Happy Birthday Wacky!

We celebrated Wacky's 1st birthday last Saturday, March 12, by holding a mass at home. It was a small yet meaningful gathering at lunch with his loved ones -- all giving their support for Wacky.

 

Fr. Nestor Chavez of Indang, Cavite holding mass

 

Wacky & Family

Wacky got his first haircut at 1!

 Wacky with his cousins

With Nanay & Kuya

oOo

Still short on the needed amount for the operation, Raymond & Caress continues to follow up help from foundations. The cost of operation (not including accommodation) has also increased from NT$ 1.5 million to  NT$ 1.6 million.

For those who wish to extend their help for Wacky you may  deposit your donation to:

Peso Account BDO Acct # 0047 8042 9296
Acct Name: Joaquin Christopher V. Pascual
by: Ma. Carissa V. Pascual.

Dollar Acct BDO Acct # 1047 8047 3341
Acct Name: Ma.Carissa V. Pascual
or Raymundo I. Pascual Jr.

Swift Code: BNORPHMM

Thank you & God bless!

God's perfect timing

The past two weeks have been incredibly blessed. It started when the news about the first pediatric liver transplant in the Philippines came out in ABS-CBN last January 24 where the Medical City hospital led by Dr. Ma. Vanessa de Villa performed the operation on a biliary atresia patient – the 3-year-old Erica Buenaventura. We felt mixed emotions: we are happy that finally, a pediatric transplant has been done successfully in our country; but at the same time, anxious that people might be discouraged to help Wacky because we opted to bring Wacky to Taiwan in spite of this.

Chang Gung Memorial Hospital success rate of 97% for hundreds of liver transplant patients decided us to go for Taiwan. Moreover, compared to Medical City’s Php4.5 million procedure, Chang Gung Memorial’s initial estimate covers Php3 million which is still the least expensive. We hope people will understand that it is not a matter of being “choosy” but we only want bigger chance for Wacky’s survival. Nonetheless, we do look forward and support having our very own liver transplant facility in the country. 

God must have understood the dilemma we were facing because right after the news came out, a series of events happened for Wacky, resulting for more help to come his way:

Jan 25: Wacky’s call for help was published in Inquirer Metro page, the same issue where Erika’s successful liver transplant was put in the headlines

Jan 27: Raymond and Caress was interviewed in DZMM teleradyo by Ms Karen Davila and Vic Lima in their program, Pasada Sais Trenta.

Feb 3:  Wacky’s story was featured by Ms Karen Davila in ABS-CBN Krusada’s episode about biliary atresia

Feb 5: the concert by Rosario Parish Church in Cavite (featuring the Regina Coeli Choir) was successfully held

We are humbled by the text messages, donations and the personal time people gave us to support the fund raising for Wacky’s liver transplant. Indeed, God have timed these events perfectly so that along with the heightened awareness with biliary atresia and liver transplant thru the media, our call for help have also reached more people.

To all who have responded, from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Concert for Wacky

The Regine Coeli Choir of the Rosario Parish Church in Cavite is holding a benefit concert to help raise the funds for Wacky's liver transplant. The concert will be held on February 5, 2011 (Sat) in the Rosario Parish Church, Cavite. Tickets are available for P250 and P500. For any inquiry please email joaquipascual@gmail.com. Thank you for supporting our cause!

Wacky @ 10 months

On Wacky's Health

Wacky is now weighing 7.4 kg, still 2.6 kg shy of the required 10 kg for the liver operation. As the family continues to raise funds for the liver transplant, Wacky's health is being closely monitored by his doctor.

Wacky underwent several vaccine shots last December 2010: mmr vaccine for the immunization against measles, mumps and rubella (also called German measles) and varicella vaccine for the prevention from chickenpox. He'll be taken to the doctor on Feb 11 for another set of lab tests to check if the vaccines are absorbed by his body system.

 Raymond, his father, have already taken anti-hepatitis b vaccine shot, undergone blood tests (he is scheduled for the 2nd wave of blood test) and liver ultrasound. Wacky's mother, Caress, has already started taking up blood tests last Jan 17 -- parallel with Raymond's lab tests in case he is incompatible as Wacky's liver donor.

Both Wacky and Raymond will undergo liver CT angiogram sometime in February. It is a test required to determine compatibility of Raymond as the liver donor. Result of this test will be forwarded to Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan where they will screen it and approve/accept Wacky's liver tranplant application. The test will be done in Makati Medical Center, the only Philippine hospital recommended by Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital since both their laboratory equipments are compatible. The liver CT angiogram for both Wacky and Raymond will already cost an approximate of  Php100,000.

Status of Fund Raising

The family is very happy to have raised around Php1.2 million as of this time from the dinner for a cause,  fireworks sale, signature campaign, and contribution from the Cavite governor (Jonvic Remulla). Donations and initiatives from family, relatives, co-workers, friends, former classmates, neighbors and even people we don't personally know but are supporting our cause has helped us raise the amount. Although we still fall very short of the needed amount, the help that came our way have raised our hopes in bringing Wacky to Taiwan for the much needed liver tranplant operation. THANK YOU for supporting our cause, we are truly grateful of the help you have given us.

Raymond and Caress hope to bring Wacky to Taiwan by March (he's turning 1 year old then) -- and as we still need the amount to be able to achive this, we continue calling for your help. You may donate to the ff. bank accounts or thru PAYPAL (pls see paypal link in the right section of this page)

Peso Account BDO Acct # 0047 8042 9296
Acct Name: Joaquin Christopher V. Pascual
by: Ma. Carissa V. Pascual.

Dollar Acct BDO Acct # 1047 8047 3341
Acct Name: Ma.Carissa V. Pascual
or Raymundo I. Pascual Jr.

Swift Code: BNORPHMM

Spreading the word to your friends and family would also help us. Again, we thank you for supporting Wacky's liver tranplant!

Wacky's Liver CT Angiogram

Both Wacky and his father, Raymond, underwent Liver CT Angiogram in Makati Medical Center. This is to test the condition of both their livers, and eventually, check their compatibility.

Liver CT Angiogram is a procedure where contrast dye is injected into the body of the patient, and then he is placed under the CT scanner to observe the flow of the blood in the body, particularly in the liver. A damaged liver tissue will be emphasized and the remaining good liver tissue will appear darker.

Wacky waiting to be prepped up for the liver CT angiogram

Nurses sedated Wacky before injecting the contrast dye (Raymond on the other hand was awake during the procedure)

under the CT Scan

In the recovery room

We were relieved to receive the results indicating that Raymond is a possible donor for Wacky's liver transplant, and that Wacky's is a good recipient since the veins around his liver is functioning well.

The results are already fowarded to the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital for the review and acceptance. Afterwhich, a schedule for the liver transplant will be fixed and the hospital will also endorse the operation to the Taiwanese embassy.

Please continue praying for Wacky's health. Thank you & God bless!

Merry Christmas!

Raising Funds this New Year

It's the season for Christmas and New Year celebration. You may also help Wacky raise his liver transplant funds this season by buying luces (P50/bundle), picollo (P15), pop (P10) and firecracker fountain (P60). To order please send Wacky's mom, Caress, a text message @ (0917) 4515602. Thank you! =)