Children of the Americas

The faces of pediatric and maternal malnutrition in Guatemala

2012-02-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

Two week old infant admitted for malnutrition. His mother has no breast milk

For the past few years, international news headlines have talked about the growing issue of pediatric malnutrition and growth stunting. It is not a new concern for COTA team members, but this particular year, it felt more personal. We held the babies admitted for critical malnutrition, but harder still was holding the mothers, and knowing we had little to offer them.
The mother in this photo is only 23 years old. This is her 7th baby. He cried most of the time he was on the pediatric ward while we were working there. Bonding with a baby you can't feed, and who won't stop crying, must be very difficult, and we saw his mother struggle with this.
We gave his mother our hand-made infant quilts, some baby clothes, and some maternal vitamins donated by our pharmacists. We fed her from our backpacks, and gave her Gatorade from our supplies. We taught her how she needed to nourish herself in order to make breast milk for her baby. Our nurses slipped her some money for food while she was there. She refused to use it for herself, and told us she would save it for her children.
But we couldn't give her what she needs most--an economically viable way to support her children. A job for her husband. Food for her table. Education for her children, which means purchasing school supplies she can't afford.
This family was discharged from the Guatemalan hospital last Wednesday. The hospital had no infant formula to give the mother. As you can see in the photo, the mother had no breast milk to feed her baby. He was vomiting when he left. All we can offer is our prayers, and our continued determination to travel to Guatemala annually to do what we can for those who need it the most.

Formula donations (powdered, with an expiration date beyond January of 2013) gratefully accepted.

This is Why COTA Brings Dentists on Our Teams

2012-01-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

Five years ago, the COTA board made the decision to add a dental component to our annual teams. Our initial thought was that this would benefit our surgical cleft patients, who frequently have teeth growing in their palates.
Dental care for the rural poor is scarce in Guatemala. As with most developing countries, foods high in sugar are less expensive than nutritious items, making conditions shown in this photo all too common.
We have been fortunate to be able to continue this service thanks to our volunteer dentists who take a week of unpaid vacation leave to travel with us.

Pre-Team Meet and Greet

2011-12-13T05:45:00.000-08:00


Sandi Brangers and Henry Elam

Children of the Americas takes the largest medical/surgical/dental team currently going to Guatemala on an annual basis. With over 100 COTA volunteers every January, there are many faces for new team members to learn.

Laurie and Mike Branstetter, Julie Fuchs, and Bobby Edwards (rear)

At our holiday gathering we share food, friendship and we disperse team t-shirts and badges. Hotel reservations are discussed, questions answered and a slide show gives the new team members a chance to see first-hand what we do during our team trips.

The next time we see each other we will be in Guatemala.

Happy holidays to all of our wonderful volunteers!

Carlos, former COTA stateside patient, graduates in Guatemala

2011-11-27T07:50:00.001-08:00

The following is a message from Sharon, Founder and director of Mayan Families in Panajachel, Guatemala.

Today Carlos is graduating from 6th grade! Many of you will have met Carlos if you have visited.
Carlos speaks fluent English. He was taken to the U.S. by our friends from COTA, some of whom are members of this group.
He was electrocuted when he was 8yrs old and severely burned. He spent long periods in the U.S. getting treatment for his injuries. He is now 20yrs old and still suffers from results of these injuries. He lost half his foot. He has terrible ulcers on his leg which COTA team members treat him for when they come. ....and we also try to keep it under control with medical treatment here.

He is so excited to be graduating today. Carlos works in our carpentry workshop and he is really doing a great job. Michael, our wonderful, long term volunteer who oversees the carpentry workshop has done a great job teaching Carlos how to be a professional. Michael was supposed to attend the ceremony today and be the one to present the diploma to Carlos..( Carlos has no family here) but unfortunately, Michael's 88 yr old mother had a heart attack and Michael went home to be with her for Thanksgiving. So it is my honor to be able to go to the graduation ceremony and present the diploma to Carlos.
Sharon

2011-11-14T06:35:00.001-08:00

Roger and Rosemary promoted Children of the Americas at First Presbyterian Church in Lexington on Sunday.
Networking our organization to the local community will enhance our ability to collaborate on supplies, and will increase our volunteer pool. Great job!

Created with Care for Children of the Americas

2011-10-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hand quilted baby blankets and infant bibs are a work of art. Each blanket takes many hours of cutting, piece work and sewing. The bibs are a great gift to give out for our cleft babies we care for on our surgical teams.
Hand made blankets of this quality are often sold in gift shops across Kentucky. Fortunately for COTA, the Brookesville, Indiana sewing guild realized that they are priceless gifts to our Guatemalan patients, and they donated the products to us. The recent gift of over 100 blankets and 150 bibs have been shipped to Guatemala and are waiting to find their new owners when we disperse them on Team 2012. We are grateful to Marie Kerr in Mt. Carmel, Indiana for her many years and countless hours of sewing for our patients. Marie, who is in her late 70's, has a big heart, busy hands and talented friends.

Rigoberto needs a prosthetic leg

2011-10-24T15:08:00.000-07:00

This is Rigoberto. He lives in a very inaccessible area of northern Guatemala, which makes obtaining a prosthetic leg almost impossible. As shown in this photo, Rigoberto makes his way up his mountain village pathway with a homemade crutch.
Children of the Americas will be in Guatemala in January, and we hope to be able to help this patient with his ambulatory needs. The average cost of a prosthetic leg in the United States is well over five thousand dollars. All of our prosthetic supplies are donated to our Guatemalan patients. Your donations help us do this much needed work.

Spreading the Word about COTA

2011-10-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

Paul, Josh, Rosemary, Jody and Luis enjoyed speaking to a group of University of Kentucky medical, nursing and PA students recently in Lexington. Always happy to share the word about the great work being done within the Children of the Americas organization, these volunteers were equally inspired by the enthusiasm of the students they spoke to.

Who Knew?

2011-08-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

It sounded like a long and tiring day, and it would have been without the great attitudes of these COTA volunteers. Everyone got up very early on a Saturday, drove 80 miles to northern Cincinnati, and (naively) thought they would be spending a few hours going through donated medical supplies from our generous donors, Matthew 25.
In reality, we spent more than a few hours; were faced with 7 shrink-wrapped 8 foot tall pallets of 40 boxes each and had to open each and every box to determine what supplies would best meet the needs of our upcoming COTA team. We finished the day by loading one pickup truck, a van and two cars with the boxes of surgical and medical supplies in this photo.
This picture was taken at the end of the day. Jennifer, Renee, Diana, Rosemary, Mary Ann and Jody know that hard work, when shared with compassionate hearts and good friends, can still leave you with enough energy for shopping!
Who knew.

Osvaldo Prepares to Return to Guatemala

2011-07-18T21:00:00.001-07:00

Years of waiting are over for Osvaldo. Thanks to the skills of the surgeons in Richmond, Virginia who volunteer with The World Pediatric Project, Osvaldo's miracle surgical donation has happened. His six weeks of post-operative healing is over, and Osvaldo will be returning to his parents in Guatemala this week. COTA networks with volunteer American Airlines employees to escort our patients home, and The Miles for Kids program donated his airline ticket. Perhaps Osvaldo is smiling because he knows how fortunate he has been to have so many adults working on his behalf.

