This story was written by Dan Vander Meer of the Human Resource Department of Meijer, Inc.
After 20 months of searching for medical donation to correct two-year-old baby Sarah’s deformity she was escorted from Guyana [South America] to the USA on January 24, 2004, by Lita Kharmai, who works in the Meijer Benefit Department/Retirement team. Sarah had suffered from Exstrophy, which is a condition where the bladder is exposed near the belly button. Several hospitals were consulted and asked if they would be able to donate their facilities and medical teams for Sarah’s surgery. By November of 2003, after almost two years of searching, Lita and her daughter, Nadia, decided that they would raise the money to get baby Sarah here for the surgery. Lita asked Mott’s Children hospital for a discounted fee and their best doctor. Two days later, Mary Borgerson of Mott’s Children’s hospital emailed Lita stating that Dr. Park would donate his time and that he would write to the board asking if the facility charges could be waived. On January 5, 2004, Lita received word that Mott’s Children’s hospital would waive the facility charges. The next step was getting Sarah to the hospital
Lita took the initiative to travel to Guyana to escort Sarah to the US with help from Healing the Children, and financial support from Mr. and Mrs. Bill McKendry, and Mr. and Mrs. T Khemai. However, this mission was complicated by health concerns, flight delays, and other misfortunes. The week of January 5, 2004, Lita’s daughter was sick with viral meningitis. Lita took several half and full days off work to be with her daughter.
Still, Lita felt compelled to help Sarah, “I sat there crying, asking myself, what am I doing, leaving my own sick daughter to go get someone else’s,” recalls Lita while waiting at the airport. Her flight was to leave at 5:55am on January 17, 2004 and her daughter was still sick. “I thought if I can only have two more days with Nadia, she will feel well,” says Lita. As fate would have it, the plane was unable to start. Lita and her husband brought Nadia to the hospital and rebooked the flight. Two days later, Nadia was well, and Lita was on her way to Guyana.
Lita also took on the task of finding a host family for Sarah while she stayed in the US. She first asked Pastor Matt Hook of Dexter United Methodist Church to help her find a host family. A couple of hours later Pastor Matt Hook and his wife Leigh from Dexter, Michigan agreed to host Sarah without giving it a second thought.
On February 3, 2004, the 5 ½ hour surgery on baby Sarah was performed. “It is a MIRACLE!” says Lita after hearing that the surgery was a complete success. Dr. Park was amazed of how well her bladder was, and thus was able to save it. Her hips are reset with pins which will be removed in a couple of weeks. Leigh will be spending about 8 days in the hospital with baby Sarah for her recovery. Dr. Park said, “Every time I do something like this, I am constantly reminded of God’s everlasting love and grace for little ones like Sarah.”
"As for the surgery this week for Sara, it does in deed depend upon what I find her bladder to be at the time of surgery. If her bladder is of a reasonable size but with a very weak sphincter function, then bladder neck (sphincter) rebuilding operation may be worth the try. If the bladder is too small (which I am concerned that it might be), then bladder neck surgery is really unsafe. Not only it will not make her dry, it can lead to a deva stating problem of kidney failure also, so it is very risky, especially if the child is not nearby for a close follow-up. In these situations here in US, we would consider surgical enlargement of the bladder with creation of catheterization opening on the abdomen, through wihich a tube must be passed 4-5 times a day to drain the
urine. Again, this type of set-up is not suitable for Sara in my opinion, for the obvious reason of catheter supply problem and the fact that about 20% of the time, the catheterization opening requires re-operation for various reasons.
The surgery in which the urine and stool become mixed and emptied via rectum is widely performed in some European countries and middle east, and the functional outcome reported in the medical literature is quite good. There are some long-term issues with this surgery also, such as an increased cancer risk after 25-30 years, but I may have no other option for Sara if her bladder is not suitable for sphincter procedure."
-John M. Park, MD
