Friday, April 17, 2009

Cancelling a Trip to Haiti to Help a Haitian?


My husband John was scheduled to leave for Haiti two days ago. He was packed, ticketed and ready to leave for the aiport at 10:30 the night before his early morning flight.

But Katina is in the house (U.S.) and she will likely have surgery sometime in the next couple of weeks. John is her medical guardian and has to give verbal consents for surgery and pre-surgical procedures, which, because of Katina's sickle cell anemia, are more complex than usual. Katina is 14, but weighs only 66 pounds. Her heart condition, sickle cell, and socio-economic condition are the main reasons she is so small. But she is smart, smart, smart and a delightful girl. After she has a new mitral valve put in, her heart function will improve and this will hopefully permit her to put on weight, as so much of her energy will not be going to her cardiovascular system to compensate for her sick heart.

Although phone communication between Haiti and the United States is greatly improved from several years ago, when John had to hope that clouds wouldn't interfere with his calls from a satellite phone, a clear, a consistent line cannot always be guaranteed.

So John postponed his trip.

We will keep you posted on Katina

1 comment:

debbie welter said...

Maria & John--we will be leaving for Haiti in mid-May and would be glad to bring any needed supplies or medicines down as we did last October. There will be groups going 3 separate weeks so it could be spaced out if needed.

God bless John for being so selfless and be assured of our prayers for Katina, her family and yours.

debbie