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The Gift of Lifeby Olga Tymus (Winter 1997) I make my way, as instructed, to the Pediatric ICU - there is 13 year old Oleg prepped for surgery and mom, Tamara, at his bedside. They arrived 3 days ago from Russia. Oleg has aortic sentosis -- will not live to adulthood without surgery. They understand no English. I am a Gift of Life volunteer translator. No operation today -- after many anxious hours it is rescheduled for the next day. A pair of surgeons come to inform, reassure -- one of them joins hands with Oleg and Tamara and prays briefly with them. I brought some fabric and embroidery floss --- she is Russian -- she will embroider. A book on cars from the playroom distracts the boy somewhat. The next day I return at 7 AM. They are already in the OR holding room: Quickly please. Translator needed. Questions from anesthesiologist. Allergic reactions? Rashes? Sniffles? Cough in the past two weeks? Sedated, teary eyed, Oleg is wheeled away from his quietly weeping mom and myself. We wait and talk for the 5 2 hour duration of the surgery. Tamara tells me how people back home discouraged her from coming to America. AThey will experiment on him... They will remove an organ... If he dies, they won=t give you his body to take back and bury...@ I realize that I am in the presence of courage in the flesh. We talk about faith in Russia. She says that almost all Russians are believers. Maybe half of the believers pray and only half of the ones who pray attend church because candles are very expensive, she tells me. She drinks some juice from a tray provided for her by the hospital. Understandable she won=t eat, nor will she leave her son=s bedside during his hospital stay to sleep in a dormitory room provided by the hospital. The operation is over...back to the ICU. After open heart surgery, Oleg is cold, pale and on a ventilator with a myriad of drains and tubes. He must be roused every few minutes and his mother shows him a small car which a friend has given me for him. His eyes open wide momentarily. We are told that now it is imperative that his temperature returns to normal and he begin to breathe on his own. He is being monitored by the ICU staff constantly. His mother is impressed and overwhelmed with gratitude -- now she knows that coming here was the right decision. Three days after the surgery she was visibly agitated and worried. She was concerned that his face was flushed; he must have a fever. When told that this his temperature is normal, she burst into tears. Apparently, throughout his whole life he has always been pale. He has never been well and had any color in his face! Six days after the operation he is discharged and taken to the Ronald McDonald House on Long Island. Oleg and his mother have their own room. Volunteers visit daily, take them food shopping, show them the ocean and skyscrapers. They are taken back to the hospital for a check-up after a week. With a prescription for medicine to be taken back to Russia, he may leave in another week. Tamara has been impressed by much: She=s amazed at how often they have changed gloves and washed hands in the hospital; how polite everyone in the ICU has been to her. She was interested at being in a hospital cafeteria (she had seen one in the movies). She noted how often the word, Aokay@ is sued. But most of all she could not find the words to express her awe at how much support Oleg and she had received from so many people. She was not aware that people so kind could even exist and neither, I must admit, was I. The Gift of Life is a project started by the Rotary Clubs about 20 years ago to save the lives of children in need of open heart surgery in countries where these operations were not done. The former Soviet Union declined to send their ailing children abroad and those who could have been save came to an inevitable end. The Russian Gift of Life began about 7 years ago at the Our Lady of Kazan Church through the initiative of Matushka Mimi Kishkovsky. So far, 270 children from Russia have literally been given the Gift of Life. For more information call: 516-671-6616. |
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