100 Hours of Volunteer Time for 1 Guatemalan little Boy

2011-05-31T06:37:00.000-07:00

It has been estimated that each child COTA brings out of a developing country for donated surgery requires 80-100 hours of volunteer time. Other agencies that we network with confirm that they have found the same to be true. Osvaldo is the most recent beneficiary of some of those many hours. In his particular case, the hours of volunteer effort will be much higher than 100.
Children of the Americas discovered Osvaldo when the determined women in this photo
got together and decided that this little boy in remote Guatemala needed help. Osvaldo was born with a congenital anomaly of his mid-face. Surgical correction of this life threatening issue could only be accomplished with the finely tuned effort of three pediatric surgical specialists: plastic surgeons, neurosurgeons and ENT surgeons. Once The World Pediatric Project in Richmond, Virginia agreed to accept Osvaldo into their program for donated surgery, the network between COTA and TWPP came together for the benefit of one little boy with a big problem.
In upper right photo: (L-R) Rosemary Vance, Executive Director of COTA; Teresa Godsey, volunteer; Dr. Carol Cottrill, President; Tom Rolfes, volunteer; Bety Davidson, volunteer; Osvaldo, lucky little boy. Photo on upper left: Osvaldo with Jenna Garber, Program Assistant with World Pediatric Project in Richmond, VA. She took Osvaldo to visit the James River before his surgery.
In the five days since Osvaldo left Guatemala, he has flown on both a commercial (wonderful donation from American Airlines) and private (thank you Roger Teague!) plane for the first time. He had his first McDonald's french fries within hours of landing in the states, and like most children, he knew instinctively how to play on the playground. The photo (upper left) shows Osvaldo visiting the river in Virginia this past holiday weekend.
He is getting an MRI as this post is being written,and has a CAT scan scheduled for later today. Surgery is on Thursday. One hundred hours will turn into hundreds more before his health is restored, and all of the people in Osvaldo's circle of concern will consider it time well spent.

Pediatric Malnutrition Continues in Guatemala

2011-05-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.economist.com/node/14313735

An interesting article posted this week.

Baby Brayan and His Circle of Concern

2011-05-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

These health care professionals in Lexington, KY are some of the many people who have donated their time, skills, knowledge and love to our newest cleft patient from Guatemala.
Dr. Carol Cottrill (seated) arranged the donation of surgical care while she and her husband (Tom Rolfes in yellow jacket) donated the remainder of the medical care bills. Rosemary Vance, COTA Executive Director, worked out the details of Brayan's travel and visa. Dr. Henry Vasconez (holding Brayan) donated his surgical skills. As of two days ago, Brayan is home in Guatemala.

A Big Smile On A Little Baby

2011-04-17T19:13:00.000-07:00

This little charmer is the newest stateside COTA patient.
Baby B was flown into Cincinnati last week thanks to the excellent and well-coordinated efforts of the American Ambassadors Escort Program.
While he awaits his donated surgery, Baby B keeps his caretakers happy just watching his smile.

The Image of Strength

2011-03-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

There are few photos that capture the essence of a Guatemalan mother more than this image taken by a COTA team member.
Children of the Americas has provided hundreds of donated surgeries and thousands of clinical visits/pharmaceuticals to rural Guatemalan women since we first started bringing our annual teams to this Central American country. By supporting the health care needs of Guatemalan mothers, we are enabling them to better care for their children.
On average, a rural housewife in this part of the world spends 10-14 hours a day providing for the needs of her family. The following is an excerpt from the 2003 report issued by USAID:

While Guatemala is the most populous Central American country (11 million) and largest economy (2000 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $19 billion), its largely rural, Mayan population lives in extremely difficult conditions. Distribution of land, income and other wealth is highly skewed toward a small percentage of Guatemala's Spanish-speaking population. An estimated 57% of Guatemalans live in poverty, and the roughly five million Mayans are isolated socially, economically, and politically due to geographic and language barriers as well as the lack of educational and economic opportunities. Overall, adult literacy is estimated at 65%, but literacy among Mayan women is estimated as low as 30%. Fewer than half of rural Guatemalans have access to running water, electricity reaches only a quarter, and only 16% have access to modern sanitary facilities. Infant, child, and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in Latin America, despite decreases in recent years. These indicators reflect the country's persistent under-investment in social services and basic rural infrastructure, as well as past practices of political and socioeconomic exclusion of the indigenous population.

COTA is making a difference in these statistics, one healthy mother at a time.

Our best-kept secret

2011-02-27T13:07:00.000-08:00

Shhh...don't tell our secret.
For years, Children of the Americas volunteers have returned from our annual team trips looking weary after a long week of work in rural Guatemala, which gets us a lot of sympathy from our families for a few days after we arrive home.
Our volunteers typically see over 1,400 clinic patients, and do 80-120 surgeries in a week. Our dental team pulls countless teeth, our pharmacists dispense thousands of medications. Orthotics staff give out hundreds of crutches, special shoes, and several dozen wheelchairs. We should be tired!
Barb Buss, seen above this past January on our last COTA team, has divulged our secret. Her smile gives us away. We LOVE what we do. There is no more meaningful way to spend a week of volunteer time than to offer medical/surgical/dental/orthotics care to those in rural Guatemalan who have no ability to obtain this for themselves.
But please, don't tell our family members. They might stop pampering us when we get home!

Covering our Patients in Comfort

2011-02-15T15:41:00.000-08:00

For the last five years, Children of the Americas surgical patients in Guatemala have been the beneficiaries of many hand-made quilts. Hundreds of quilts and infant bibs have been made by this group of dedicated volunteers in Mt. Carmel, Indiana. COTA staff has made a tradition of gifting one of these special donations to each surgery patient we help on our teams. A big thank you to the amazing residents of this tiny but compassionate town.

Message on Team 2011 from COTA Board Member

2011-02-06T12:46:00.000-08:00

“I am always in awe that COTA can assemble a team of 120 professionals from around the country, have them "parachute" in to a remote location, work so well as a team under adverse conditions and produce so much work. Helping people is the most important part of what COTA does but metrics set benchmarks for the next trip.
Dick Schmitt
COTA Board Member

COTA Finishes Team 2011 in Salama, Guatemala

2011-02-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

These are a few of the outstanding professional volunteers who helped Children of the Americas on our recent medical/surgical/dental team last week. Thanks to the dedication of over 100 volunteers, we were able to see 1,600 clinic patients, perform 83 surgeries, assist 120 dental patients and donate 4,200 prescriptions to the citizens of this northern city. Twenty prosthetics patients were fit for donated limbs and donated walkers and crutches were given out.
Great job COTA volunteers!

Baby Alex Two Years Ago in KY After Coming To KY For Donated Cleft Surgery, And Now as a 4 Yr Old.

2011-01-10T16:51:00.001-08:00

Inmer Shows off His Repaired Cleft

2010-12-27T12:22:00.000-08:00

Many of our readers, and especially our Team 2010 participants, will remember Inmer. (See earlier posts below). This baby presented to our clinic in Retalhuleu with a cleft lip and palate, and he was in a near-starvation state. Unable to breast feed, Inmer had declined in weight and stamina. After careful instruction from Barb Buss, RN, COTA cleft instructor, Inmer's mother felt more confident in trying to maintain his nutritional needs at home with donated formula. Unfortunately, the baby got sick again, necessitating a trip to the states for donated lip and palate surgery.
He was returned home in August to happy and relieved parents. We couldn't resist showing him off in this recent photo.

COTA Team 2010 Slideshow

2010-11-21T11:59:00.001-08:00

COTA Prepares for Team 2011

2010-10-11T14:14:00.001-07:00

Children of the Americas board members have been busy since June working on the details of our upcoming team. In January of 2011, over 100 volunteers will depart the U.S. for Guatemala.
This past summer, several COTA board members drove throughout Guatemala searching for the best Team 2011 site. Many things have to come together in order to create a successful team experience, and Salama had the right combination. Since the scouting trip, supplies have been gathered from several locations, inventoried, boxed and shipped to Guatemala. All team applications have been received and approved by a team committee. Professional CV's are ready to submit to the Guatemalan Ministry of Health. Hundreds of clinic and OR forms have been printed and packed, COTA is networking with other NGO's for prospective surgical candidates, and plane reservations are being made by our volunteers.
All of the above is done by board members who work full-time and volunteer in their "spare time" for our organization.

