As per Tatyana I want to update all of you who have been following the story of little Sonya.  It is hard to believe that it has been over 2 month’s since Sonya’s surgery at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago … time has passed very quickly, but unfortunately Sonya continues to have a few complications.

About a month after Sonya’s surgery she developed a hernia on the left side of her incision.  Dr.Superina has looked at it and he believes he can fix it, however Sonya will have taken off Coumadin first before any attempt can be made to intercede.  He is looking at doing the surgery at the 6 month post op stage which would be sometime in March of 2012.  The Mesocaval Shunt operation that Dr. Superina performed on Sonya seems to be working, however she has fluid in her belly and the hernia is getting larger. It would be risky and dangerous to go back to the Ukraine at this point with the hernia and the fact that she is on Coumadin.  According to Tatyana the hospitals in the Ukraine do not have the knowledge to deal with this, especially if Sonya was injured in any manner.  It would be hard to stop the bleeding on Coumadin and she could easily die if it was not stopped in time.  So for the sake of health and safety they will stay put and when the time comes for them to leave they will have to take the risk and go home.  They have a follow-up appointment with Dr. Superina on November 10th and from that point he should have a clearer picture of what needs to be done.

For background information leading up to the surgery on Sonya click the following links:

http://www.portal-hypertension.com/little-sonyas-plight-update/

http://www.portal-hypertension.com/rex-shunt-sonya/

Tatyana and her family are looking forward to being reunited as they have been apart for over 2 months now.  When they finally arrive home she will be doing paper work to apply for a visa to study in the US.  Tatyana is a physician and in order to practise medicine in the US she would have to upgrade to US standards.  After upgrading she would be expected to complete a one year residency in a US hospital.

Please continue to pray for Sonya’s health and now Tatyana as she and her family make preparation for application in the US.

I’ll keep you posted!

Until next time,

Clint