Belize City child to get surgery in States
Not all the stories coming out of the world of medicine are sad ones. Tonight comes some news that has brought relief to one Belizean family… and by extension, our entire Belizean family. Arreini Palacio reports.
After drinking a corrosive substance in late October of last year, two-year-old Khadedra Paulino was left bed ridden with serious injuries to her throat. But now, with the help of the Friends of Pediatrics Association, Khadedra will travel to Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit to undergo major re-constructive surgery. According to Pediatrician Egbert Grinage, the treatment may take a while but the patient will recover completely.
Dr. Egbert Grinage, Pediatrician
“The treatment will consist of the widening of the esophagus. They said they will do that weekly because it is narrowed and scarred down. You know it is scarred because the time it occurred was six months ago and the scar tissue is in her esophagus. Currently she is breathing through a tube in her throat and eating through a tube in her stomach. So what they are going to do is widen her feeding tube or her esophagus and then what they will do is some reconstructive surgery to both her esophagus and her trachea, being her wind pipe.”
According to Khadedra’s mother Jane Thomas, the accident was a nightmare. Now, it seems, her dreams may come true.
Jane Thomas, Mother
“So far she has been doing well from the twelfth of January when she got back in the hospital. She was doing worse but from since then they put the trachea on her she has been better than first. Now she is doing good.”
But her pediatrician says that getting Khadedra to the hospital in Michigan may be somewhat of a challenge.
Dr. Egbert Grinage
“I will be accompanying the patient because she is breathing through an artificial tube and she could run into problems with mucus en route and I don’t want things to get out of hand. And also I would like to formalize this link. Rather than making Khadedra’s case an extraordinary case I would like it to become the norm.
The type of surgery that Khadedra requires this hospital specializes in. So if anybody is up to the task they are.”
Jane Thomas
“I have been waiting for the day to come because we were waiting so long, and thanks to Dr. Grinage and the other doctors she now has somewhere to go.”
Khadedra, her mother and Dr. Grinage leave for Michigan tomorrow. They are not sure when Khadedra returns as they will have to stay for the duration of the treatment. Arreini Palacio for News Five.
Tickets to Michigan were provided by B.E.L., Hubert Elrington and Anthony “Boots” Martinez. Her surgery and treatment will be funded by the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Baby Khadedra’s accident inspired several doctors and concerned persons to form the “Friends of Pediatrics” association.