Jose moves to his new foster home

2010-07-14T15:04:00.001-07:00

Jose, who you will remember as having the large AV malformation of his face, was transferred to his new foster home in Cherry Hill, NJ on June 20th. His long-term stay with Margaret and Scott in Tennessee was a wonderful and nurturing environment, but their home was a long way from Roosevelt/St.Luke's Hospital in New York City. Jose is scheduled for his final surgical revision of his facial tumor on July 22, and COTA foster parents Beverly and Warren agreed to host him. This will allow Jose easier access to his surgeons in NYC, and will make the post-operative course less concerning in case of medical care issues. Beverly, an RN, and Warren, who is an OB/Gyn surgeon, have fostered three other children for COTA, and are well-versed in the issues of fostering a medically-fragile child. Shown above in Warren's plane, Jose is preparing to enjoy is first-ever ride in a private plane.

Imner has a new palate repair

2010-06-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

On every COTA team, there is one baby in particular that is critically ill and captures the hearts of team members. Imner was that baby for Team 2010. It is hard to believe that on January 18th of this year, he was severely malnourished, had a baseball sized hernia, cleft lip and a cleft palate. He was limp in his mother's arms when she brought him to our clinic. He didn't have enough strength to eat.
Imner has just completed his last of three surgeries, and will soon be reunited with his mother in Guatemala. Although COTA has sent photos of Imner's progress while he was in foster care here in the states, we are sure she will be surprised to see what a sweet and healthy smile he has now. Imner has been very blessed with the excellent donated foster and surgical care in his adopted state of Illinois.

Baby Imner has a new lip!

2010-05-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

He is almost hard to recognize. The tiny malnourished baby from the COTA Team 2010 is now a frisky, happy baby.
Imner was discovered in January by our COTA doctors when his mother brought him to our team in Guatemala seeking help for his malnutrition related to his cleft lip/palate. Imner also had a very large hernia that was life-threatening. His fragile health and low weight made fixing the hernia in Guatemala an impossibility.
Thanks to the diligent efforts of foster mom Nicole and foster dad Chad, Imner is a different baby. His cleft palate repair is scheduled and we hope to have him home to his mother in Guatemala by late summer. Nicole had great medical connections in her community due to her work as a physicians assistant. Imner has his own little "village" helping with his healing.

Update on Jose as written by his foster mother

2010-05-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

Jose and I spent the first two weeks of April in the hospital in nyc. We flew Atlanta to La Guardia on Easter (Alan Jackson's album of hymns on the way with Old Rugged Cross was about the best Easter service I've ever heard). We visited the penguins in Central Park and the dinosaurs in the Natural History Museum on Monday and drank a lot of fluids and played a lot of Go Fish in the hotel that night. Jose got his two sclero surgeries on the 6th and 9th, where Dr. Berenstein'

s team injected the same drugs as last time into his neck to start the sclerosing process and create a plane for excision for Dr. Waner. The day after the 2nd injections, though, his labs looked funny...probably an error, they thought. But they rechecked, and several of the labs that indicate kidney function were too high. They rechecked once or twice a day for several days, and the labs kept getting worse. This, along with edematous arms, blood red urine, high blood pressure, and no appetite, showed that something had led him into acute renal failure and made the excision impossible. His labs and physicals and renal ultrasound from before admission had been normal, so all the docs seemed to agree that he'd finally had enough of the drugs, or maybe they did something else different with the slow-flow clotting factor; nobody was positive, they had never seen this before, but the head doc on the pediatric intensive care unit and the pediatric nephrologist said they would not approve any kind of surgery for Jose for at least several weeks or months, and then only after a good renal workup.

Thanks to God his kidneys did turn around that 2nd week, and everything went back to normal. After needing blood drawn every 12 or 24 hours, his veins went into hiding and they'd try 2 or 3 times to get blood. Sometimes his old IV line would work, but usually that came out so slow it would clot before getting to the lab. A couple times they had to do arterial sticks. Once I was holding Jose's free hand and trying to get him to look at me instead of staring at the needle; but, still tensed up and staring at the needle digging in his arm, he held up his free arm and hand toward me as if to say: Please be quiet; I simply have to watch; it's OK. He'd cry but always be extremely still for the nurses. Actually, he started suggesting veins they might want to try the next time and reminding them what hadn't worked the last attempt. The first time his urine went back to yellow I held up the plastic container and said, Look, it's beautiful! He laughed and laughed that I called his urine beautiful.

We left the unit Saturday morning, the 17th, after one last check of his blood pressure and creatinine and urea nitrogen levels. We walked out by the nurses station; they were happy and telling Jose bye and clapping, and of course Jose was very happy to be going -- While walking around the picu circle earlier that week we had pretended to think of ways to get out those doors without anyone noticing! It was a little sad, though, because of another patient who had been up there the whole time, unconscious, and whose mom was looking up funeral homes that morning instead of expecting to get to walk out with her boy. But she waved goodbye and told Jose to take care.

So we've been back home in Chattanooga and Jose is again a healthy happy active functioning little boy with his kidneys and everything working well again, and for that we are so thankful. The sclero they injected in his neck may actually help minimize the overgrown veins there a little bit, which would be good. Not wanting to risk more serious kidney issues, though, he will probably not get an excision any time soon unless all his docs and the nephrologist agree it wouldn't be overly stressful on his kidneys. But he will definitely never get any more sclero!

As of now it looks like Jose will head home as planned on June 2nd with April. He has two parents who will be very happy to see him, and 2 little brothers who, I am told, like to play Spider Man and chase and to go fishing in the river with Jose. He's also going to try to fit the fire engine in his suitcase this time, but we'll take out the batteries first so he won't set off any alarms at the airport!

Alex Turns Four

2010-05-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

There were few cleft babies in our stateside program over the years who were more photogenic than little Alex. Under the loving care of his KY foster parents, Jay and Kim from Simpsonville, Alex grew into a chubby, happy baby who was well-nourished for his surgical repair (donated by Dr. Andy Moore in Lexington,KY.)
Alex has been home with his parents in Guatemala for three years now. He is shown here in a photo taken yesterday, when his mother went to Mayan Families in Panajachel, Guatemala to receive this donated food.
It was a great Mother's Day gift for foster mom Kim to see Alex looking so healthy.
Many thanks to all the great staff at Mayan Families for continuing to meet this child's needs.

Maylin celebrates Easter in KY

2010-04-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

As Maylin's foot heals, she continues to enjoy her first spring in the United States. Thanks to excellent donated wound care, her foot is healing very well. We hope she can be reunited with her family in Guatemala by late spring.

Imner prepares for cleft lip surgery

2010-04-05T17:41:00.001-07:00

Baby Imner has recovered very well from his hernia surgery here in the states. His cleft lip repair is on the calendar, and meanwhile he is enjoying lots of formula and TLC. Foster parents Nicole and Chad have done a wonderful job of organizing surgical donations of care for this baby, and clearly, he is benefiting from the attention of dedicated medical professionals. COTA volunteers keep in close contact with Imner's parents to keep their concerns met.

Baby Imner in Guatemala, January 22, 2010

2010-03-14T18:40:00.001-07:00

COTA pediatrician, Dr. Carol Cottrill, and Barb Buss, RN, worked closely together in Guatemala two months ago to support Imner's critical nutrition needs with donated formula, feeding technique teaching and assessment of his medical needs. Imner's immediate need was surgical repair of his large abdominal hernia. Our Children of the America's surgeons could not provide this service in Guatemala due to Imner's low weight.
The decision to bring the baby to the U.S. to receive donated surgery before his hernia became a surgical emergency.
Imner is seen below with new COTA foster mom Nicole. He has been in Illinois for a week, has adjusted well and is scheduled for donated surgery in two weeks. Nicole and Imner's mother in Guatemala communicate often.

