Reese
Birthdate: April 17, 2013
Reese was born April 17, 2013 and abandoned six months later near a bridge. Someone found him and called the police, but when his parents could not be found he was taken to the local orphanage. Reese was born with a severe GI defect and was transferred into our care December 16, 2013. When he arrived he was in very bad shape, suffering from a severe swollen face, jaundice, his eyes looked as if they were bleeding, and he had a very high fever. Reese was admitted into the hospital the next morning with one of our nannies and is waiting for a miracle. Reese will need a new liver in order to survive. We hope that he will have a chance for his life-saving surgery soon, and that we can make a difference in his life.
Reese's Fight
Reese received his much-needed liver transplant on February 12 and the operation initially appeared to have been a success. He adjusted well to his new liver and his color improved almost immediately. However, he has not been able to breathe on his own, so he is still on a ventilator in the ICU more than a month after the transplant. This is possibly the result of the transplanted liver being slightly too large, preventing his lungs from functioning sufficiently. For a long time his condition was 'stable but not good', then he started running a fever due to an infection in his IV port.
We have become aware that this extended recovery period is relatively normal for children receiving organ donations. It makes us even more amazed at the miracles of Alea, Talia and Mark's liver transplants (links to their amazing stories) and their comparatively short stays in ICU. We long to have Reese healthy enough to bring back home to New Day, so that he can recover and grow strong here like they did. His long stay in ICU is draining our funds and denies him the care of his loving nannies, as they are not able to stay with him in the ICU.
Update March 27 ,2014
The doctors didn't tell us that Reese stopped breathing twice during extubation trials. They didn't tell us until we went to meet with his surgeon and to visit him in the hospital March 26th, 33 days post-transplant, that he crashed - flatlined - and that they had to resucitate him while scrambling to set the ventilator up again, a scary 5-minute process. Twice.
"We've never had a child unable to extubate for this long post-transplant before," his surgeon apologetically told us. But when we visited with Reese and the whirring of the ventilator was much quieter than the last time we had visited him... watching his eyes, no long yellow, dart back and forth to keep up with the action in his ICU ward... watching him pick up a toy and shake it... we have hope. The doctors are hoping that he will be completely weaned off of the ventilator by April 5th. We're still in the midst of Reese's fight, but there is victory in sight.
Update April 1, 2014
On March 28th we got a call from Reese's surgeon. He expressed his concern that, because Reese had been on the ventilator for such a long time, the risks were high and that it would probably be in his best interest if he had a tracheotomy. In most situations, the hope is that the child will be able to come off of the ventilator in hours after surgery, days at the most. If the child needs to remain on the ventilator for more than a few weeks, a trach is considered because the risks of infection, tissue damage and other dangerous complications become more and more likely as time goes on. Reese's situation is an incredible miracle, as he has avoided most complications from intubation so far, after over five weeks of being on the ventilator!
However, we agreed that for his more safe and successful recovery, a tracheostomy would probably be a good choice for Reese. We signed the surgery papers that day.
Monday, March 29th, Reese had his tracheotomy procedure and it was a success. By the next day he was able to be successfully weaned off of the ventilator. The doctors are hoping that in a few days he will be able to be released from ICU and into the regular ward.
Update April 9, 2014
There was great rejoicing here at New Day when we finally got the call saying that Reese was ready to leave ICU and transfer to a regular ward. Grace, our medical director, and one of Reese’s nannies from the Foster Home went to the hospital, excited to see Reese and start caring for him. They had a long wait, but eventually Reese appeared, in the arms of his ICU doctor. He has clearly been winning the hearts of the ICU staff during his long stay, the doctor was calling him “my child” and spent time explaining his favorite foods and toys. Even the ICU director came out to check on him, which is most unusual. Reese has been a very special patient, and we learnt that a member of the ICU staff was by his side 24 hours a day, giving him the very best care.
Reese is now off of most of his meds and the IV. The swelling in his throat (the result of being on the ventilator for so long) still needs to reduce before he will be able to come home, but we’re hoping for him to be home for his birthday on April 17th. Will you believe with us for that?
Update April 21, 2014
Reese continues to recover well, although he was not able to come home in time for his birthday. Further proof of the special place Reese has in the hearts of the hospital staff came in the form of this picture and message from his doctor-
"On the ventilator for 52 days after the liver transplant surgery in the ICU, there were three times heart stopped and breath off, he overcame all this and transferred from ICU to the regular ward in a stable situation.
I want to thank all the doctors and nurses in the ICU and all the college of Institute of Transplantation and also all the people who support this little boy from NEW DAY FOSTER HOME, because of you all --not giving up, not abandoning, Reese is able to go through those tough times and recover smoothly."
We hope to have Reese back from the hospital very soon. It has been a long fight, now it's time for him to come home, recover and grow strong.
Update June 11, 2014
Reese went into hospital to have his liver transplant on February 12. His fight has been LONG and tough. We rejoiced that he was able to have the transplant, and that it initially appeared to have been a success. Then we grew worried, because he just couldn’t breathe on his own. Six weeks after his transplant, Reese had a tracheotomy, which meant that he was finally able to come off the ventilator. Almost two months after his transplant we finally had cause to rejoice again - Reese came out of the ICU and onto the regular ward, meaning that a New Day nanny could go to take care of him.
For a long time we were hoping and hoping for Reese to be released for the hospital. For what seemed like such a long time the update was “he’s doing well…he’ll be home soon…”. Finally, late afternoon on June 6, the foster home van splashed through the puddles in the front yard. Reese emerged, in the arms of his nanny, to a well-deserved hero’s welcome.
Now Reese is home. We need to work on getting him strong and healthy enough to be able to have the tracheotomy procedure reversed. His Amazing Story so far has been very amazing indeed, but there is more to come, and we are so glad that we get to be a part of it.
We provide this information to give our sponsors and supporters a general idea of the challenges our children face. For prospective adoptive parents, this information is not intended to be a substitute for a complete and up-to-date referral packet from your adoption agency. Please keep in mind that in our communications, we always try to focus on a child's strengths, accomplishments, and positive developments, not in an attempt to gloss-over their often serious medical conditions, but in an effort to share a glimpse of their precious personalities.