How about some positive news

Reba

Reba

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Do you have a positive story you would like to share?

Here is one from my local area:

Iraqi Dad Takes Baby to U.S. for Surgery
Friday, October 29, 2004

An Iraqi dad has risked everything to save his 11-month-old daughter's life, first traveling to Baghdad's infamous Abu Ghraib prison to plead for help, then winding up in the United States for his baby's medical care.

The little girl, Tabby, was in surgery Friday in Charleston to remove life-threatening blood tumors called hemangiomas, which have caused her face to be excessively swollen and deformed.

In spite of the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib that has tarnished the U.S. military's reputation, the desperate dad made the dangerous trek there after Iraqi doctors were unable to operate on his daughter.

Because of security concerns, FOX News, which has been following this story exclusively, could not reveal the identity of Tabby's father or the town in Iraq where he comes from. The man fears that his appeal for help from the Americans will be misinterpreted by other Iraqis who might think he is working with the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

At Abu Ghraib, the father met with the U.S. Marines 4th Civil Affairs Group and Navy Cmdr. Dr. Louis Tripoli, who recognized how serious the little girl's condition was.

Tripoli first went to local Iraqi doctors for the child's care. When they couldn't help, he asked organizations including The Hemangioma Foundation and Operation Give to aid in making arrangements for Tabby and her father to leave Iraq so that she could come to America to get the treatment required to save her life.

Tripoli even involved his parents from Pittsburgh. Charles and Rita Tripoli, a doctor and a nurse, met Tabby and her dad in Amman, Jordan. The father was prepared to hand his baby girl over to the Tripolis, but he got a visa at the last minute and was able to accompany her to the U.S.

"The Marines put their hearts and souls in this," said Dr. Charles Tripoli, who with his wife is acting as a host family to father and child. "We also want to show our solidarity with the Iraqi people."

Tabby's dad had to leave his wife and two other children in Iraq to make the trip. Though he's concerned for their safety, he realizes this is the last chance for his baby girl.

"The most important thing for me is my daughter," said the father. "I would sacrifice everything for her."

Dr. Marcelo Hochman, a reconstructive plastic surgeon, was operating on Tabby Friday, with the support of The Hemangioma Foundation.

"Something we really, really believe in is that all children deserve the right to look normal," said the foundation's Jane Milner. "And we want to make that happen."

Just days before making the trip to the United States, Tabby went for her first vaccinations — during which doctors discovered heart complications. The child had a murmur, a hole in her heart and congestive heart failure, which will also require surgery.

"We'll evaluate the heart and at the same time determine a plan for what's best for the treatment of the hemangiomas," Hochman said before the Friday procedure.

In all, the baby will need at least three surgeries. FOX News was in the OR Friday while Hochman performed the first of the operations.

Meanwhile, Tabby's dad was adjusting to life a world away from home, waiting, hoping and praying for his little daughter's full recovery.

FOX News' Jamie Colby and Catherine Donaldson-Evans contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,137088,00.html
 
Dang.
I have heard a few stories of this sort and it never ceases to amaze me.
Hmmm, now if only I can train one to bring me coffee...
 
Beowulf said:
Dang.
I have heard a few stories of this sort and it never ceases to amaze me.
Hmmm, now if only I can train one to bring me coffee...
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be surprised if there is a dog out there somewhere that can do it!
 
Me either, Reba.
Three branches of military, would ya allow me that?
Hmmm, The Army uses Dobermans
The Special Forces use German Shepherds.
Bet nobody can guess at what kinda dog is ideal for the Navy Seals..!
*NOT knocking Reba, now, shhhh...*
 
Beowulf said:
Three branches of military, would ya allow me that?
Click to expand...

There's only five branches of military: Air Force, Coastal Guard, Marines, Navy, and Army. Or am I wrong?
 
Interesting and moving story about the Iraqi father and 11 month old daughter...I can understand the nature of being secretive and hope the daughter's condition is improving and recovering while the father's fear for his daughter's life is replaced with encouraging thoughts and renewed hope! :)
 
Deathpit said:
There's only five branches of military: Air Force, Coastal Guard, Marines, Navy, and Army. Or am I wrong?
Click to expand...
Yes, those the are five branches of service. :)

The Marine Corps is part of the Navy Department.

The Coast Guard is part of Homeland Security; prior to March 2003, it was part of the Department of Transportation, except during times of war, and then it was part of the Navy Department.
 
Roadrunner said:
Interesting and moving story about the Iraqi father and 11 month old daughter...I can understand the nature of being secretive and hope the daughter's condition is improving and recovering while the father's fear for his daughter's life is replaced with encouraging thoughts and renewed hope! :)
Click to expand...
This is a local Charleston story, so if I get any updates, I will pass the news on.
 
Beowulf said:
Me either, Reba.
Three branches of military, would ya allow me that?
Hmmm, The Army uses Dobermans
The Special Forces use German Shepherds.
Bet nobody can guess at what kinda dog is ideal for the Navy Seals..!
*NOT knocking Reba, now, shhhh...*
Click to expand...
I know you are just teasing me, but for real, the Navy uses dolphins and sea lions, especially in underwater mine detection. The Navy also uses dogs for detecting explosives and drugs, and guard duty. A few bases used geese for guarding the fence perimeters. The Weapons Station Annex in Charleston (same place as the brig where some of the suspected terrorists are locked up), has a huge old alligator named Charley in a pond at the main gate. He is not really for guarding, just a mascot. ;)
Animals have always been important to the American military. During earlier wars we used pigeons for sending messages, horses for cavalry, and mules for hauling. Goats were used to keep the base grass short. Dogs are always important for search and rescue.
 