Maylin hosted by COTA Volunteers Laurie and Mike

2010-03-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

Maylin has adjusted beautifully to life in cold KY. After several weeks of medical care, she was ready to move to a more permanent foster home where she can continue her wound healing and improve her nutritional status. She is shown here with her new foster parents, long-time COTA volunteers Mike and Laurie.
Maylin had many loving and medically talented people in Lexington seeing to her needs before she settled in South Central KY.

Maylin comes to KY

2010-02-22T13:11:00.000-08:00

Maylin was one of our Team 2010 patients who needed extra medical support following her surgery in January for a club foot repair. With the generous donation of a free airline ticket from American Airlines, a volunteer escort from the American Ambassadors Program, and the fast work of COTA Guatemalan volunteer Aida de Carcamo, Maylin was quickly transported to Lexington, KY where she is enjoying the special care of COTA medical volunteers.

Bianca returns home to Guatemala

2010-02-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

Bianca was safely returned to her parents in northern Guatemala on January 10th. She had been the fortunate recipient of several sessions of donated sclerotherapy under the direction of her interventional radiologist in northern KY since last summer. The decision was made by her physicians to send her back to Guatemala in order to allow the hemangioma to heal. Although Bianca may need more care in the future, for now she is enjoying the the reunion with her family.

Bianca has a second set of injections

2009-10-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

Bianca is in the hospital in Cincinnati as this is being posted. She had her second set of facial injections into her hemangioma this morning. Foster mother Jennifer (and Children of the Americas board member) reports that although she is not happy about being in the hospital overnight, Bianca is being a brave young lady.
Bianca has had this facial malformation for many years. Her determination to regain her health is only matched by her foster families willingness to help her do so. As you can see, she has plenty of spunk and spirit.

Jose's American family

2009-10-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

Fourteen months of doctor's visits, hospitalizations, trips to the dentist, to the ER and to the OR, are memories now for Scott and Margaret, Jose's foster parents in TN.
COTA has been abundantly blessed to have the highest quality foster parents for our medically fragile pediatric patients. Most of our board member's have also fostered for COTA and we realize the responsibilities, emotional issues and joys of fostering a child that comes from a developing country with no English, in poor health and needing surgery. Jose and COTA were very fortunate to have Scott, Margaret and their daughters to share in his journey to recovery. They offered their home, finances, time and attention to Jose as if he were their own son.
We could not have asked for a better situation for Jose. The results are evident!

A brave little boy returns to Guatemala

2009-10-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Do you recognize the child in the red shirt ? The two photos of Jose that were taken while he was in the hospital in New York City show Jose just before surgery. Your financial contributions created the change that you see from the recent photo of Jose in the red shirt. What an amazing difference! The "angel" sitting next to Jose in the hospital is foster mother Margaret.
Jose returned to Guatemala yesterday. He had not seen his parents in almost 14 months. Maria and Carlos knew that COTA considered sending Jose home without surgery early this past summer, since the amount of money we needed to raise to obtain his surgery was so large. Their sincere requests asking us to try harder gave us the stamina to push forward. I think you will agree that the results were worth the effort!
I will see Jose again in January when COTA goes back to Guatemala for Team 2010. At that time he will be evaluated for further surgery. Dr. Waner wants to do a second procedure to take care of the neck mass that he was not able to repair (Jose could not tolerate a longer surgery due to blood loss).
Meanwhile, Jose is enjoying a reunion with his family, and as soon as I get photos of his experience, I will post them. Thank you for making this adventure possible for this special little boy.

2009-10-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

2009-10-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

2009-10-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

Dr. Blaise Baxter and Jose

2009-09-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

Post-op update on Jose

2009-09-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

Jose's benefactors have been patiently waiting for post-operative photos of the surgery they donated. I have been reluctant to post any before now, as they were a little graphic. He had many stitches and was still fairly swollen for the first 5 days after surgery.
The photos below show Jose from 2 days ago. As you can see, he is still quite swollen and has a drain in his incision. Scrolling down to the post on August 12th will give you a comparison of how he looked before surgery.
The physician in scrubs with Jose is Dr. Blaise Baxter, who is one of the "angels" in Jose's journey to health. He donated seven interventional radiology treatments for Jose since September of '08, which were instrumental in the success of his surgery in NY.
What a brave little boy.

A letter from Sharon at Mayan Families in Guatemala

2009-09-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

Thank you from Angel's mother.
Last year, Mayan Families helped C.O.T.A (Children of the America’s) organize a 17yr old boy to go to the U.S. for medical care. It took us a long time; almost two years to find the medical help that COTA so willingly and kindly offered for him. Angel had received a bullet to the jaw during an attempted car robbery. He suffered a broken jaw and had it wired together for over two years, his skin had started to grow over the wires. He had many rotten teeth and abscesses it was discovered when he got to the U.S.
COTA also found out that Angel's jaw was still broken after all this time. They repaired his jaw, his teeth and he was once again able to smile. He is now back in school and is a normal teen-ager again.
Thanks to the care he received, he is able to have his life back again.

Today his mother came with four beautiful hand embroidered wall hangings that she had made.
One was for Mayan Families, one is for Aida who works with COTA in Guatemala City, one is for Jody from COTA and the other is for the family that fostered Angel in the U.S. The mother made these beautiful embroideries herself.

This is a beautiful gift and I was totally surprised to receive it. These are Angel's little sisters and brother holding the wall hangings.

Jose is a brave little boy

2009-09-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

Here is an update written by Margaret, Jose's foster mother who is at his side in NYC:

Lots of tears today from a weary and anxious boy who is tired of seeing herds of doctors around him and syringes and needles and blood. He's getting used to the tube coming out of his neck that goes to a bulb at its end and is full of blood. He sometimes tilts back his head and asks if there is any blood; he's still afraid of bleeding -- I think he's always known that's a danger. (Dr Waner told us at the office visit last Tuesday that the life-expectancy for this type of case left untreated would probably be 20 years old because of serious bleeding). They took out the arterial line and catheter this morning, so there are just the 2 regular IV's, and they use those to draw blood from for his lab tests. He is so afraid something else is going to hurt him, like an IV restart or needle stick, though we're pretty sure that's all in the past. Had some good pain med early this morning, but just plain old Tylenol since, and he says his neck and face do not hurt. He had a little oatmeal for breakfast, then a good serving of chicken and mashed potatoes from Boston Market across the street for supper. Otherwise just drank a lot of strawberry-kiwi juice from the corner market. I got out to the holiday inn after lunch time for a quick shower and to make sure they had extended my reservation til Monday. Then I picked up our "groceries", and got back up to his room. There is a very nice Child Life Specialist who sits with him and plays or watches a movie while I'm gone that hour each day. I'm sleeping here in the hospital, surprisingly well!

We walked a lot around the floor, around and around the circle. Sometimes Jose almost looked like he was sleep-walking. He denies any pain, just says he's tired. But we walked enough to get the extra fluids moving out of him and he started to pee a lot more and his hematacrit went from 19 last night (low) to 21.6 this evening. So no second bag of blood. No more lovenox - last dose of that was this morning at 10:00.

His anesthesiologist from the first procedure with Dr. Berenstein, Dr. Patti Brous, came up to see him and brought him a brand new Red Power Ranger outfit. Another special visit was Wed evening from an older Guatemalan lady and her husband. The woman had read about Jose in El Diario, a NYC paper, and she wanted to meet him. She came in carrying a copy of the paper with Jose's picture. She gave him a card and check for $20 for a new toy. I think her timing was very special: as she left she said a prayer over Jose and make the sign of the cross over him, giving him a little blessing. Jose has told me in the past that his mama prays for him sometimes and makes that sign, so it will be so nice for his mom to know that somebody was there to take her place at that the very night before his big surgery when she couldn't be there.

