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Worst nightmare comes true

Maia had to undergo surgery today to insert the necessary tubes for blood dialysis. Now it's time to recover while dialysis begins.

So besides the Christmas celebration we can also celebrate she came through well. We can visit her later today again.

I have the deepest respect for how the medical staff performs and for what they must endure on a daily basis. Several children did not make it the last days and one of the nurses broke and came to cry for a while with my daughter who is in isolation for a few days.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy 2026.
 
Maia had to undergo surgery today to insert the necessary tubes for blood dialysis. Now it's time to recover while dialysis begins.

So besides the Christmas celebration we can also celebrate she came through well. We can visit her later today again.

I have the deepest respect for how the medical staff performs and for what they must endure on a daily basis. Several children did not make it the last days and one of the nurses broke and came to cry for a while with my daughter who is in isolation for a few days.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy 2026.
My thoughts are with the little Maia, you and your beloveds, Herman.
And I just saw below this thread that (for now) 480 members where reading your posts. For sure they are all ‘live with Maia’!
Regards, Peter
 
Decades ago, my mom was the director of the " Grey Ladies Volunteer Service group for hospitals in the Washington DC area one of which was the National Institutes of Health. One of their duties was daily bringing cheer to the children undergoing experimental treatments for cancer. In the training she had to inform the volunteers that they would become very attached to the children, many of whom they would lose to their illnesses. Mom had to sort out the perspective volunteers who would not be able to endure the tragic circumstances. So, my utmost and sincere appreciation for the above-mentioned nurse, and all those that serve the children and their families under these especially trying circumstances. And, of course to you and your family as well, as you endure your personal exceptionally trying and demanding time.
All my hopes and prayers are with you, added to my growing list.

Love and affection to you and your family, Pete
 
Thank you guys.
Maia is getting great care. Now she is on blood dialysis they can also slowly extract moisture so she is starting to look like "old" Maia again and we regularly see a smile on her face again.
Just because we are not repeating that we pray daily for Maia doesn't mean we aren't. We pray daily for her and your entire family. Nothing else counts without your health.
God bless you and yours.
 
Good to hear the treatments are working and the smile is returning.

We will keep your family in prayers for full recovery.

I know the feeling as when my now 44 year old son was born with severe complications they gave us a 50/50 that he would make 24 hours, that was hardest time. But the Lord and friends helped us threw it.
 
Just because we are not repeating that we pray daily for Maia doesn't mean we aren't. We pray daily for her and your entire family. Nothing else counts without your health.
God bless you and yours.
Good to hear the treatments are working and the smile is returning.

We will keep your family in prayers for full recovery.

I know the feeling as when my now 44 year old son was born with severe complications they gave us a 50/50 that he would make 24 hours, that was hardest time. But the Lord and friends helped us threw it.
Thanks for checking in again.
Now she is on dialysis they are on a ICU with very high care and strict visiting rules. Max 1 parent and 1 visitor, mostly the other parent. And not too much changing the guard. So when we now visit we are there to support the parents, (talk/walk/drink/dine; this evening in the Ronald McDonald home). So we will not be able to see Maia each day. But we are kept informed and get pictures and videos.
IMG-20251228-WA0000.jpg
 
She's currently stable.
Yesterday, one of the tubes from her shunt (surgically inserted for dialysis) was found to have shifted a little too far into her heart, and it was retracted to its proper position under mild anesthesia. The filters on the dialysis machine were also replaced, so yesterday was another stressful day for the parents.
Today, only her catheter and an IV were removed, so today felt a kind of rest day to them.

Probably next week the dialysis machine will be switched off for one day when the medicine after two weeks should be at the peak of strength and then a blood sample will be taken and the machine switched on again... the blood analysis will take about a week.
So, all going well, they will certainly spend the next two weeks on the ICU.
 
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