Second, I want to tell you all what an amazing person my former boss is. She is truly inspiring. She ("T") has an amazing gift of helping people, and the story I am about to post is an awesome example of how God has used her to potentially save the life of a child. Please be aware that the pictures below are graphic:
T has a friend who is originally from the Birmingham area, but moved with her family to become missionaries in Mexico. She recently wrote about a 4 month old baby girl named Esmerlada Domingues de Luna. This little girl is in serious need of our prayers. Her friend wrote this:
"They need money or someone who can do the surgery to fix her mouth. As I was watching her mother feed her, the very first thing she did was to put a plate in her mouth so that she could take her bottle. If she doesn't get the surgery I do not know how long she will make it. imagine growing up in poverty and still be disfigured for life. So I ask that you pray and let God lead your hearts."
After T read the story, she immediately went into action and began doing online research. She began emailing people and was amazed when people began responding so quickly. Within a few hours, an organization made contact with a doctor in Texas that specializes in the particular surgery that baby Esmie will need. T got a very exciting email today from the doctor who has agreed to do the surgeries for Esmerlada!! This is what it said:
It was wonderful to briefly speak with you today about Esmerlada, the Mexican child with the bilateral cleft lip and palate. I am glad to help in any way to bring her to Corpus Christi to repair her lip and palate. Just to re-confirm what we spoke about:Please forward pertinent data such as date of birth, full name, height and weight, parents’ names and recent length and weight.(any other known medical problems? – heart? etc)As I stated, I would lean toward a 2-stage repair of her lip (doing one side first, then the other in 6-8 weeks) and then the palate before she is a year old. She needs to weigh at least 10 pounds before we consider operating on her – just a good judge of her overall physical condition.She also needs to have a hemoglobin concentration of at least 10 gm/dL – this should be checked rather soon because she may need to have iron supplement with her feeding. About her feeding – I will send you several Haberman bottles ( and a couple of Ross nipples as well) which have a little wider and softer nipple to help in the feedings – The child should be held upright in your arms when feeding, and not flat. It is not unusual to spill some formula on the sides because of the clefts – don’t be alarmed by this – you don’t want her to be choking on her feeds though – and this is avoided by positioning her body. She needs to be feeding at least 2-3 oz every 3-4 hours. If she is only breast feeding, sometimes this takes so much work that they get too tired to finish the meal before it’s time for the next feeding – these Haberman nipples make it easier to direct flow into the mouth with a whole lot less work. I will send you several pamphlets on the management of cleft lips and palates – in Spanish and in English. I will see if we can get some free formula sent to you from Mead Johnson. I will be glad to do the surgery for free. With health care costs skyrocketing, the problem is that our hospital will most likely want some reimbursement for the surgery – I will try to get an estimate of what they require and also try to find some local donors – any ideas from your end would be helpful. We should be able to provide a free place to stay once they arrive in Corpus Christi. You stated that you can work on getting the child and her mother papers/visa to come to the US. If there is a problem with the parent’s papers, maybe there is a family friend or relative who is legal and can get power of attorney to accompany the child. Hopefully we can get the ball rolling on this and get her here within a 4-8 weeks.
I was so stunned to find out that within such a short period of time, T was able to get in touch with the people that are so willing to help baby Esmie. The fact that she has found this doctor/organization that want to help this baby is such an amazing accomplishment. T has helped save this baby's life, and I cannot imagine what that must feel like. She has a 4 month old daughter herself, so this situation was very close to her heart.
I am asking that you all please pray for this baby and the doctor that is willing to do her surgeries. What an amazing human being this doctor is, as well as my friend T. Please pray that all stays on the right path and that the baby meets all of the necessary medical requirements needed to proceed with the surgery. Pray that there are no problems getting the baby and her mother papers/Visas to come to the US to have the surgery. This process is a true miracle in the making and I am so proud to know that my friend has put this together out of the goodness of her heart. Thank you all for reading......God is so good.
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