INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS OF COMPASSION

Juanita Update: June 27, 2011

A Good Fight

I first--want to thank all of you who prayed for 10 month old Junita. I just got the sad report that she did not survive her fight for life.

She survived a tragic hot oil spill. Her mother was desperate for help—they are very poor and had no way to pay for the help she needed. Her mother was even injured in the oil spill but not as bad as Junita.  Junita was badly burned on her head, neck and upper chest. We do not have the surgical center at our small hospital to do skin grafts (Some day we will  with the partnership of the Grossman Burn Foundation).  Our medical staff assessed her condition and knew we had to get her to a place to receive skin grafts and fight the infection. We have a wonderful relationship with another Hospital (Bethesda) and look to them as a sister hospital. Bethesda is run by  Dr. Paul Gerry. We have sent others there. We treasure their partnership.  The challenge for Junita was Bethesda Hospital is a long distance and very difficult for patients to be transported. Our medical base is on the island of Halmahera and Bethesda is on Borneo (Kalimantan).  We sent our lead staff doctor , Dr. Leo, to escort Junita and her mother to Bethesda—he was sent to keep her stabilized. The trip was long but she survived and went into surgery at Bethesda. Junita was stabilized and came back to our base.  Peter and Esther Scarborough advocated for Junita to come to the U.S. for more surgeries. The Children’s Burn Foundation and the Grossman Burn Center in California offered to assist this child. They are just amazing people and made it possible for Junita to get the help she needed. It looked like everything was in place for her. Sadly, she then got a bad case of Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever is also known as broke bone syndrome. It is painful and she was bleeding internally and again faced a fight for her life. She was taken to a local hospital to treat the Dengue Fever. She was not making the progress we had hoped and then she was diagnosed with a twisted bowel and needed emergency surgery. There was no assurance she could even survive the operation.  The decision was made by the physicians and her family to go ahead and do the surgery. She was not given a high percentage of surviving the operation. We sent Dr. Leo to be with the family (the surgery was done at a public hospital in Ternate). He had become so close to the Junita and her family that he wanted to be there for support. A section of about four inches of her bowel was removed and she miraculously survived the surgery. We were all positive and hopeful she would survive. I believe our staff did everything possible to save her life—now we just pray for comfort for the family. We place this into the hands of the Almighty. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Looking for an Open Door

She was tragically injured in a hot oil spill. She was injured on the upper body and head. The issue of infection and threat to her life was a big concern for the medical staff at the Hohidiai hospital. The decision was made to send her to a partner hospital on the island of Kalimantan. This is a long trip so we sent Dr. Leo, staff doctor, to escort Junita and her mother to Bethesda Hospital in Kalimantan.  She received excellent treatment for infection and the injuries. The skin grafts and treatment could have saved her life.

Junita and her mother are back at our clinic. The contractures on her neck and arms are a concern at this time. The injured areas heal and pull the skin tight. Her chin could be pulled into her chest and her upper arms could be welded to her side. These contractures could have crippling results. Peter and Esther Scarborough, IFC co-founders and Field Directors, have sent out a letter asking for a U.S. doctor to consider helping her. We are just waiting and praying for the open door. There is a lot to be done once the door opens—passports, visa approval, tickets, living quarters, funding, etc. We are taking the first step in a long process.