Amazing response to Jose's need

Seven year old Alex had a lemonade stand and brought $33 to my door. I sold an aquarium for $40 on Craig's list. My sister is sending $500, and a brother did the same. Friends of a host family contributed $1,000; a nurse who travels with the COTA teams has sent $200, another sent $25. Two friends dropped off checks today, and another family who has adopted from Guatemala sent a wonderful donation. The list goes on....many kind people who have been touched by Jose's story.
Jose's foster mother took a photo of him thanking all of his donors. If all of our pledges come in on time (deadline is next Monday), we will be within $1,694.89 of our goal. In this economy, raising nearly $18,700 in such a short time could only be accomplished through each of you. What an amazing gift you have given Jose.

Keep up the good work!

Thank you to all of Jose's new friends who have been so generous about donating toward his surgery. We are 3/4's of the way to our goal! Only $4,300 left to go. Amazing effort. I really appreciate all who have sent this blog on. The money must be in the bank account of the hospital in New York by next Tuesday.
The phone lines have been busy between NYC, where the surgery will take place, and Lexington, KY, where the COTA office is, on into Tennessee, where Jose is in foster care. Now our fundraising goal looks promising, there have been many e-mails and calls made to coordinate flights to NYC, paperwork, pre-op physicals, the power-of-attorney papers from Guatemala, and the schedules of all three specialists who will be caring for Jose at Roosevelt Hospital. Jose's parents in Guatemala are being kept informed of the big things happening for their son thanks to the generosity of people who have never even met this special little boy.
Stay tuned!

Update on Jose's fundraiser

What an incredible show of support for Jose there has been these last few days. From a former COTA foster parent in Nashville to a group of nurses in New Jersey, and on into Wyoming from a COTA friend who filmed a documentary on our program....the concern for this little boy has been reflected in financial donations. To date we have $5,676.34 in-hand and $6,200 pledged. This leaves Jose's fund with a total of $11,876.34 if all pledges are received.
Please help by passing this message onto any friends or family you might think would be interested. We are still $6,823.66 short, and if by a miracle we are able to raise anything over our goal, it would be much appreciated. The foster family is prepared to pay their own travel and hotel expenses to NYC for Jose's surgery. What a gift if they didn't have to.
Thank you to all who are helping. I have let Jose's parents know of your efforts.
Jody

Jose from Guatemala needs your help

Jose (see below) has a chance of a lifetime to have his large facial hemangioma removed in NYC. He is scheduled for surgery with Dr. Milton Waner at Roosevelt Hospital on August 26th and again on August 28th for both interventional injection therapy and for surgery. The renowned international specialists Dr. Waner and Dr. Berenstein have donated their professional skills.
Roosevelt Hospital is being kind enough to give us the hospitalization at cost. Having said this, we still need to find $18,700 and have it in their hands by August 24th, before admission.
I have done everything possible to get this bill to the lowest figure. The pediatric anesthesiologist has been asked to and has agreed to donate his services. That helped bring the bill down from $25,000.
COTA has been trying since August 27th of last year to help Jose with this AV malformation. He was born with this, and despite 7 injection treatments over the past year in Tennessee, it continues to grow. Surgical intervention is our only hope of keeping this "beast" of a malformation from growing. The medical concerns are tracheal deviation and bleeding from tumor injury. These are and have been valid concerns.
Two COTA foster families in TN have been very generous with their time, networking, and financial contributions to Jose's care. His foster family has donated their home, travel, financial resources and most importantly, their love for this special little boy. All those who have grown fond of Jose, and have communicated with his family in Guatemala, are in hopes that this miracle can happen for him.
Any financial assistance for Jose would be much appreciated. I will keep the blog updated on how much we are able to raise. To date, we are at the half-way mark, with less than two weeks to reach the goal. Any checks, no matter how small, can be sent to:
Children of the Americas
1781 Eastwood Dr
Lexington, KY 40502

Many thanks for any help,
Jody Greenlee, RN
Vice President, Children of the Americas

Maria continues care in New Jersey

Maria, seen above, is still enjoying the TLC of foster parent's Warren and Bev in New Jersey. For many years Maria's mother came to COTA teams in Guatemala, seeking care for her daughter. As you can tell, Maria is flourishing as she finishes the final stages of her surgical care and rehabilitation for her congenital birth issues.

Jose's New York City Adventure

Jose, our COTA patient with a large facial AV malformation, traveled to NYC a few weeks ago. His foster mother, Margaret, and her daughter accompanied Jose to Roosevelt Hospital to seek the medical opinion of internationally renowned pediatric AV malformation specialists. It was a busy and eventful trip for Jose, and resulted in the donation of care of three specialists who agreed to surgically correct the malformation that has challenged Jose's COTA caretakers.
Jose, who took was oblivious to being in one of the most famous cities in the world, has traveled far from home (western Guatemala) to obtain surgical intervention. He is seen above, riding in Central Park at the end of a long day of medical appointments-still smiling and happy to be heading to FAO Schwartz toy store.