The right side of Jose's little face....it is a little face now. It seems so sweet and so little sitting on top of his still swollen neck. It's a little sunken, even, on the jaw there. They took out all the muscle and fat - and part of the nerve there - to make sure they didn't leave behind anything that might regrow. Big red line of stitches and steristrips going diagonal from corner of lips, halfway down neck, then all the way across neck from left to right. His lips are just a little pooched up on right, but I think they will come down. Dr Waner wants to fix the sunken part by adding some tissue there next time when he's back in to get the rest of the malformation removed. You kind of wonder, Where is Jose? Who is this? He hasn't looked in the mirror himself, and I don't think he wants to, but I imagine there will be some image adjustment for him to deal with as well because it's a big change. But he's proven to be quick and capable and very successful at making adjustments in life. And this is a wonderful one to have to make. What amazing skill in the hands of these doctors. What a life-saving and life-changing blessing for this little boy.

New blog design

2009-09-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

Children of the Americas has had the benefit of many visitors to our blog during the medical journey Jose has made these last few weeks. In order to keep a fresh face for those that link onto our site frequently, we are taking advantage of a discount in a blog update being offered by our blog designer.
Nikki, from Canada, has designed our COTA blog as well as many others for non-profit organizations. She does this at a very reasonable price in order to raise money for her own volunteer relief efforts in the Dominican, Haiti and Ethiopia. It is inspiring to read about her work in her own blog:
http://www.madebynikki.blogspot.com/
Meanwhile, thanks Nikki for helping COTA reach all those who are interested in our work in Guatemala.

Our Guatemalan Assistant, Aida

2009-09-04T07:04:00.000-07:00

Many people have asked about the logistics of bringing a child to the United States from Guatemala for donated care. The process is complex, time consuming and involves legal and pediatric assistance. The paperwork, airline flights with escorts, visa, B2 and foster care paperwork can take 3-4 months. The volunteer COTA board does the work from the U.S. end, but it would not be possible to work our medical miracles if it were not for Aida who has helped us for over 22 years on a voluntary basis in Guatemala.
Aida arranges embassy visits for the children that we bring out. She takes them to the Guatemalan pediatrician who donates medical screening. She meets them at the airport to get them safely on the plane and does the same again when they arrive home after surgery. Aida arranges CAT scans, post-care doctor visits, donations of formula to our cleft babies before they can travel, and most important, she keeps in contact with COTA stateside staff about the care issues involved in our patients. Since the year 2000, she has done this for 87 children who have traveled to the states.
Thank you Aida!

Maria returns to Guatemala

2009-09-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

Maria, who has been hosted for a year in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, was flown back to Guatemala last week and returned to her mother. It was a tearful and emotional reunion of Juana and her only child.
Juana discovered Children of the Americas in 2006 when she first brought her daughter to our doctors seeking help for Maria's many congenital deformities. For five years Maria had a colostomy which was difficult for Juana to care for and to find supplies to care for. COTA supplied colostomy bags for this family over the last few years, but we were not able to perform the required surgery in Guatemala.
Following a successful year of care, surgery, immunizations, bowel training and dental care, Maria returned to her mother as a healthy little girl. Her foster parents flew her home to Guatemala and were able to relate to her mother the details of Maria's care. Aida, our Guatemalan coordinator, will oversee the details of a successful transition.
COTA is very fortunate to have volunteers committed to the needs of our pediatric surgery patients.

Jose successfully operated on

2009-09-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

Following a five hour surgery today, Jose is resting well. He has 2 IV's, an arterial line, a foley catheter and a very large bandage on his face. His incision reaches from the corner of his mouth to below his chin.
Jose lost 700 cc's of blood during surgery and was given a unit of blood to compensate. His B/P started to drop, so the surgeons made a decision to stop their efforts to remove all of the malformation.
Margaret and I were able to talk tonight (her cell use is limited) and she sounds amazingly upbeat considering they have been in the hospital for 9 days. She is a short walk to the hotel where she is able to get a shower and change. She wanted me to thank all of Jose's benefactors for the amazing effort that was made on Jose's behalf.
Meanwhile, Jose's parents in Guatemala have had an anxious few days. They were concerned that the delay in surgery meant that the surgeons had changed their minds about helping Jose. They have been updated about the surgery and are very relieved.
More soon!

Jose still awaiting surgery

2009-09-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

Jose has really been a strong little boy as he awaits surgery. He has now been in the hospital for a week. Initially our plan was for Jose to have returned to his foster home by last Saturday. Jose's AV malformation has proven to be even more of a challenge than we thought, and the current plan is for surgery on Thursday.
His last set of injection therapy went well, although he is very swollen. His nose is deviated due to the swelling and his facial malformation is hard to describe--very tight and swollen. Everything he is going through is going to be worth being able to look like a normal little boy.
Margaret is holding up well, although Scott (foster father) had to go back to TN without being able to be with Jose for surgery.
We have been very grateful for the great medical care Jose has been getting at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.

A minor setback for Jose

2009-08-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

Jose's sclero has been delayed until Monday by Dr. Berenstein. His coagulation factor is not where they want it so they are giving him medication to help with that and will do the procedure on Monday. His surgery is now scheduled for Wednesday. Margaret is doing great and the new schedule will put them home over the weekend which works out great for their family. Jose will remain in PICU throughout the days in between procedures and after surgery until discharge. This is routine for all of Dr. Waner's AVM patients. No need to worry...this is a more relaxed side of PICU and very comfortable with private rooms painted in jungle themes. They are right next to the nurse's station so Margaret can slip out to shower and such. Scott leaves to come home Sunday.
This creates a much longer hospitalization for Jose...a week more than expected. The hospital has been wonderful about absorbing the increased cost that this involves for them financially.

Surgery delayed for Jose until Monday

2009-08-27T18:12:00.001-07:00

Thank you to all who have written and asked about Jose and his foster family. I have passed on your thoughts and notes to them on your behalf. Unfortunately, Jose is going to need more injections of sclerotherapy medications into his malformation tomorrow morning, which means that the surgery will be delayed until Monday. He isn't very happy about being in the hospital, and I know Margaret and Scott are tired, but Jose is safe and in expert hands, for which we are grateful. His story is being watched in Central America on the TV station, Telemundo. The reporter who interviewed him yesterday was to come back tomorrow after surgery, but I imagine they will wait until early next week. We hope Jose's parents were able to see their son on TV in their village, I can only imagine what a thrill that would have been for them.
Jose's father is a rural farmer in Guatemala, and he has to keep his cell phone dry so he doesn't take it to the fields with him. His wife Maria has been keeping watch over the phone this week and has been updated daily by our translator.

Jose is resting in Intensive Care tonight

2009-08-26T20:48:00.000-07:00

Jose had a long day but is doing very well. Today's treatment involved five hours of sclerotherapy into the facial malformation. This was done under general anesthesia, which has historically been difficult for Jose to recover from without stomach issues. His did very well today with this, and tonight at 6 was drinking apple juice. The doctors placed Jose in pediatric intensive care due to the large amount of facial swelling following the injections. I know it is hard to imagine the malformation being any bigger than it already was!
Dr. Waner and Dr. Berenstein will make a decision early in the morning on doing another set of injections, and if they decide to do this, the surgery will be delayed at least until Friday. This is a very big AV malformation, and the foster mother was told by the doctors today that Jose's life expectancy without surgery would have only been into his early 20's.
Margaret and Scott are holding up well, and one of them will be with Jose each night. They are very appreciative of all of the kind wishes being expressed on Jose's behalf. Our translator called Jose's parents in his Guatemalan village tonight to update them on the progress.

Two boys in Guatemala say "thank you" to their brother's donors

2009-08-24T16:34:00.001-07:00

When Jose's parents heard (via our wonderful translator Stanley) that Jose was going to be able to have his surgery, they were overjoyed. Maria, Jose's mother, dressed Jose's two little brother's up in their best clothing (recently donated from the U.S.) and had a neighbor who owns a camera take this photo for Jose to take to the hospital. Jose has not seen his siblings or his parents since he arrived in the states on August 27th of last year.
Jose is in New York City as I write this. His injection procedure into his facial AV malformation is at 7 AM Wednesday morning, and surgery is scheduled for Thursday morning. We are very grateful to Midwest Airlines for the donation of tickets for Jose and his foster parents, Margaret and Scott.
Thanks to our amazing donors, the $18,700 was wired to Roosevelt Hospital today at 1:00. Jose is fortunate to have such generous donors. Thank you ALL and I will keep the blog updated at the week progresses.

