Poor kid

wind2000 · Dec 14, 2007

Vietnamese orphan with growth to be treated in U.S.

Updated Thu. Dec. 13 2007 5:25 PM ET

CTV.ca News

Son Pham, a 10-year-old Vietnamese orphan who arrived in Canada in June for surgery to remove a large facial growth, got word this week that he will travel to Boston for treatment.

Canadian Kate Maslen first met Son Pham at his orphanage, and brought him to Ottawa in July with the help of her organization, the Children's Bridge Foundation.

Since October, he's been living in Halifax with Olwyn Walter, president of the Children's Bridge Foundation. She gave the boy the good news Thursday morning.

The growth on his face was first believed to be a tumour, but it has turned out to be a vascular anomaly -- a football-sized growth of veins.

The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto determined this fall that it would be unable to treat him, after the condition was deemed to be non-life-threatening. Son and his new family were devastated.

More consultations were made with American specialists, and a team of plastic surgeons at the Children's Hospital Boston came up with a plan for a series of injections (sclerotherapy) every six to eight weeks, for at least a year.

The treatment will start in early January, with doctors donating their services and a Boston-based foundation donating $150,000 toward medical costs. The Children's Bridge Foundation will pay the remaining $200,000.

Son Pham was thrilled to hear about the treatment, and was pleased to learn there will be little pain involved in the procedures. "An earlier treatment he received in Vietnam was quite painful," Walter said.

For the next year, Son Pham will shuttle between Boston and Halifax, where he is living with the Walter family.

There are some risks with the treatment. But left untreated, the growth could eventually block Son's airway and impair his blood's ability to clot, U.S. doctors believe.

"Going in around the eye, there is a risk there, but they will try to make sure he is always able to open and close his eye," Walter said.
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http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...1213/growth_boston_071213/20071213?hub=Health

Hopefully they'll be able to cure him. Wish him good luck.

fearless_fx · Dec 14, 2007

yeah seriously terrible affliction, i hope the doctors will be able to do something for him...

Poor kid

wind2000 Self Schemata

fearless_fx Eugooglizer