Dang. I was going to say they use poodles. No kidding. Nothing wrong with that, though...they are smart!
 
Beowulf said:
Dang. I was going to say they use poodles. No kidding. Nothing wrong with that, though...they are smart!
Click to expand...
I agree that poodles are smart. I personally don't care much for the little prissy ones with painted nails, but I like the full-size standard ones without the "lion cut" (bare butt, big hair look).
 
Reba said:
This is a local Charleston story, so if I get any updates, I will pass the news on.
Click to expand...
An update on baby Tabby:

http://www.charleston.net/stories/110504/loc_05baby.shtml

Surgical alchemy for an angel

Iraqi child comes to Charleston for treatment

BY HOLLY AUER
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Friday, Nov. 5
From a war-torn country half a world away, a baby has come to Charleston to be healed.

Tabby, a 1-year-old Iraqi girl, was born in a country where medical care is spotty and low-tech. So when the facial swelling her parents noticed at birth turned red and expanded into three bulbous masses on their baby's face, they knew they would need help from far away.

Tabby suffers from a severe hemangioma, a vascular birthmark that strikes about 10 percent of babies born each year and requires a surgical alchemy not available in her native land.

Tabby, a 1-year-old Iraqi girl, arrived in Charleston last week with her father. Tabby suffers from a severe hemangioma and has come to Charleston for treatment on her face at Dr. Marcelo Hochman's office in West Ashley.

Her parents feared that she would be condemned to a lifetime of looking and feeling different from everyone else.

"I felt so desperate when the doctors in Iraq couldn't treat her because she is everything to me," said Khasem, Tabby's father, who spoke through a translator. He asked that his last name or the name of the area he's from not be used because he fears for his family's safety back home. "She is my angel, and I want her to be well."

After his pleas for help at various Iraqi human services agencies went unanswered, Khasem made contact with a U.S. Marine Corps doctor and civil affairs specialist stationed near his hometown.

They helped him reach the Hemangioma Treatment Foundation in Charleston, a charity founded by facial plastic surgeon Dr. Marcelo Hochman in hopes of providing corrective surgery for children across the world who suffer from vascular birthmarks and don't have the resources to seek care where they live.

After a few months of wrangling to obtain the proper travel paperwork, Khasem and Tabby arrived in Charleston last week for a series of surgeries. In Hochman's office earlier this week, Tabby climbed and played on waiting room tables and chairs, a slim line of stitches from her first surgery tracing the right side of her face.

Hemangiomas are sometimes tiny or on parts of the body that are easily hidden by clothes. But most of them show up on the face and neck, where they can affect vision or a child's ability to eat properly.

In Tabby's case, a large patch of ruddy skin bubbles up from the side of her face near her left ear, and her lower lip is engulfed by a mass that makes it difficult to eat or drink from a bottle.

The huge swelling on the right side of her face and neck was removed in a surgery last week, and she will undergo two more before she leaves.

"Every child deserves a chance to look normal," said Dr. Hochman. "Kids develop a sense of self by 2 and a half, and a child with a facial difference is really going to feel that."

The birthmarks don't cause her pain, but her hemangiomas are so severe they impact blood flow throughout her body and have put her in mild congestive heart failure.

She will also undergo surgery for a heart defect after the operations on her face are completed. Khasem left his wife and other children back home during what will likely be a six-month stay in the United States.

"I have put everything I have at home in jeopardy for her," Khasem said.

Although hemangiomas are relatively common, Hochman said, doctors are taught in medical school that they don't necessarily require treatment. One of his foundation's goals is to better educate physicians about the birthmarks and create treatment guidelines.

"There's a lot of confusion and misconceptions about them," he said. "People need to know that there's a lot that can be done."

For more information about hemangiomas, go to www.hemangiomatreatment.org.

Holly Auer covers health and medicine. She can be reached at 937-5560 or hauer@postandcourier.com.
 
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Thanks for the update on this baby girl...and it's sure great to know that there was a charity foundation that's giving this child a chance to live...the procedures being available in this great country of ours, to reach out to those who otherwise wouldn't be able to survive elsewhere, such as the case with this little girl...lastly, six months is quite a long stay but I'm enlightened to know that at least this girl is in good hands with the kind of help and care she is presently getting! Once again, thanks for the update!
 
Roadrunner said:
Once again, thanks for the update!
Click to expand...
You are welcome.
I hope that the newspaper has a new photo of Tabby after she completes all the surgeries, so we can see how she looks before she goes home.

I know that there are other volunteer medical teams, such as Doctors Without Borders, that travel the world, helping children with medical problems. I am glad that there are many people willing to use their own time and money to help other people. It is especially amazing because the doctors and nurses often travel to very dangerous places and risk their lives.

I have also read several stories about other Iraqi and Afghani people that have come to the U.S. for medical help. Americans are very caring people. That always encourages me. :)
 
Yeah, that's wonderful to
have these "caring" people
even including you, too :)
 
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