Images of Wacky

Upon arrival in Taiwan (they left the Philippines last Apr 13), tests were performed between Wacky and his Mother, Carees, to check liver compatibility.

 

 

The operation was scheduled on April 19th...

Caress trying to walk a few days after the operation...she was later discharged from the hospital last Apr 27.

Wacky has gained weight since the operation. =)

After 7 days

Wacky has undergone the liver transplant operation last April 19 with his mother, Caress as the compatible liver donor. Caress will stay in the ICU  for a week, she is expected to be discharged from the hospital on Thursday, April 28. Wacky will stay for another 2 weeks in the ICU -- his loved ones can view him from a tv monitor connected outside the ICU.

He started taking his milk 6 days after the operation. According to the doctor, he now weighs 8 kg -- which is a feat because he only weighed 7.2 kg when he left the Philippines and have never exceeded 7.3 kg. His cheeks have become chubby according to his father, Raymond.

He is finally showing good signs of health. The good news continues! =)

Quick updates on the operation

Communication with the family in Taiwan is limited to text messages since the hospital and the dormitory have no internet. They have not left the vicinity of the place since they arrived in Taiwan last week due to the close monitoring performed by the hospital with Wacky and Caress. We will try to post each update we receive from the family.

April 25 6:41PM (from Raymond): Nag start nang mag-milk si Wacky. Si Caress baka sa Thursday i-discharge na (from hospital).

April 24 11:12PM (from Lara): Si Wacky minsan gising pero pinatutulog daw. May ubo si caress nahihirapan sya ngayon.

April 22 1:51PM (from Lara): Dito kami ward. Nag-try nang maglakad si Caress ng kaunti. Mamayang hapon ulit. Ini-encourage kasi nilang maglakad ang pasyente kapag post-op kahit masakit pa.

April 21 12:12PM (from Raymond): Nasa ward na si Caress. Medyo nahihilo pa. Pero pinaglalakad na sya kung kaya nya. Hindi pa siya pwedeng kumain.

April 20 12:48PM (from Raymond): Natapos ang operation ni Caress ng 3:45PM, si Wacky at 9:10Pm (April 19). Nasa ICU sila ngayon. Si Caress in two days pwede na sa ward. Si Wacky, tinanggal na ang respirator. =)

April 19 10:27PM (from Lara): Kadarating lang namin ng dorm. Grrr.. maginaw dito ngayon. Nakita na namin si Wacky sa TV sa viewing room. Nakakaawa tingnan kasi may tubo. Hope they'll recover fast.

April 19 10:00PM (from Lara):  Nakausap na ni Jun (Raymond) si Caress twice through viewing room from the ICU. Si Wacky tapos na yata pero di namin alam if nasa OR o ICU pa sya. Wala pang nagsasabi sa amin.

April 19 4:10PM (from Lara): Nasa ICU na si Caress. Si Wacky nasa OR pa pero matatapos na in 2 hours. Everything went well for both sabi ng head doctor. Ni-cover ng isang tv network ang operation, pagkausap sa amin ni Dr. Chen... Thank you Lord!

April 19 2:09PM (from Lara):   Sa OR pa sila. Kakatapos lang ng interview namin sa local tv dito. Gumagawa sila ng feature about liver transplant and by chance andun kami na foreigners... kasi kaming 4 lang andito na hindi local.

April 19 10:18AM (from Lara):  Kakagaling lang namin sa dorm... dito na ulit kami sa waiting area ng OR. Si Jun (Raymond) naglalakad, nagpapaalis siguro ng kaba.

April 19 8:10AM (from Lara): Kakapasok lang ni Caress at Wacky sa OR.

April 18 9:53PM (from Raymond): Tulog na si Wacky. Fasting sila (Wacky & Caress) ng 12AM. Sa dorm na kami mag-i-stay ni ate Lara tomorrow. Sa wakas, eto na yung pinag-ipunan at pinaghandaan for 9 months! GOD will take over from here.

liver transplant schedule

Wacky is finally scheduled for the liver transplant operation on APRIL 19 with his mother, Caress, as the liver donor.

Raymond, Caress, Wacky and his aunt, Lara, left for Taiwan last April 13, having been endorsed by the Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital to the Taiwan Embassy for their respective visas. Raymond was initially the candidate as liver donor, thus, underwent the necessary lab tests while still in the Philippines. However, results showed that it was preferable to use another living donor (the diameter of his hepatic artery is relatively small and the anatomy is complicated). The operation is still feasible using his liver but the task would be more difficult. Thus, to lessen the risk, Caress also underwent liver CT angiogram in Taiwan last April 15 to determine if she's more compatible with Wacky as a liver donor. Thankfully the results were good, and the liver transplant operation is finally scheduled.Operation will start with Wacky's mother, Caress at 8:00 AM then after an hour, it'll be Wacky's turn. Duration of the operation will reach 19 hours or less.

We'd like to thank everyone whom God used as instrument for bringing Wacky to Taiwan for the much needed operation. Now, more than ever, we ask for your continued support by praying for Wacky's health and successful operation.  God bless us all!

t-shirts & body bags for sale

We are selling t-shirts for Wacky's liver transplant fund. Available in black & white for men's tshirts and ladies baby tees for Php300.00 each.

Body bags are also available in black and cream colors for P300.00 each.

If interested in buying please send Caress or Raymond a message thru 0917 4515602; 0915 7828875; 0922 8343477; caresscute_19@yahoo.com; ripascual@mvc.com.ph. THANK YOU!

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!