Carlos transitions to adulthood

When our COTA foster children return to Guatemala following their medical care in the United States, they do not always transition well. Many of the children require months and infrequently, years in the states in order to heal from multiple surgeries. Returning to the hardships of life in rural Guatemala can offer them many challenges.
Carlos was one of those cases. He returned home following several visits, three years and many surgeries in KY for his electrocution injuries. He had enjoyed an excellent foster home, schooling, and active social life. When he returned to Guatemala he had a job, but it did not last with the economic downturn. His social situation at home was strained. Carlos, like many of our older COTA patients, had the gift of renewed health but no opportunity to support himself.
COTA networked with the non-profit Mayan Families in Panajachel in order to work out a viable situation. Mayan Families needed manpower and Carlos needed a new place to call home. Six months later, Carlos is still employed in Panajachel, and is working hard to help the staff of MF's improve the lives of the rural indigenous citizens of the lake regions. It is rewarding to see Carlos doing so well in his new life. He has a great work ethic and is "paying forward" all of the care and attention he enjoyed while in KY.

Bianca comes to Lexington

Bianca has arrived in Kentucky after a year of effort from the COTA Executive Director to network care for her. Just in time for spring, Bianca flew into KY on American Airlines thanks to the Miles for Kids Program. All smiles in this photo, Bianca is adjusting well to her new surroundings thanks to her foster parents, Jennifer and Charlie. Seasoned COTA volunteers, this particular foster family has seen numerous Guatemalan children through the transition to health while in our program. Bianca is already mastering the art of bike riding and caring for the host family horse.

Bianca is being evaluated for her solid facial hemangioma. She was discovered in Guatemala during one of our surgical trips. Due the large size of her tumor, surgery in Guatemala was not successful.

Update on Alex and Angel

These two patients represent the spectrum of care that COTA specializes in for our stateside patients. Alex (bottom photo) was born with a congenital cleft lip and palate. His repair was donated by Lexington, KY plastic surgeon Dr. Andy Moore. Alex has been home in Panajachel, Guatemala with his parents for the last 6 months. His foster mother, Kim, is very excited to be visiting him in a few days! 

Angel(top photo) is representative of a patient who suffered trauma in Guatemala, and had no ability to pay for the required surgical repair. Following his donated jaw reconstruction in Lexington, KY, Angel required a dental bridge to restore his oral function and be able to eat properly. Thanks to a generous donation of many episodes of dental care from Dr. Steve Hieronymus and his wife Mary, Angel was supplied with a custom-made bridge this January. 

These two boys are from the same area of Guatemala, but had very different medical issues. COTA is very fortunate to have a dedicated multi-specialty group of medical and dental volunteers to assist us in meeting the complex needs of our stateside patients. 

Cintia and Jose have a play date

Maria's Miracle in New Jersey

Maria is seen at left happily resting in her foster father's lap as she enjoys being the center of attention in her New Jersey foster home. Warren and Beverly have fostered three children through COTA. Their medical connections in the community have enabled all three children to obtain donated surgical and medical care that was not available to them in Guatemala.

Two special ladies

Litzi, our patient from Bolivia, enjoyed a special evening recently with both of her foster mothers. Wendy, pictured on the right, fostered Litzi for COTA during a difficult year of burn care, surgeries at Shriners in Cincinnati and physical therapy. It was a demanding and critical time for Litzi to be in loving and talented hands in order to get her through the medical needs of her third degree burns. Wendy did an amazing job while working full-time. 

The transition two years ago to her second foster home with Hank and Julie of Louisville went very smoothly thanks to the loving environment that Litzi moved into. Julie (pictured on the left), current foster mother to Litzi, has provided just the right touch of love, medical expertise as a nurse, and determination that has allowed Litzi to blossom, despite her special needs. Litzi is facing several more surgeries to correct the contractures of her burn injuries. 

What a special little girl to have two such loving women in her life. 

Happy holidays to our COTA patients and their foster families

What an amazing gift our host parents offer our stateside patients. It is no small thing to accept a medically fragile foster child from a developing country into a family, yet Children of the Americas is blessed with amazing people who do this for our patients without any financial compensation. 

Happiest of holidays to all of our foster parents and our pediatric patients who are fortunate to share their hearth and homes. 

I recently had the pleasure of traveling to Panajachel to help with an Ob/Gyn clinic, and thanks to Sharon from MayanFamilies, I was able to see both Angel and Alex (our two COTA children who are from this area).

In the accompanying photo, you can see Alex being carried by his grandmother (his mother had just had another baby and was still recovering at home). She brought Alex to see me in order to arrange his cleft palate repair during our surgical team in January. The lady standing to her left is Angel's mother. 

It was wonderful to see both patients doing well back in Guatemala with their families.