Surgery scheduled in New York City for a special boy from Guatemala

2009-08-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Forty-seven generous donors have sent the required $18,700 to allow Jose to have his surgeries in NYC on August 25th and 27th! Two surgical/interventional radiology procedures will be necessary to resolve the AV malformation that Jose suffers from.
The funds required to obtain the surgery for Jose have to be collected and deposited, then wired to NYC by next Tuesday. Thanks to a phenomenal response from those who responded to Jose's need, he is now scheduled to arrive in New York on a donated Midwest flight, and the flurry of activity will start soon after. He is expected to be hospitalized for 4-5 days.
Margaret and Scott, the foster family, are paying for the hotel expenses in NYC. If any funds come in that are over the amount we needed to raise, we will be able to help them with travel needs.
There really are no words that are adequate to express the appreciation of those who have helped this special little boy from rural Guatemala. Most of the donors have never met Jose, which makes the trust they placed in COTA all the more special. From a group of nurses in New Jersey to a donor in California, the concern for Jose reached coast-to-coast.
I asked Carlos, Jose's father, to write a letter to his son's benefactors. I will send a copy in each thank you note. He and his wife are very grateful.

Amazing response to Jose's need

2009-08-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

Seven year old Alex had a lemonade stand and brought $33 to my door. I sold an aquarium for $40 on Craig's list. My sister is sending $500, and a brother did the same. Friends of a host family contributed $1,000; a nurse who travels with the COTA teams has sent $200, another sent $25. Two friends dropped off checks today, and another family who has adopted from Guatemala sent a wonderful donation. The list goes on....many kind people who have been touched by Jose's story.
Jose's foster mother took a photo of him thanking all of his donors. If all of our pledges come in on time (deadline is next Monday), we will be within $1,694.89 of our goal. In this economy, raising nearly $18,700 in such a short time could only be accomplished through each of you. What an amazing gift you have given Jose.

Keep up the good work!

2009-08-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of Jose's new friends who have been so generous about donating toward his surgery. We are 3/4's of the way to our goal! Only $4,300 left to go. Amazing effort. I really appreciate all who have sent this blog on. The money must be in the bank account of the hospital in New York by next Tuesday.
The phone lines have been busy between NYC, where the surgery will take place, and Lexington, KY, where the COTA office is, on into Tennessee, where Jose is in foster care. Now our fundraising goal looks promising, there have been many e-mails and calls made to coordinate flights to NYC, paperwork, pre-op physicals, the power-of-attorney papers from Guatemala, and the schedules of all three specialists who will be caring for Jose at Roosevelt Hospital. Jose's parents in Guatemala are being kept informed of the big things happening for their son thanks to the generosity of people who have never even met this special little boy.
Stay tuned!

Update on Jose's fundraiser

2009-08-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

What an incredible show of support for Jose there has been these last few days. From a former COTA foster parent in Nashville to a group of nurses in New Jersey, and on into Wyoming from a COTA friend who filmed a documentary on our program....the concern for this little boy has been reflected in financial donations. To date we have $5,676.34 in-hand and $6,200 pledged. This leaves Jose's fund with a total of $11,876.34 if all pledges are received.
Please help by passing this message onto any friends or family you might think would be interested. We are still $6,823.66 short, and if by a miracle we are able to raise anything over our goal, it would be much appreciated. The foster family is prepared to pay their own travel and hotel expenses to NYC for Jose's surgery. What a gift if they didn't have to.
Thank you to all who are helping. I have let Jose's parents know of your efforts.
Jody

2009-08-07T06:48:00.000-07:00

Jose from Guatemala needs your help

2009-08-07T06:16:00.000-07:00

Jose (see below) has a chance of a lifetime to have his large facial hemangioma removed in NYC. He is scheduled for surgery with Dr. Milton Waner at Roosevelt Hospital on August 26th and again on August 28th for both interventional injection therapy and for surgery. The renowned international specialists Dr. Waner and Dr. Berenstein have donated their professional skills.
Roosevelt Hospital is being kind enough to give us the hospitalization at cost. Having said this, we still need to find $18,700 and have it in their hands by August 24th, before admission.
I have done everything possible to get this bill to the lowest figure. The pediatric anesthesiologist has been asked to and has agreed to donate his services. That helped bring the bill down from $25,000.
COTA has been trying since August 27th of last year to help Jose with this AV malformation. He was born with this, and despite 7 injection treatments over the past year in Tennessee, it continues to grow. Surgical intervention is our only hope of keeping this "beast" of a malformation from growing. The medical concerns are tracheal deviation and bleeding from tumor injury. These are and have been valid concerns.
Two COTA foster families in TN have been very generous with their time, networking, and financial contributions to Jose's care. His foster family has donated their home, travel, financial resources and most importantly, their love for this special little boy. All those who have grown fond of Jose, and have communicated with his family in Guatemala, are in hopes that this miracle can happen for him.
Any financial assistance for Jose would be much appreciated. I will keep the blog updated on how much we are able to raise. To date, we are at the half-way mark, with less than two weeks to reach the goal. Any checks, no matter how small, can be sent to:
Children of the Americas
1781 Eastwood Dr
Lexington, KY 40502

Many thanks for any help,
Jody Greenlee, RN
Vice President, Children of the Americas

Maria continues care in New Jersey

2009-07-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Maria, seen above, is still enjoying the TLC of foster parent's Warren and Bev in New Jersey. For many years Maria's mother came to COTA teams in Guatemala, seeking care for her daughter. As you can tell, Maria is flourishing as she finishes the final stages of her surgical care and rehabilitation for her congenital birth issues.

Jose's New York City Adventure

2009-07-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

Jose, our COTA patient with a large facial AV malformation, traveled to NYC a few weeks ago. His foster mother, Margaret, and her daughter accompanied Jose to Roosevelt Hospital to seek the medical opinion of internationally renowned pediatric AV malformation specialists. It was a busy and eventful trip for Jose, and resulted in the donation of care of three specialists who agreed to surgically correct the malformation that has challenged Jose's COTA caretakers.
Jose, who took was oblivious to being in one of the most famous cities in the world, has traveled far from home (western Guatemala) to obtain surgical intervention. He is seen above, riding in Central Park at the end of a long day of medical appointments-still smiling and happy to be heading to FAO Schwartz toy store.

2009-06-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

Carlos transitions to adulthood

2009-05-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

When our COTA foster children return to Guatemala following their medical care in the United States, they do not always transition well. Many of the children require months and infrequently, years in the states in order to heal from multiple surgeries. Returning to the hardships of life in rural Guatemala can offer them many challenges.
Carlos was one of those cases. He returned home following several visits, three years and many surgeries in KY for his electrocution injuries. He had enjoyed an excellent foster home, schooling, and active social life. When he returned to Guatemala he had a job, but it did not last with the economic downturn. His social situation at home was strained. Carlos, like many of our older COTA patients, had the gift of renewed health but no opportunity to support himself.
COTA networked with the non-profit Mayan Families in Panajachel in order to work out a viable situation. Mayan Families needed manpower and Carlos needed a new place to call home. Six months later, Carlos is still employed in Panajachel, and is working hard to help the staff of MF's improve the lives of the rural indigenous citizens of the lake regions. It is rewarding to see Carlos doing so well in his new life. He has a great work ethic and is "paying forward" all of the care and attention he enjoyed while in KY.

