a month after Mai and Tien left for the UK. They understood the probability that this would happen when they departed, but the grandmother pleaded with her daughter to go for the sake of Tien's future. This was very courageous for all involved because paying proper respect for the deceased is very important in Vietnamese culture.]