There Were Four In The Bed...

Just when Thien Nhan and his two big brothers were all finally free of the flu, their mom, Mai Anh, fainted and hit her head. She ended up in hospital where CAT scans revealed that she'd suffered swelling of the brain. Luckily, with rest, she will recover! The family deserves a "frequent customer discount card" at the local hospital, of the type handed out in coffee shops...

Ordered to rest in bed, where she's hooked up to an IV, Mai Anh has had good company. Check out this adorable picture of the three boys, sleeping like angels!

A Rough Week

On the last day of the Year of the Rat Thien Nhan came down with a high fever and had to be rushed to the emergency ward. He developed a rash all over his body and was too sick to eat or drink, requiring him to be hospitalized for four nights. "He looked like a Tet peach tree," joked mom Mai Anh, referring to the angry red rash that covered poor Nhan's entire face and body.

His dad, Nghinh, fell ill too, and poor Mai Anh spent her New Year's holiday rushing back and forth between her home and the hospital. Luckily Thien Nhan's fever is now down, and while he remains tired and weak he is at home again.

You've Come A Long Way, Baby!

On Tuesday morning Thien Nhan is meeting prosthetic specialists at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. To remind everyone of how far this brave little boy has come, here's a photo of Thien Nhan as a newborn in Intensive Care at Quang Nam Hospital, shortly after he was mauled. Thanks to everyone who's made this transformation possible!

Bad News

We got some very bad news today. The Shriner Hospital in Boston concluded that, given the severity of Thien Nhan's genital injuries, there is nothing they can do for him at present. The doctor sent us the following note:

i … reviewed Nhan's medical information yesterday with our surgeons here as we are trying to determine what can be done to help this little boy as we do to all applicants before they get to the hospital it became very clear for all of us that there is very very little we can offer considering the sever out come of the trauma i.e loss of his 2 testes and penis which is impossible to reconstruct and even if we try the results after many many procedures are not satisfactory and we know all will be none functional … sorry to disappoint any of you as I know you are great in trying to help as we try too but we do not want to promise an outcome which is unattainable,many thanks for your efforts and communications...
Alia Antoon MD

While we are disheartened we will continue to seek other options. Sooner or later the technology will improve and Thien Nhan will benefit from it. To learn more about genital reconstruction scroll to the bottom of the page.

Visiting Danang Hospital

Yesterday, Mai Anh, Nghin and the three kids all drove from Danang to Tam Thanh District to obtain more paperwork for Thien Nhan's passport application. As those of you with kids can imagine, a three-hour drive (in each direction) with three boys aged eight, three and 20 months involved a LOT of noise.

On the way, the family stopped off at the Danang Hospital and met some of the doctors who had tended to Thien Nhan when he'd been brought in as a newborn, shortly after the dog attack. One doctor, Dr. Quoc Huynh Hieu, described the traditional Vietnamese Naming Ceremony that staff and local monks had organized when Thien Nhan was one month old. The hospital has kept an album of photos recording this event.

Dr. Hieu said that: "We came up with that name [which means 'Good Person'] so that Thien Nhan would be a good-natured person even though his start in life was so difficult".