Bianca comes to Lexington

2009-04-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

Bianca has arrived in Kentucky after a year of effort from the COTA Executive Director to network care for her. Just in time for spring, Bianca flew into KY on American Airlines thanks to the Miles for Kids Program. All smiles in this photo, Bianca is adjusting well to her new surroundings thanks to her foster parents, Jennifer and Charlie. Seasoned COTA volunteers, this particular foster family has seen numerous Guatemalan children through the transition to health while in our program. Bianca is already mastering the art of bike riding and caring for the host family horse.

Bianca is being evaluated for her solid facial hemangioma. She was discovered in Guatemala during one of our surgical trips. Due the large size of her tumor, surgery in Guatemala was not successful.

2009-03-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Update on Alex and Angel

2009-03-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

These two patients represent the spectrum of care that COTA specializes in for our stateside patients. Alex (bottom photo) was born with a congenital cleft lip and palate. His repair was donated by Lexington, KY plastic surgeon Dr. Andy Moore. Alex has been home in Panajachel, Guatemala with his parents for the last 6 months. His foster mother, Kim, is very excited to be visiting him in a few days!

Angel(top photo) is representative of a patient who suffered trauma in Guatemala, and had no ability to pay for the required surgical repair. Following his donated jaw reconstruction in Lexington, KY, Angel required a dental bridge to restore his oral function and be able to eat properly. Thanks to a generous donation of many episodes of dental care from Dr. Steve Hieronymus and his wife Mary, Angel was supplied with a custom-made bridge this January.

These two boys are from the same area of Guatemala, but had very different medical issues. COTA is very fortunate to have a dedicated multi-specialty group of medical and dental volunteers to assist us in meeting the complex needs of our stateside patients.

Cintia and Jose have a play date

2009-02-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

Maria's Miracle in New Jersey

2009-02-08T09:06:00.000-08:00

Maria is seen at left happily resting in her foster father's lap as she enjoys being the center of attention in her New Jersey foster home. Warren and Beverly have fostered three children through COTA. Their medical connections in the community have enabled all three children to obtain donated surgical and medical care that was not available to them in Guatemala.

2009-01-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

Two special ladies

2009-01-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

Litzi, our patient from Bolivia, enjoyed a special evening recently with both of her foster mothers. Wendy, pictured on the right, fostered Litzi for COTA during a difficult year of burn care, surgeries at Shriners in Cincinnati and physical therapy. It was a demanding and critical time for Litzi to be in loving and talented hands in order to get her through the medical needs of her third degree burns. Wendy did an amazing job while working full-time.

The transition two years ago to her second foster home with Hank and Julie of Louisville went very smoothly thanks to the loving environment that Litzi moved into. Julie (pictured on the left), current foster mother to Litzi, has provided just the right touch of love, medical expertise as a nurse, and determination that has allowed Litzi to blossom, despite her special needs. Litzi is facing several more surgeries to correct the contractures of her burn injuries.

What a special little girl to have two such loving women in her life.

2008-12-16T17:07:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to our COTA patients and their foster families

2008-12-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

What an amazing gift our host parents offer our stateside patients. It is no small thing to accept a medically fragile foster child from a developing country into a family, yet Children of the Americas is blessed with amazing people who do this for our patients without any financial compensation.

Happiest of holidays to all of our foster parents and our pediatric patients who are fortunate to share their hearth and homes.

2008-11-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

2008-11-21T20:45:00.001-08:00

I recently had the pleasure of traveling to Panajachel to help with an Ob/Gyn clinic, and thanks to Sharon from MayanFamilies, I was able to see both Angel and Alex (our two COTA children who are from this area).

In the accompanying photo, you can see Alex being carried by his grandmother (his mother had just had another baby and was still recovering at home). She brought Alex to see me in order to arrange his cleft palate repair during our surgical team in January. The lady standing to her left is Angel's mother.

It was wonderful to see both patients doing well back in Guatemala with their families.

2008-09-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

2008-09-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

2008-09-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Baby Alex safely home to Guatemala

2008-09-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

Our adorable patient Alex, from Panajachel, Guatemala is safely home following his successful surgical repair of his wide cleft lip. Dr. Andy Moore in Lexington, KY donated the surgical expertise necessary to repair Alex's lip. In partnership with Central Baptist Hospital (Lexington) and Oldham Country Pediatrics, Alex was the fortunate beneficiary of excellent care while he was here.
His journey home was an eventful time for foster mother Kim, who accompanied Alex back to Guatemala. The fostering experience came full-circle for Kim as she met Alex's parents for the first time, and was able to receive their thanks in person for all that Kim, Jay and their son Alex had done for their baby. There were not many dry eyes during the visit, and despite their economic constraints, Alex's parents provided a meal for Kim and Sharon (Mayan Families Coordinator) during the visit.
When he arrived home, Alex's mother was pregnant with her next baby. In order to support Alex's formula needs, Mayan Families has made regular donations of powdered formula to Gloria so that she can keep Alex's nutrition in an optimal place for him to be operated on for his cleft palate during the COTA 2009 team. It is a comfort to Kim, Jay and the COTA staff to know that this support mechanism is in place for Alex's family.

Lourdes healing after surgery at Shriners Hospital

2008-09-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

Loudes, seen below with host parents Bobby and Lisa, has triumphed through 9 weeks of hospitalization, and is resting in her foster home in western KY. The dedication of the Shriners staff was amazing as they worked through all of the issues involved in getting Lourdes through her physical therapy, in-hospital schooling needs, wound care management and ambulation training.
We could not have asked for a better situation for this child with her complicated leg bone surgical needs. Lourdes is scheduled to fly home in mid-December to a family that will be amazed at her maturity, new health and English skills. Bobby and Lisa are to be commended for their dedication to the many needs Lourdes had while she has been here.

2008-09-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

Jose arrives following diagnosis on Team 2008

2008-09-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

In January of this year, Jose and his father traveled several hours to find Children of the Americas doctors in Tiquisate, Guatemala. Jose had been suffering with a long-term and rapidly growing hemangioma of the face. Although he is only five years old, Jose's tumor was already the size of a grapefruit and had spread from his upper cheek to below his jaw. COTA staff were reluctant to commit to finding surgical intervention in the United States, since this was a severe and very large growth that would require an interventional radiologist, anesthesiologist, pediatrician and possibly pediatric plastic surgeon. We left Guatemala with an promise to Jose's father that we would try, but we had minimal hope that we would be successful.
Seven months later, due entirely to the determination of April, fellow COTA host mother and busy mother of five, Jose arrived in Tennessee to a group of medical professionals willing to donate their skills to help him. New foster parents Margaret and Scott from Hixon, TN were ready to provide for Jose and include him into their busy household. Kenny, an ER physician and COTA host father, went "above and beyond the normal call of duty" by flying to Guatemala to escort Jose here (there were concerns about bleeding from the tumor with flight pressure changes.)
Six weeks later Jose has had his first round of sclerotherapy injections, is learning English and enjoying life in his temporary home. He has had excellent care and the tumor is reacting positively to the interventions. We are most grateful to the amazing and caring people in Tennessee who refused to forget the needs of a little boy in Guatemala who had no hope of finding care.
Once the tumor has reduced significantly, a photo of Jose will be posted.

Maria finally finds help

2008-09-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

Maria, the newest foster child of Warren and Beverly from New Jersey, has found help for her numerous medical issues after seeking care for over four years. Every January when the COTA team came to Guatemala, Maria's mother found the American medical staff and approached us once again, trying to find someone to help her with her only child. Maria had been born with an imperforate anus, and she has had a colostomy since birth. The ostomy bags are impossible for this young mother to afford, and she was dependent on COTA to supply them to her.
Thanks to the diligent efforts of the foster parents, surgical donation of care has been arranged at Virtua Hospital in New Jersey. Currently undergoing a series of testing, Maria is meanwhile enjoying the benefits of donated dental care and immunizations.

