*** UPDATE*** Two weeks after the transplant, Nina's breathing tube has been removed and she's finally breathing on her own.*** Nina was born April 20, 2007 in Dallas, Texas. She was a small infant weighing in at 6 lbs 3 ounces. Doctors saw that Nina was jaundiced with yellow eyes and yellow skin. After a few weeks, parents Pajwast and John Raphael noticed the jaundice was not going away. At the age of 4 months, Nina was rushed to Cooks Children Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. Nina was beginning to show signs of an advanced condition (unbeknown to the parents). Within 12 hours the Doctors at Cooks identified that their worst fears have been revealed from the various medical tests. Nina was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia, a life threatening disease that attacks the liver.
Four hours later, little Nina underwent an emergency operation called "Kasai procedure", which basically buys Nina some time for her to get older and stronger prior to going through a liver transplant. Despite being hooked up to a feeding tube through her nose 24/7, which ensures that little Nina has proper weight gain, she continues to be a very happy little girl.
Unfortunately, during this ordeal, the insurance company instructed the parents that they would only cover 70% of the transplant operation and follow up treatments (even though initially the insurance was supposed to cover the whole procedure). The average liver transplant cost is about $650,000.00. The Raphael's would have to come up with 30% of that. They are a single income family with a 3 year old with extremely limited resources.
Four hours later, little Nina underwent an emergency operation called "Kasai procedure", which basically buys Nina some time for her to get older and stronger prior to going through a liver transplant. Despite being hooked up to a feeding tube through her nose 24/7, which ensures that little Nina has proper weight gain, she continues to be a very happy little girl.
Unfortunately, during this ordeal, the insurance company instructed the parents that they would only cover 70% of the transplant operation and follow up treatments (even though initially the insurance was supposed to cover the whole procedure). The average liver transplant cost is about $650,000.00. The Raphael's would have to come up with 30% of that. They are a single income family with a 3 year old with extremely limited resources. On January 20, 2008, little Nina underwent a second liver transplant and is in stable condition.
You can make a contribution to the Nina Raphael Fund through the COTA organization. Please visit http://www.cotaforninar.com/ to make your donation.
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