Tears flowed and the cry was heart-wrenching. “How long more do I have to wait for a heart?” asked Tee Hui Yi.
Tee Hui Yi.Tee, 14, who lives thanks to the pumping of a mechanical heart, has been waiting exactly a year for a heart. But it has yet to come.Speaking to the media at a conference arranged by the National Heart Institute (IJN), which she has called home for the past one year, Tee said she has not lost hope.Tee and her mum, Dino Bato Sambua, 46, cried during the screening of a video on her life during her year in IJN at the media conference. So did many of the reporters present.IJN chief cardiothoracic surgeon Datuk Dr Mohd Azhari Yakub said the main purpose of the media conference was to highlight the importance of donating organs.
He said the mechanical heart programme was just a bridge programme for patients while awaiting for a donor heart.“We appeal for hearts and lungs from brain-dead patients. We need to harvest the organs for the transplant within four to six hours.“We have one of the highest accident rates in the world. We would have plenty of organs from such victims if only people were aware of the importance of pledging their organs.”The teenager from Batu Pahat had a device called a Thoratec Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device (PVAD) implanted outside her abdomen and connected to the left side of her heart exactly a year ago.The 419g PVAD, commonly known as a mechanical heart, lasts for two years. It is helping her buy some time. But time is running out.Last Sept 29, Tee received a mechanical heart, the second recipient after Mohd Fikri Nor Azmi, 16. Fikri received a new heart on Dec 16, 2005.Tee lugs a 9kg portable battery to power her mechanical heart and it hurts if she walks too fast.She was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure when she was just 2 years old, after a viral infection.Thanking the doctors and nursing staff for taking such good care of her, a tearful Tee said: “I am determined to wait for a suitable donor. But my mechanical heart can last only another year. I need a donor soon.” In her video, she said it had been a long and frustrating year waiting for a new heart. She said she had no appetite and missed her mum's cooking. Tee, who weighs 33kg and stands at 153cm, is grossly underweight. She should be 53kg for her height, said Jamaliah Non, IJN general manager of nursing.Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib, IJN consultant cardiothoracic surgeon and director of the mechanical heart programme, said it was unfortunate that Tee was waiting for a heart donor after one year.“Throughout the year, she managed to pull through despite a lot of problems and complications. She is a strong and brave girl despite facing a lot of problems and infection.”He said they had received 16 donor calls over the past nine months but only four consented to the heart donation.However, none was suitable for Tee as they were either too big or of a different blood group. One donor's heart could not be used as he had hypertension.“Despite the best efforts and first-class medical care provided by the nursing staff and doctors at the Cempaka Ward, Tee's condition will continue to deteriorate as she suffers reduced heart function.“She has lost a lot of weight because of a loss of appetite due to infection and medication. We have to supplement her diet through a feeding tube through her nose. “She is less fortunate than Fikri, who received a suitable heart after only six months. He is now leading a normal life, going back to school and playing games although he has to be careful of infection.“It's not easy living with a mechanical heart and she can't have a mechanical heart forever,” he said.
Tee Hui Yi.Tee, 14, who lives thanks to the pumping of a mechanical heart, has been waiting exactly a year for a heart. But it has yet to come.Speaking to the media at a conference arranged by the National Heart Institute (IJN), which she has called home for the past one year, Tee said she has not lost hope.Tee and her mum, Dino Bato Sambua, 46, cried during the screening of a video on her life during her year in IJN at the media conference. So did many of the reporters present.IJN chief cardiothoracic surgeon Datuk Dr Mohd Azhari Yakub said the main purpose of the media conference was to highlight the importance of donating organs.
He said the mechanical heart programme was just a bridge programme for patients while awaiting for a donor heart.“We appeal for hearts and lungs from brain-dead patients. We need to harvest the organs for the transplant within four to six hours.“We have one of the highest accident rates in the world. We would have plenty of organs from such victims if only people were aware of the importance of pledging their organs.”The teenager from Batu Pahat had a device called a Thoratec Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device (PVAD) implanted outside her abdomen and connected to the left side of her heart exactly a year ago.The 419g PVAD, commonly known as a mechanical heart, lasts for two years. It is helping her buy some time. But time is running out.Last Sept 29, Tee received a mechanical heart, the second recipient after Mohd Fikri Nor Azmi, 16. Fikri received a new heart on Dec 16, 2005.Tee lugs a 9kg portable battery to power her mechanical heart and it hurts if she walks too fast.She was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure when she was just 2 years old, after a viral infection.Thanking the doctors and nursing staff for taking such good care of her, a tearful Tee said: “I am determined to wait for a suitable donor. But my mechanical heart can last only another year. I need a donor soon.” In her video, she said it had been a long and frustrating year waiting for a new heart. She said she had no appetite and missed her mum's cooking. Tee, who weighs 33kg and stands at 153cm, is grossly underweight. She should be 53kg for her height, said Jamaliah Non, IJN general manager of nursing.Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib, IJN consultant cardiothoracic surgeon and director of the mechanical heart programme, said it was unfortunate that Tee was waiting for a heart donor after one year.“Throughout the year, she managed to pull through despite a lot of problems and complications. She is a strong and brave girl despite facing a lot of problems and infection.”He said they had received 16 donor calls over the past nine months but only four consented to the heart donation.However, none was suitable for Tee as they were either too big or of a different blood group. One donor's heart could not be used as he had hypertension.“Despite the best efforts and first-class medical care provided by the nursing staff and doctors at the Cempaka Ward, Tee's condition will continue to deteriorate as she suffers reduced heart function.“She has lost a lot of weight because of a loss of appetite due to infection and medication. We have to supplement her diet through a feeding tube through her nose. “She is less fortunate than Fikri, who received a suitable heart after only six months. He is now leading a normal life, going back to school and playing games although he has to be careful of infection.“It's not easy living with a mechanical heart and she can't have a mechanical heart forever,” he said.
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