Angel's Reconstructive Surgery

2008-08-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

Angel received his jaw reconstruction surgery at 8 AM this morning at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington. All of this is possible because of the kind donation of care from Dr. Catherine White (anesthesiologist), Dr. Wayne Colin (surgeon) and the donation of ICU post-op care from the hospital. This follows three trips out-of-town to the office of Dr. Steve Hieronymus (dentist) for extensive donation of many hours of dental care (twice Dr. H came in on his day off) and the donation of oral surgery with the removal of 7 diseased teeth from Dr. Greg Erena (oral surgeon). The ongoing care and support from Ed and Teresa (foster parents) has been amazing. Thank you to all who made this possible.

Angel Has Surgery

2008-07-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

Angel had his oral surgery today. Here are some pictures from the day.

This picture is from the day that Angel arrived. From left to right - Theresa, Angel's foster mom, Jody, president of COTA and Angel

This is Angel on his first appointment with the oral surgeon.

Angel with Dr. Greg Erena who donated oral surgery today.

These two young men are Guatemalan medical students Oscar and Jorge with Dr. Erena today. Oscar and Jorge have been a big help, epecially with translation services.

Angel's x-ray from today. Notice there are metal fragments in the lower right jaw and upper left jaw. The one on the upper left was protruding through the outside of Angels' cheek and was removed today.

More metal fragments from the bullet three years ago. You can also see the wires on his teeth. These were all removed today.

All of this mess was removed today as well as seven diseased teeth.

Angel after surgery was over.

Angel made it to Kentucky

2008-07-06T18:39:00.001-07:00

Angel made it to the United States with only a few plane problems. He has already been to the surgeon and the oral surgeon. The case is a little more complicated then they first thought, but it will still be worked out.

These pictures were taken as Angel was meeting up with Aida and Rosemary before he got on the plane. (Angel is in the brown and white striped shirt)

Kimberly made it home

2008-07-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

Kimberly did great on the trip home, even though they were two hours late getting into Guatemala. There was even a local TV station there to cover the event!! Kimberly's mom barely recognized her as she has changed so much due to the great care she got from her foster parents.

Baby Alex on surgery day

2008-06-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Alex from Panajachel, Guatemala received his gift of donated surgery and hospital time on June 24th at Central Baptist Hospital. All of the staff were very professional and welcoming as Alex was evaluated, prepped, had his paperwork done and was taken to the OR. Foster mom Kim and I waited together for Dr. Moore to let us know surgery was over, and soon after his surgery, Alex was back in Kim's arms. Hosting a cleft baby is an emotional roller coaster, but Kim handled the "ride" very well. This photo was taken an hour after surgery.

Kimberly, the day before returning to Guatemala

2008-06-29T07:46:00.001-07:00

Kimberly was first introduced to COTA blog fans in the header above. The tiny malnourished infant with her cleft lip and palate has come to represent what we do in the stateside program. So many people bonded with this baby on Team 2008..there was something about her determination to live and her Mother's persistence in seeking COTA's assistance that won our hearts.

Kimberly was returned to her mother, Marta, on June 19 by Rosemary Vance, our Executive Director who was traveling to Guatemala on a Team 2009 scouting trip. I will post photos of her return soon, but meanwhile, I know you will enjoy this photo of Kimberly on her last day in Kentucky. Linda and Alan in Danville, KY are to be commended for an excellent job caring for Kimberly during her journey toward health.

Networking with Mayan Families in Panajachel

2008-06-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

COTA has really enjoyed assisting Sharon and her staff at Mayan Families . Although we have never met, we share a desire to assist the citizens of the area MF's serves with their health care needs. Angel will soon be joining baby Alex as a temporary resident of Kentucky. He will be flying into Lexington on June 29th in order to have donated surgery for his jaw which has been broken since he was shot three years ago. Long-time COTA foster parents Ed and Teresa from Stanton, KY have graciously agreed to host Angel during his few months of surgical and dental care.

COTA first met Angel in January of this year when he presented to our volunteer medical/surgical/dental team. His surgical repair was too complex for us to attempt in Guatemala and many months of paperwork later, he is due to arrive. Thank you to Carol, a MF supporter, for making the initial contact with COTA last fall. She never gave up trying to network an agency to sponsor Angel.

Alex arrives from Panajachel, Guatemala

2008-05-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

Mayan Familes (Guatemala) and Children of the Americas (Lexington, KY) worked together to bring Alex to KY for donated surgical repair of his upper lip. Thanks to Krystal and Mike from Georgetown, KY, who volunteered to bring baby Alex to the states for COTA, all went well on Alex's first plane ride.

New host family Kim and Jay from Simpsonville, KY are negotiating the challenges of two little ones under the age of two--both named Alex!

Kimberly; ready for cleft lip repair!

2008-05-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Kimberly, thanks to the amazing TLC delivered by host parents Alan and Linda in Danville, KY, is now ready for surgery. Her weight has doubled, the donation of her surgical care has been secured and we are all anticipating a great repair for this baby.

Franklin goes home to Guatemala

2008-04-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

Franklin is preparing to return to Guatemala, following successful surgery to repair a crush injury to his foot. Shriners Hospital in Lexington has donated two surgeries for this COTA patient. Skila and Jarrod from Lexington, KY found time in their busy schedule (while parenting three other boys!) to host Franklin for his visits to the U.S.

Franklin's mother is a nurse in Guatemala, and she never gave up on her attempt at finding surgical repair for her child. We have no doubt that Franklin will make the world a better place in the future.

Cintia awaits departure to U.S. for surgery

2008-04-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Our next COTA stateside patient is awaiting her exit visa for departure to Tennessee, where she will be hosted by our newest foster family, April and Kenny. Cintia will have a complicated surgery to correct lower bowel problems that were present at birth. The surgical procedure will require two surgeries and at least an 8 month stay in the states, if not longer. This is an amazing commitment of time, energy and love for this new COTA couple, who already have 5 children of their own! Cintia has been in foster care in Guatemala since birth, and her smile reflects the loving concern her Guatemalan foster mother gave her for the first year of her life.

Lourdes awaits surgery at Shriners Hospital

2008-03-31T12:45:00.000-07:00

Lourdes is also a stateside patient in the COTA program. Hosted by Lisa and Bobby in western Kentucky, Lourdes is delighted with her foster care placement. While she awaits her surgical date at Shriners in Lexington, KY, Lourdes has benefited from donated dental and orthodontic care, healthcare and updated immunizations.

Kimberly after six weeks in foster care

2008-03-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Kimberly's newest photos shows the effects of the loving and attentive care of Linda and Alan as they nurture her to health. Kimberly's surgery is scheduled for mid-May, thanks to the very diligent efforts of COTA friend April Hayman in Chattanooga, TN. April has the determination that it takes to network donated surgery for a COTA patient-no small task with hospital budget cuts!

Mother Marta in Guatemala is shown in Kimberly's crib in Danville, KY. Marta is kept informed of Kimberly's progress with the help of COTA volunteer Aida de Carcamo in Guatemala, who calls and keeps in touch with each family that has a child in our program. It truly "takes a village" to restore health to each of our COTA patients.

Kimberly's journey to health

2008-03-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

Kimberly, is our newest stateside patient. She was first seen by COTA nurses and doctors in Tiquisate, Guatemala on January 19th of this year, when she was in a near starvation state. Her malnutrition was caused by her inability to breastfeed due to her cleft lip and palate. Kimberly's mother was not able to afford the infant formula to keep her baby nourished. COTA donated many cans of formula for this baby but she developed diarrhea and dropped her weight to under 5 lbs.

Three weeks later, the paperwork was complete and Kimberly arrived in KY thanks to the assistance of her American Ambassadors escort arranged for us by Margaret Whitehead. Kimberly is currently being hosted by Linda and Alan, one of our dedicated host families. She has already gained two pounds! Surgical correction of her cleft lip is scheduled for May.