International Children's Heart Foundation

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May 15, 2015

Amy’s Story

Amy is a 5–year-old girl that was born with a severe form of a congenital heart disease called Tetralogy of Fallot.

When she was a baby, the ICHF team performed urgent surgery on her (inserted a Blalock–Taussig shunt) in order to provide oxygen to her lungs until she could grow and have a curative surgery. Five years later, she was still waiting for a definite surgery that would allow her to have a normal life. She always told her mom that she would like to have a party after her surgery, because that would mean that she was cured.

Amy was taking aspirin to prevent her blood from clotting, which was necessary after her first heart surgery. After a diagnostic heart catheterization, her family was told to stop her medication for the test, but they never restarted it again. Amy was scheduled to have surgery on this ICHF trip, but due to cavities, she could not be operated and was sent home to see a dentist.

On May 4, Amy became very unwell, and she was brought to the emergency department in Guayaquil. She was blue due to extremely low oxygen saturations of 30 percent in her blood. An echo showed that she had a clot in her BT shunt, and without urgent surgery, she would die. Luckily for her, some of the ICHF team was still in Guayaquil helping provide resources to the local surgical team. The ICU team took care of Amy on arrival, and Dr. Montero performed a successful complete repair of her Tetralogy of Fallot the day after. Now, she is ready for discharge, and she will have a party as soon as she arrives home. She is our miracle girl from Ecuador.

Spanish Translation:

Amy tiene 5 años, nació con una forma muy severa de cardiopatía llamada Tetralogía de Fallot. Fue operada urgentemente cuando era un bebe, (fistula de Blalock Taussig) para suministrar oxígeno a sus pulmones, ya que su situación era muy critica. De esa forma, podría crecer y esperar para su siguiente cirugía que sería curativa. 5 años más tarde, Amy estaba aun esperando por esa cirugía que no llegaba y que le permitiría tener una vida normal como el resto de los niños. Amy siempre le decía a su madre que si un día le operaban le gustaría tener una fiesta, por que eso significaría que estaba curada.

Por su enfermedad, Amy tenía que tomar aspirina, para evitar la formación de coágulos en su sangre. La medicación fue parada para un cateterismo que ella necesitaba y nunca fue retomada otra vez. Amy estaba programada para tener su cirugía en la misión de Abril de ICHF pero debido a sus caries, no pudo ser operada y fue enviada a casa a ir al dentista.

El 4 de Mayo Amy se desmayó en casa, sus padres la llevaron a urgencias donde se vió que tenia saturaciones de oxigeno muy bajas (30%) debido a un coagulo en su previa cirugía y sin una operación urgente Amy moriría pronto. Por suerte, parte del equipo de ICHF todavía estaba en Guayaquil realizando cirugía cardiaca en niños sin recursos. Amy fue ingresada en la unidad de cuidados intensivos donde se le estabilizó y tuvo su cirugía el día siguiente. Dr. Montero le hizo una reparación completa de su Tetralogía de Fallot. Ahora, totalmente recuperada esta lista para irse de alta y tener esa fiesta que tanto había deseado. Nosotros la llamamos la niña milagro de ecuador.

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Mission Statement

The mission of the International Children’s Heart Foundation (ICHF) is to bring the skills, technology and knowledge to cure and care for children with congenital heart disease in developing nations.  ICHF does this regardless of country of origin, race, religion or gender. Our goal is to make the need for ICHF obsolete. We work toward this goal through our medical mission trips, where we operate on children and educate local healthcare professionals.

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