08 October 2011

Cristian is an energetic eight year old from Olancho, Honduras that came to live with us on July 28.  He was born without an anus.  When he was two days old, they gave him a crude colostomy.  He would typically have a diaper like cloth and a wrap around him since he was born, since they did not have access to colostomy bags in his area. He comes to us through “Healing the Children.”

The doctors in Honduras were able to get in contact with Healing the Children and asked if they would be able to help, since the medical expertise for Cristian was not available in Honduras.  They were able to get in contact with Dr. Dan Robertson at Helen De Vos Children’s Hospital.  They reviewed Cristian’s case and he was accepted...

About three weeks after Cristian arrived they were able to complete his first surgery on August 16.  They created an anus for him and checked his colon to make sure everything was all right.  The surgery was successful; however, they found that he had some barium residue in his colon from the doctors in Honduras checking him earlier in his life.  They would have to do a second procedure to remove this mass that was about the size of a baseball in his colon.  That was also completed successfully.  His third surgery was completed on September 20.  This was a colostomy takedown.  This was also successful.  Cristian was in the hospital from Tuesday through Sunday of that week.

Those days in the hospital were quite interesting.  This was the first time we had every prayed for someone to “pass gas!”  He was kept on ice chips and clear fluids for a few days to give his colon time to start healing.  One afternoon he declared “mucho gas, mama”.  After that success, we needed his “system” to start functioning correctly.  They moved him to some food and shortly he was starting to go “poo”.  He was excited, since this was the first time he had every used a toilet for #2!  He knew what to do and the system was working.  It is amazing how God has made our bodies and what technology and know-how our doctors have to help our kids.  Since then, his incision continues to heal and is a little over half way healed.  It was a 6-8 inch incision that goes from his near his belly button to his near his hip.  The doctor continues to watch this.  He has had some infection that they continue to work on eliminating. 

We are honored to be chosen by God to have Cristian spend this time with our family and look forward to being able to send him home to his family healthy and strong and functioning correctly sometime in November.  This depends on how quickly he is released by Dr. Robertson.    We are thankful for “Healing the Children” for being able to coordinate these miracles, for Dr. Robertson and his office who most generously donate their services, for Helen De Vos Children’s Hospital who donates all of their services and facility, and for God’s guidance and healing for Cristian.  We are truly blessed to have access to an excellent health care organization right here in Grand Rapids that is also committed to helping those that are less fortunate.

Please pray for Cristian to continue to heal well so he can return home, for his family in Honduras who misses him a lot, and for the doctors and staff to continue to be blessed in the work they do each day.

--Bryan, Carol, Whitney, Trevor, and Brooklyn Nyeholt