Letter Asking for Help

A few days ago I sent this letter out on behalf of Haitian Hearts patient Heureuse.

Heureuse is a 29 year old female who lives in Haiti. She was operated at OSF in 2002 for a serious heart valve problem. She needs more surgery now as the letter explains.

OSF has abandoned her but other Haitian Hearts patients in Haiti are helping her tremendously. However, unless she has surgery soon she will leave two little children in the slum without parents. And Haiti is suffering greatly now with the "food shortage".

Today I forwarded an e mail from Haiti describing Heureuse's condition to Keith Steffen, CEO of OSF-SFMC. The e mail bounced back consistent with OSF's policy blocking my e mail as it has done in the past. This certainly is not doing Heureuse a favor.


International Committee and Children’s Hospital Community Advisory Board

August 14, 2008

Dear

Haitian Hearts is currently working on bringing 14 more patients to the States this year for heart surgery. Two other children were successfully operated earlier this year.

However, in addition to the above, we have three previous patients that need to come back to OSF to be reoperated in Peoria.

Many of you will remember Jenny Guillaume, Heuruese Joseph, and Henri Andrique. All three were operated at OSF 5-10 years ago.

Haitian Hearts has followed up with these patients in Haiti after they left Peoria and we supply them with examinations, medications, repeat echocardiograms, etc. during our frequent stays in Haiti.

Jenny is 29 years old now and teaches hearing impaired students in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. She has never been married and still lives with her mother. She communicates with us by e mail and is fluent in French and Creole. She also speaks English fairly well. She and her family have helped us considerably in Haiti over the years.

Heureuse is 29 years also. She lives in a seaside slum in Port-au-Prince. She is raising her two small children alone. Her father is dead and her family lives on the Haiti’s southern coast and is not able to be of much help to her. She has no job and Haiti’s food prices have climbed dramatically over the course of the last year. Heureuse and her kids go to bed hungry.

(I have learned in the last few days that Heureuse is very sick. She is in congestive heart failure and lying in her bed unable to walk. Below is an online conversation I had with Dejean Frandy today, a Haitian Hearts patient who is 19 years old. Two other Haitian Hearts patients, Jenny Guiallaume and Suze will attempt to help Heureuse also. We are doing whatever we can to keep her alive until I can bring her to the States.)

Henri is 34 years old now and just got out of the hospital in Port-au-Prince due to cardiac problems. He is unable to work and his weight is down to 130 lbs.

Jenny, Heureuse, and Henri all need valve surgery. All are in various degrees of heart failure due to their bad valves. I have not had any luck finding other medical centers to accept them. They will be difficult cases due to their previous surgery and their underlying pathology.

All three would like to live. What would you do if they were your relatives, children, or friends?

Please make sure that OSF and their legal counsel, Douglass Marshall, remove their embargo of Haitian kids at OSF. Their physicians would like to see them return to Peoria as would their host families.

I do not want these three to die painful deaths like Jackson Jean-Baptiste and Maxime Petion did after they were denied on going care at OSF.

I humbly ask you to be their advocates and will wait to hear from you regarding these three young adults.

John A. Carroll, M.D.
309-648-1087

haitianhearts@gmail.com

www.peoriasmedicalmafia.com
www.pmmdaily.blogspot.com
www.dyinginhaiti.blogspot.com


Online conversation today regarding Heureuse:

Dejean Frandy3:18 PM Dejean: HI i need to talk to you now me: frandy, can heureuse talk to...
3:37 PM (6 hours ago)
3:18 PM Dejean: HI
i need to talk to you now
me: frandy,
can heureuse talk to you?
Dejean: yes i am there
i saw her this morning
3:19 PM she has prescription for Echocardiogram
she may need to see Dr Pilie for it
3:20 PM me: frandy,
Dejean: she has medicines
me: I want you to e mail a haitian friend of mine...her name is jenny guiallaume..
her e mail is...
3:21 PM gjenny12@yahoo.fr
3:22 PM she lives near delmas 33
she can help you and heureuse...
she is a heart patient....
heureuse needs to take a medicine called lasix (furosemeide)..
3:23 PM explain to me heureuse's condition
can she walk a little...
can she eat and drink?
Dejean: no she can not
me: are her legs swollen?
Dejean: she can but she does have money to feed herself
3:24 PM she does not have money
me: she does or she does not have money to feed her self?
is she short of breath?
Dejean: she does not have money
3:25 PM yes she is and her legs are not swollen
me: where are her kids??
3:26 PM Dejean: the boy is with her but the girl is somewhere else
maybe delmas
she has the medicine you said above
me: ok...
will you contact jenny?
3:27 PM Dejean: let me tell exactly what she needs for now
me: can you and jenny take her to the General Hospital or the hospital in leoganne??
Dejean: yes i will
3:28 PM me: ok, tell me...type fast...i will wait...
Dejean: she already went to GCH
me: ok
Dejean: she needs to do Echocardiogram
3:29 PM and Thyroidien, glycemie
me: frandy, she needs treatment with medication before echocardiogram...
Dejean: ok
3:30 PM do you have Jenny's number phone?
me: tell the doctor she has a problem with her valve aortic and valve mitral...she was operated in 2002...
no i do not have jennys number but she checks her email every day...please send her an email... and tell her to call you...
3:31 PM Dejean: ok i will do everything
me: maybe suze can help you with a ride for her to the general hospital....
Dejean: i am going to see Heures later
me: ok.
3:32 PM Dejean: i can do this
3:33 PM do you Andrique's Echocardiogram?
do you need Andrique's Echo...?
he said that he has it
3:34 PM i can scan it for you
me: tell heureuse not to take the thyroid medicine...she needs to take the furosemide...yes i need andriques echo results....maybe he can send me the results via e mail or you can scan it...
3:35 PM please get hold of jenny now...and suze...
Dejean: i will do that perhaps during the week end
ok
byeee
me: yes, the echo on the weekend is good...
heureuse is problem number one right now....
3:36 PM tell heureuse that she should take furosemide 40 mg in the morning and 40 mg in the afternoon...
3:37 PM Dejean: ok byeee
talk to you later
--------------------------

Heureuse at the top. Keith Steffen at the bottom.

See Maria's article regarding Heureuse.